Review of iPhone: Reality Check

[photobloke]

I am disappointed by Apple's most recent incarnation of the iPhone. Rather than continue the innovation that was started with Steve Jobs or reviewing the current trends in the mobile market, Apple has chosen to be safe. Reviewers are touting some of the advances that Apple has made, but all seems to be a bit biased. While Apple could have made improvements to the product, they've actually taken a step backward in the development of this iconic phone.

The expansion in the landscape is welcome; however, it doesn't go far enough. If they truly wanted to improve the landscape, making the phone wider would have also been a smart idea. As a photographer, the aspect ratio is completely off. It stretches the landscape, but a corresponding height adjustment would keep photo composition better. The expanded landscape hasn't really been taken advantage of in iOS 6. From the reviews that I've read, the notifications could have been placed elsewhere or better handled through proper use of the expanded screen size. The screen resolution as mentioned in some reviews I've read is marginally improved and doesn't compare to the offerings of other manufacturers who have lost patent lawsuits against Apple.

By placing the headphone jack at the bottom of the phone, Apple has also erred. Anyone designing carrying cases for this phone is going to face some challenges as the bottom will need to have less support in order to allow headphone access. From the few reviews and handling the phone myself, I'm disappointed in some of the choices made in addition to the positioning of this jack.

The continued use of the "Home" button demonstrates that Apple didn't learn from the defects of the prior incarnation. This home button over time loses it's functionality. The contact when pressed is faulty: the double click to open the dock to currently running apps hardly ever functions correctly. This will make the iPhone 5 just as likely to experience the same issues as its predecessor.

With the introduction of iOS 6, Apple failed to negotiate terms with Google in order to have access to the superior Mapping technology that they have. No longer can you find bus routes integrated into the directions on Maps. Apple is failing in this: they've taken away functionality and are touting some improvements that are purely aesthetic in nature. You no longer have access to Google Street View and the satellite imagery that Google provided. Apple needs someone on their team that can negotiate better terms with other companies. Their products can only be improved by cooperating with other companies. They've offended one of the largest software companies and were unsuccessful in licensing technology that many use to produce movies. Now they have allowed an advantage to their competitor by not using Google mapping technology in favour of a far poorer offering?

iOS 6 has also demonstrated lags in performance. The messaging function is far slower than in iOS 5. I've sent messages to another iPhone user and the message takes significantly longer to transmit. Many users have also commented on the sapping of battery life experienced using iOS 6. The workarounds suggested all indicate shutting down things to allow the battery life to survive longer. Why? You've provided an updated chip, a larger battery, introduced 4G LTE capability. Why provide all this when the user is forced to shut down location services, pinging, message notifications, all the background processing that more RAM and processing power should be able to handle? The battery can't handle the workload that the new processor and 4G are putting on the unit.

A major complaint that emerged in the former iPhone incarnation was the placement of the antenna along the side where the user would grip the phone and Apple had to make changes to software to compensate for the poor reception received. I can't properly use the bluetooth headphones I've got with the phone in a case at my belt. When the antenna knocks or comes in contact with the human body's electrical field, you lose the connection to the headphones and calls are also dropped. Nowhere, as of yet, have I been convinced that, by placing the antenna at the top of the phone which is most likely where it is now in the iPhone 5 given the relocation of the jack to the bottom, the antenna reception issues have been resolved.

The only good thing that I can say about this incarnation is that they decided to put a more durable back on the phone. The mess that having a ceramic back caused was horrible. There was inadequate protection for the phone and I know users who have had to replace the back more than once due to its fragile nature.

I'm seriously considering going to another carrier in order to get a better looking and functioning phone. However, given the open source issues allowing incursions into private data contained on the phone, I'm reluctant to endorse that operating system. The lack of quality control over the app market is also something that's holding me back from transferring to that product.

I'll probably go with the iPhone 5: not because they've improved the iPhone, because in reality they haven't. I'll go with the iPhone because of the better security of my data and the quality control exercised in the app store. Eventually hackers will break into the OS, (they already have introduced viruses into the Macintosh line of computers) but I'd rather trust Apple's OS programming over Microsoft's or Android's.

I tried to make some of these points on Apple's forum: they deleted my comments. I trust that someone will present this reality check to the engineers at Apple and not delete my commentary on this forum.

As a final note: Microsoft has negotiated licensing arrangements with Apple for some of the patents they hold. Windows 8 is going to be introduced and Microsoft has purchased cell phone manufacturers in order to break into the market. I hope that someone at Apple is keeping a better eye on the market's developments so that they don't experience the same issues that Research in Motion are. Blackberry is losing market share and I think that by not making adequate research and developmental improvements, Apple is going to suffer down the line much as Research in Motion did when the iPhone was introduced.

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[iVan]

Bravo! I like your insight and your sense of observation. What I'll add is that the iPhone is just a telephone. What it does is limited compared to a true camera and a dedicated computing device and you just can't ask so much of a tiny phone. It's a little bit like a Swiss army knife, you can whittle a bit of wood with one but not carve a masterpiece. For my part I do not use phones. I can't stand them and I especially despise the telecommunication leeches that rob you with a smile. This said I like an iPod Touch better btw.