These ads are very, very good. Perhaps the negativity people are expressing, the "I can't quite put my finger on it" feeling, may be stemming from the fact that these ads are not inspirational or experiential in nature. Compare these to the iPad ads, which are warm, fuzzy and leave you with a feeling that you are enriching your own humanity buy using the product.
The reason these ads are so effective, however, is because they very simply explain some of the iPhone 5's core strengths. If you want a condescending ad, go look at the Galaxy S3 ad depicting iPhone customers as sheep. What a great way to win over iPhone owners, right? The Thumbs ad is perfect and effectively counters the "bigger is better". The Physics ad had me laughing, but at the same time sent the clear message that the larger screen, lighter weight and thinner design are wins all around. The Panorama ad was classic Apple, funny in just the right places and relates a feature to something artistic. The exhaustion of the narrator as he says "cheeeeese" is a great touch, reminding us what an incredibly wide panorama the phone can take.
From an advertising perspective, these ads are wins.