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How is the iPhone 5 a minimal upgrade?

C

Captainobvvious

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 15, 2010
366
2
Bigger, better screen
LTE
Aluminum body redesign
better speakers
better noise cancellation
better camera
better front camera
twice as fast

It seems like from top to bottom everything was improved.

What more could we ask for? What is missing? What should have been included but wasn't?

This didn't change the entire game but it is a big upgrade any way I look at it... I don't get it.
 
daveishere said:
I'll be the first to say it - NFC & Wireless Charging.
Click to expand...

Neither interest me...

NFC is adopted by almost no retailers in North America... Just doesn't have the infrastructure to back it up. People bragged that Android phones had NFC since the 4S and its still useless.

Wireless charging too... Doesn't that require a mat? So I can't use my phone while charging it and would have to keep my phone where the mat is... So I would end up plugging it in... It seems "cool" but doesn't seem practical.

If I'm going to put my phone on the mat on my desk why not plug it in?

That being said maybe they're important to some people but is the iPhone 5 REALLY lacking because it doesn't have those features?
 
I think this update was great! They improved on pretty much everything.

daveishere said:
I'll be the first to say it - NFC & Wireless Charging.
Click to expand...

Do your really see NFC being that popular right now? Schiller covered both these topics and I couldn't agree more with him, especially on wireless charging. That seems even more inconvenient since there's so many more factors to it other than not having a cable go from your phone to a computer or wall outlet. I'd rather use a case with a battery pack than wireless charging.
 
daveishere said:
I'll be the first to say it - NFC & Wireless Charging.
Click to expand...

I'm having a hard time understanding why people are upset over the omission of wireless charging. What is the real benefit of wireless charging? How does this benefit outweigh the downside that you cannot use your phone while it is charging?
 
Because there was literally zero surprises.

This year, we were bombed with iPhone 5 leaks.

Nothing was new or surprising, in fact people are saying the iPod section was more interesting than the iPhone.

Bet if there wasn't that many leaks, it would be a lot more interesting and seem more like a substantial upgrade.
 
To me it seems that Apple may take the same approach to NFC as it did towards LTE. Wait until the market and technology is mature enough to support a good product. In the case of LTE it was around battery life and network support. In the case of NFC it is market support. People will call it catch up none the less if and when Apple includes the feature.
 
Captainobvvious said:
Neither interest me...

NFC is adopted by almost no retailers in North America... Just doesn't have the infrastructure to back it up. People bragged that Android phones had NFC since the 4S and its still useless.

Wireless charging too... Doesn't that require a mat? So I can't use my phone while charging it and would have to keep my phone where the mat is... So I would end up plugging it in... It seems "cool" but doesn't seem practical.

If I'm going to put my phone on the mat on my desk why not plug it in?

That being said maybe they're important to some people but is the iPhone 5 REALLY lacking because it doesn't have those features?
Click to expand...

I believe NFC was going to be integrated into Visa's PayPass system (same as it used in UK debit/credit cards), so the infrastructure for this technology is pretty much there for us UK users.

Also, I disagree with you about the wireless charging. I see everyones point that it still requires a 'base station' to be plugged into a wall, but when I come home everyday I just 'plonk' my phone on the side table and get on with my day. How good would it be to have the iPhone automatically charge when this is done.

I know there are mats out there offering this type of functionality but require their own ugly and bulky cases, no thanks from me.
 
irDigital0l said:
Because there was literally zero surprises.

This year, we were bombed with iPhone 5 leaks.

Nothing was new or surprising, in fact people are saying the iPod section was more interesting than the iPhone.

Bet if there wasn't that many leaks, it would be a lot more interesting and seem more like a substantial upgrade.
Click to expand...

Yea, there were no surprises... But looking at the evidence this is clearly a nice big upgrade.

From top to bottom its a big upgrade.

----------
daveishere said:
I believe NFC was going to be integrated into Visa's PayPass system (same as it used in UK debit/credit cards), so the infrastructure for this technology is pretty much there for us UK users.

Also, I disagree with you about the wireless charging. I see everyones point that it still requires a 'base station' to be plugged into a wall, but when I come home everyday I just 'plonk' my phone on the side table and get on with my day. How good would it be to have the iPhone automatically charge when this is done.

I know there are mats out there offering this type of functionality but require their own ugly and bulky cases, no thanks from me.
Click to expand...


Yea, but if you want to USE your iPhone while its charging you can't. It HAS to stay flat against the mat. Do you ever use the phone while its plugged in?

Get a dock, then you can plonk the phone down on top of it.

Wireless charging seems like all flash with no substance. Just drop it in a dock if you really don't want to fumble for a cable.
 
daveishere said:
Wireless Charging.
Click to expand...

Why? So you are forced to put your phone on some sort of a mat? This is impractical for a lot of people and a novelty at best. When I charge my phone it is sitting on my nightstand, I can pick the phone up and use it while it continues to charge.

Plenty of time I come home from work, and while I change get ready to go do whatever I have planned, I stick my phone in the charger to get some extra battery life out of it, but while it is doing that I use it still. Meaning each time I pick it up, it stops charging.

irDigital0l said:
Because there was literally zero surprises.

This year, we were bombed with iPhone 5 leaks.

Nothing was new or surprising, in fact people are saying the iPod section was more interesting than the iPhone.

Bet if there wasn't that many leaks, it would be a lot more interesting and seem more like a substantial upgrade.
Click to expand...

I agree, this was my only disappointment, I knew everything for weeks (granted I didn't have confirmation then, but still). Its the fact that they made a ton of hardware changes, but no significant software changes (excluding iOS 6 of course) (no software that sets it apart from the 4S).

Otherwise, I look forward to my phone arriving a week from today, now I am going to obsess over the tracking information. Here to hoping that it shows up a day early.
 
If Apple had included NFC and wireless charging in iPhone 5, the same people that are bitching now would still be bitching about some other thing they didn't include and how they're not innovating.

Apple will innovate when they come out with a new product. Smartphones are not new products anymore, and there's not much else you can do to them at this point other than change UIs and make tweaks. I'm not sure how Apple makes this beautiful new upgraded iPhone and gets slammed for it, while Androids updates, though they are cool, are always given a pass, even though they are even more marginal sometimes than Apple's. Yes, Apple is supposed to be the innovator all the time, but isn't Google supposed to innovate too?

I can't believe all the bitching and moaning, but I should have been more mentally prepared for it. It will happen with every iPhone Apple releases from here on, because we already basically know what iPhones do. Same with iPads. When the Apple TV or some other thing comes out, people will change their tune. Apple has a ton more growth still in the iPhone market--worldwide, smartphones are still not a mature market.
 
Nothing new, all was expected... Ill get one for my wife still rocking my S3 and my 4s is still stored in his box. The only device i am rocking now from apple is my macbook pro with retina display. The first iphone was a revolution and i am a proud owner of iPhone but android already got iphone's tail.
 
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