Credit: Apple Inc.
After an intense exchange of rumors on the Web, yesterday Apple finally unveiled it’s latest iPhone. They called it the iPhone 5 which is a name everyone will accept. What Tim Cook and his elves displayed, was not a revolutionary device, it was more an evolution of its predecessors.
These are the salient characteristics of the latest Apple smartphone:
- Larger Screen: The body of the iPhone 5 has been elongated, adding about a quarter inch to the screen height without changing the width. While the body is longer, the iPhone 5 is 18 percent thinner than the iPhone 4S — and 20 percent lighter.
- Faster Processor: The iPhone now has a faster processor than even the new iPad. According to Apple, the new A6 processor will result in applications loading twice as fast, graphics running smoother and photos capturing 40 percent faster.
- Smaller Camera: The camera has gotten 25 percent smaller, has better low light processing, and can produce panoramic images. Apple’s video conferencing app, Facetime, will now transmit HD video, and Facetime can be enabled over cellular networks and WiFi alike.
- Battery Life: the battery life of the phone will remain consistent if not a little better (10 percent improvement overall) than battery life on past iPhones. They claim 8 hours of talk time, 225 hours of stand-by, and 8 hours of LTE web browsing.
- Smaller Dock Connector: Apple has introduced an 80 percent smaller connector they are calling Lightning that can be plugged into the phone in any direction, offers faster data transfer, and better durability. But given the $3 billion a year accessory market for iPhones and iPads, this switch will be painful and costly as users are forced to buy extra charging cables, docking speakers/alarm clocks or cases. Apple will be selling adapters for $29 that will ship in October.
- Price: The new smartphone will come in black and white with a new, brushed metal back. It will be available for pre-order September 14th and in stores September 21st. The 16GB model will retail for $199, 32GB for $299, 64GB for $399. The iPhone 4S goes down in price to $99 and the iPhone 4 slides down to zero—nada. Initial countries where the iPhone 5 will be available: United States, Canada, UK, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Germany, France, and Australia. Availability in more countries by the end of the year.
Is the new iPhone worth your hard-earned dollars? I don’t have the answer to this question, but I’m sure you will. Many will wait in line on a freezing evening to put their paws on the latest iPhone, while others will just yawn and continue their sleep. As far as I’m concerned, I’ll keep using my ole Chinese Apple clone smartphone. Good Day.
While the author may expect each additional iPhone to be the latest and greatest world-changing gadget, Apple may be smarter than that. They may continue to improve the margin and total sales of this product, raking in huge sums of money, whilst simultaneously re-directing their creative talent towards the next game-changing (disruptive) phone device. If the iPhone already over-delivers on the needs of its customers (which I believe it does), then it’s already ripe for disruption.