

The iPhone 5 - spearo77
http://daringfireball.net/2012/09/iphone_5

======
blrgeek
This is not really a review - reads more like a lover on his last moments of
love, desperately rationalizing things. Personally I think smartphones have
almost commoditized. Apple has added ZERO product innovation this time in
software or hardware. No - making a thinner, taller phone is not innovation.

To summarize the 'review'

0\. Glass was the best material for the phone till last week. Now it's
aluminium. Plastic sucks because it scuffs instead of breaking but feels cheap
so I hate it. Why doesn't everyone else use an inferior material that Apple
just stopped using?

1\. The bigger screen sucks. But after using it for a week, the old screen is
too small. 3.5" was _perfect_ till now. 4" is _perfect_ hereon. Anything
bigger is only for stupid people who have and use two hands. And if they have
two sizes, stupid people will always choose the bigger one - it's better that
apple decides the right size for me.

2\. The display is brighter and more saturated than the 4S. But not AS bright
or saturated as the S3. It's _just_ perfect, because its from Apple. Oh wait -
the display is from LG. It's got a lower resolution than the S3? Crispness is
what matters.

3\. The Camera is good.

4\. AT&T sucks. Verizon rocks. Oh you can't do data+voice simultaneously on
Verizon. But who needs that?

5\. Battery life is same as on 4S. Who needs more than that?

6\. The benchmark score of the processor is the highest Apple has so far. The
S3 beats the pants off the iPhone 5? That's not a phone is it?

7\. iOS6? There's nothing to talk about. I mean they screwed up the Maps. They
copied notifications last time so there's nothing left to copy.

~~~
siglesias
So this is the level of discourse the community has decided that best engages
with Gruber's review? Just seven lines of banal vitriol and claims--without
justification--that the review "reads more like a lover on his last moments of
love" and "making a thinner, taller phone is not innovation."

The miniaturization of electronics is arguably one of the most significant
trends of our technological era. Many of the great science fiction writers of
the 50s and 60s, despite getting so much right, in large part missed
miniaturization. What once filled rooms was reduced in the 80s to what could
sit on a desk, and now to what can fit in our pockets. So making a thinner,
taller phone is not innovation? Why?

I know that Apple isn't popular around these parts, but let's at least have an
intelligent conversation about specifically what we find fault with instead of
ranting and rage-upvoting incoherent rants.

~~~
bluthru
>I know that Apple isn't popular around these parts

Except that we know from surveys that most HN readers use Apple computers,
phones, and tablets. And yet, even here, you can't appreciate feats of design,
engineering, and usability without s vocal minority getting amusingly angry.

~~~
sneak
The median HN user is a white male who uses Chrome on OSX.

------
darkpicnic
Funny, I've bought every iPhone to date except this one. In fact, I went out
and bought a Galaxy Nexus instead. I did it because Apple's fascination with
perfecting form and design has somehow morphed into this inability to
innovate.

The primary reason I switched was that one day, I opened up my home screen and
realized it hasn't changed in 5 years. We still open apps one at a time, each
app allotted a sort of pseudo background API that allows minimal
functionality. And God those apps are pretty. And the FPS is amazing. And the
fluidity of the experience is breathtaking... but at the end of the day, my
device is about acquiring information. I want to know when my train is coming,
I want to save map info when I don't have a connection, I want to know that
when I leave for work and hit the subway, Pocket auto downloaded all those
articles I saved for later.

Apple still maintains the best hardware, hands down. It's not even comparable.
But it's irrelevant if the apps that reside on that phone are completely
crippled by a draconian sense of design and control. If the phone has a
"workstation tower processor" inside it, why the hell can't they let up and
let the thing actually PROCESS more information?

I'll miss the beauty of it, that's for sure, but unless Apple gets its act
together with background processing and figuring out how to actually do cloud
anything right, I'm moving to Google.

~~~
eridius
> If the phone has a "workstation tower processor" inside it, why the hell
> can't they let up and let the thing actually PROCESS more information?

Because of power. It may have "workstation tower processing" power, but it's
not hooked up to a wall socket. Power consumption is the gigantic bugaboo that
plagues mobile devices, and that (in my opinion) justifies Apple's policies
about background processing on iOS.

~~~
majormajor
I wish they'd go further, though: how much battery life could Apple get out of
an iPhone if they kept their great minimization and efficiency-maximization of
the electronics going, but pulled back from the thinner-and-lighter-every-time
mantra and devoted all the saved space to a bigger battery?

An iPhone that's smaller than my still-pocketable non-Apple phone isn't that
appealing to me (yay for having above-average-sized hands!). An iPhone that
could go a week easily on a single charge would make me sit up and take
notice, though.

~~~
chrisbolt
If you care more about battery life, why not just add something like
[http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=112&c...](http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=112&cp_id=11213&cs_id=1083111&p_id=8292&seq=1&format=2)
?

------
joebadmo
Disclaimer: Android user.

Every time I'm up to get a new phone I come _this_ close to switching to
iPhone. My wife has one, and I've switched to Macs. But there are certain
utilitarian functions that keep me on Android.

As of the last two design revs, though, I also have an aesthetic aversion to
the iPhone. Gruber describes the jewelry or fine watch-like quality very well.
But I don't wear jewelry or fine watches. (Ok, I wear a wedding ring, but it's
a plain band.)

Maybe I'm just a philistine, but there's something about old original Motorola
Droids that are at this point beaten up and worn that have a really nice aged,
aesthetic weight to them.

It's a sentiment similar to the one Khoi Vinh lays out here:
<http://www.subtraction.com/2007/07/16/designed-det> but not quite, because I
think smart phones become obsolete too quickly for 'designed deterioration' to
be realistic.

Maybe it's more that I don't want to feel that precious about these objects. I
like to be able to not have to worry that much about taking care of my phone,
to be able to toss it around without worrying about damage.

Or maybe it's just an emotional, class-based aversion to luxury goods because
I grew up in working class conditions.

~~~
cageface
There is something a little crass about this angle of iPhone marketing.

But marketing the iPhone as a luxury status symbol could be a little dangerous
for them since they really only make one flagship phone. Even here in Vietnam
I see iPhones all over the place and it just isn't a very effective signal of
wealth anymore. But when I pull out my S3 people always want to look at it and
play with it.

~~~
samstave
What do you do in vietnam?

~~~
cageface
Freelance mobile development. For the last 18 months iOS and now Android.

~~~
samstave
Pm me a portfolio and your rates please :)

~~~
sneak
I see what you did there.

I hope he sends you rates on par with London, NYC, or SF. ;)

------
Steko
I'm glad he spent a long time on the feel. My primary criticism of my 4S
echoed Edward Tufte's words here:

 _Last year in Cupertino, I yelled at some people about touchscreens that paid
precise attention to finger touches from the user but not to how the device in
turn touches the hands of the user (and produces divot edge-lines in the
flesh)._

Those creases between the antenna bands and the glass back combined with the
4S's weight were very noticeable the first time I held the 4S for more than 5
minutes and through the first week I had it. It faded completely fairly
quickly and I laugh about it now but I have to think one of their major goals
with this iteration was to erase that defect.

People seem disappointed every time Apple doesn't come out with a total
redesign but total redesigns are basically admissions that what you were
shipping last week was totally wrong. I have to think that a unibody metal
frame is what they've been shooting for all along. They couldn't work the
antennae properly so they settled on a lot of plastic and then glass and
finally they got their unibody aluminum chassis. I wouldn't be surprised if by
next year they completely remove the glass inlays on the back and move to
liquidmetal alloys.

------
nizmow
Great review. I'm disappointed that the screen size change is noticably
awkward -- I was hoping it would be something that you'd get used to in a
matter of minutes. I currently have a Galaxy Nexus and hitting the top left is
impossible without two hands or hand contortion that leaves the device in
serious risk of being dropped.

Also, why on earth would Apple choose to have apps letterboxed in portrait
mode? Wouldn't it make WAY more sense to align them on the bottom of the
display, so that the keyboard would at least be in the same place across all
applications? Here's hoping developers don't lag on updating their apps.

~~~
bobbles
It's most likely for the consistency within apps that can rotate to landscape
and still have a keyboard displayed.

Would you expect the app to then slide to the middle? Or stay aligned-left and
make it harder for the right hand?

~~~
omaranto
I'd vote for slide to the middle. Bottome-aligned in portrait, centered in
landscape sounds good to me. I know that sounds "ugly" but it's probably
pretty practical.

------
akavlie
Gruber says that _"none of the competing phones on the market are made of
metal"_.

So what about the Lumia 800 (1)? Or the One S (2)?

1) [http://www.theverge.com/2011/11/3/2534861/nokia-
lumia-800-re...](http://www.theverge.com/2011/11/3/2534861/nokia-
lumia-800-review)

2) <http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/2/2916098/htc-one-s-review>

~~~
ghshephard
From theVerge review on the Lumia800: "What you see and feel in your hand is a
seamless piece of soft-touch plastic"

From the Wikipedia Article: "A trough-colored unibody shell is made from
polycarbonate plastic."

And, Gruber had a demo-unit of the Lumia 800:

<http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/04/03/>

~~~
akavlie
Sorry, misread the review for the Lumia 800. I'd always been under the
impression that the Lumia phones were anodized aluminum; turns out they're
polycarbonate.

Still, there's the One S, for... one. And that was just a quick find among the
current crop of recommended phones; I wouldn't be surprised if there are
others.

~~~
manojlds
Nokia N8 and E7, last flagship Nokias before the lumias, were made of Anodized
Aluminium. I own the N8 and the N800 and both feel great in the hand.

------
rince
For being a review of the iPhone 5, notice that it is only focused on the
hardware. There is no talk of iOS 6 at all.

And personally, I think that iOS 6 is a disappointment and no one wants to
admit it. The hardware is eclipsing the software.

~~~
masklinn
> And personally, I think that iOS 6 is a disappointment and no one wants to
> admit it. The hardware is eclipsing the software.

The actual explanation is that the iOS6 beta was made available in June,
people have been talking about it for 3 months. It's old news (and felt
enormously boring during the keynote as we'd already seen pretty much
everything they demoed aside from — I believe — panorama). The hardware, on
the other hand, is new.

------
nicholassmith
Gruber is right to spend the first 750 words talking about something that most
people won't care about, the fit and finish. Smartphones are pretty much all
the same, despite parties from both camps rearing up and claiming their phone
of choice is The One True Phone, so companies need to find ways to set them
apart. Apple's devotion to realising their designs is what sets them apart.
Whilst Joe Public won't care about precision manufacture and such he will
notice how _good_ the phone feels. There's a reason Rolex, Omega and so on
still make very expensive, high quality watches, and a reason why people still
buy them.

Unfortunately there's a vocal group on here who are willing to just sit and go
"Gruber is an Apple shill, there's nothing in here, he makes weird
justifications", and he does in places, but he's also given Apple a hard time
over changing display size so it's slightly hard to cover the screen but he
knows they've had to do that in response to the market.

There's plenty to like in the iPhone 5, and I'll be upgrading my 4 to one when
I can because for me Apple is still producing the nicest hardware for a
smartphone and that trumps anything else _for me_. Stop assuming your personal
feelings about it are real world facts, because you love the iPhone doesn't
make it the best, and because you love the Galaxy doesn't make it the best.

------
mmobile
> But navigating the full screen while holding the iPhone [5] in one hand is
> worse ... Consider the windshield wipers on a car, and how, because they
> swing in a radial arc, they can’t reach the passenger-side top corner.

Gruber brought up a very good point about the somewhat less than perfect
screen size which shows a UI weakness of iOS: the back button—one of the most
used UI elements—is always at the top left. Try it yourself, go to versus io
to see the iPhone 5 in its orignal size, calibrate your screen (click at the
top-right corner on versus io) and place your hand next to the iPhone and see
if your thumb would be able to reach the top-left corner:
[http://versusio.com/en/apple-iphone-5-64gb-vs-samsung-
galaxy...](http://versusio.com/en/apple-iphone-5-64gb-vs-samsung-galaxy-s3) In
contrast, Android has hardware back keys always at the bottom, so even 4,8"
phones could be used for a short while with one hand (just try the same
experiment with the S3). Moreover, there's a huge target not bothering about
bigger phones because they have space in their bag and don't put them into
their pockets (women). So, I agree with Gruber to start offering two size: 3.5
and something about 4.5 or even larger (and changing the back button UI in the
long run).

~~~
solarmist
iOS 6 has the back button on the bottom.

------
tarungangwani
Interesting to see both Gruber and Dalrymple find the taller screen and letter
boxing to be troublesome. Though it will take some getting used to, the main
stream press will certainly clamor over this being a largely negative move by
Apple.

Gotta love Gruber's continued adherence to succinct style and message. Makes
for a great, consumable read.

------
d0m
Personally, I'm disappointed. The thing is, I know I'm totally wrong because
the iphone 5 is such a beautiful beast and probably the best smartphone out
there.

Still, what I liked the most about the iphone, and the ipad, and the macbook,
was how innovative it was. Everything was new. New concepts, new icon, new
look and feel.. a whole refreshing new feeling.

I feel like the iphone5 is mostly a simple hardware update. I.e every now and
then, I'll switch my old memory for a new one 2x faster. It's not innovative
or original.. it's just faster memory.

So, this is why I'm disappointed. Not because the iphone5 is not good (it's
great!). It just didn't satisfied my _WOW_ factor.

~~~
wvenable
> what I liked the most about the iphone, and the ipad, and the macbook, was
> how innovative it was. Everything was new. New concepts, new icon, new look
> and feel.. a whole refreshing new feeling.

I can't help but feel that you're misrepresenting the past. The iPhone has had
the same look and feel, icons, and basic design since the very first version
released 5 years ago. The iPad UI is very much a scaled up version of that
very same look and feel. It seems odd to stop and complain _now_ that the
phone is an incremental upgrade.

The iPhone is _always_ going to be a simple hardware upgrade; its entire
design is based around making the software front and center.

------
DigitalSea
If the only nice thing you can say about a phone is the camera and how it
feels, not to mention devote at least 2 paragraphs to how pedantic Apple is
about design and it paints a familiar picture. Apple are losing at their own
game, the game they started and now a game that others are finishing for them.

The only great thing about the new iPhone is the fact that the iOS 6 operating
system is comes with has an awesome vector maps feature that blows Google Maps
out of the water. I'm not prepared to spend $1000 AUD on buying an iPhone 5
when it doesn't offer anything significantly new, where's the NFC chip?

~~~
headShrinker
NFC is nearly useless at this point and there is a possibility it will never
become ubiquitous. I don't see NFC being a huge selling point outside of the
techies fpr quite some time.

~~~
cooldeal
Well, if only NFC had a big backer and became much more popular.. then maybe
merchants would use it. A backer like, you know Apple?

~~~
dtorres
So, you are saying that Samsung and Nokia aren't popular enough?

Samsung and Nokia are popular enough and have the resources to back NFC but as
of now they haven't done anything besides launching phones with the
technology.

NFC today is just a dummy selling point and they know it, because they haven't
done anything to make it popular.

~~~
r00fus
This is basically where Bluetooth was in, say 2003. People are disappointed
because Apple is generally forward-looking when it comes to standards and
tech, but has shied away from NFC (which shouldn't be surprising given their
stance on USB3.0 and Blu-Ray).

------
dr_
It's interesting to note how, unless I've missed it, the verge has been left
out of the party. I enjoy reading Joshua's reviews, which are critical when
appropriate, although somewhat verbose. I'm sure the iPhone 5 is solid, I'll
probably be ordering it, but it seems like the product is intentionally kept
away from more critical reviewers.

~~~
jad
> it seems like the product is intentionally kept away from more critical
> reviewers.

Macworld didn't get one either, and they're not exactly known for their
critical reviews of Apple products:
<https://twitter.com/jsnell/status/248233492650020864>

------
redthrowaway
Can we stop pretending that Bruner has anything interesting to say about Apple
products? You know what he's going to say before you click the link. It's just
self-congratulation for apple fans.

Now, I don't hate Apple, behaviour aside. They make great products. But Gruber
has nothing new or interesting to say about them. It's just the same old, and
is uninteresting. Anyone who feels the need to read what he thinks about Apple
can just go to daringfireball; nobody's discovering any great insights here.

------
kylec

        In an ideal world, perhaps Apple would offer two iPhone sizes — like they do
        with products such as MacBook Pros, MacBook Airs, and iMacs. A smaller one with
        the classic 3.5-inch display, and a larger (say, 4.5-inch?) one for people who
        want that.
    

Isn't this exactly what Apple's doing? The iPhone 4 and 4S aren't going away,
people now have a choice which size they want.

~~~
joering2
No it isnt. Apple will not produce more 4's. The ones on sell now are
production lot's remainings. The only reason "apple can offer them" is because
it wiser to sell them than to throw away.

And people don't have a choice in size. They have a choice in sie that goes
MANDATORY with other specs, such as slower CPU, less advanced OS, less
functionality, heavier/thicker device, have they decide to go with smaller
screen.

~~~
Bud
You clearly have no understanding of Apple's obsessive degree of supply-chain
control.

The 4S is likely to be still for sale for two more YEARS. You think Apple just
accidentally made a two-year surplus of the 4S, and now they are stuck with
them, so they have to keep selling them? The actual figure is probably more
like two days than two years.

------
josteink
Gruber really doesn't write reviews. He writes Fifty shades of grey for Apple
fanboys.

His writing serves little purpose sans as a base for analysis of how the Apple
RDF affects basic reasoning.

------
pbreit
Why are HNers totally incapable of evaluating high quality products? This
situation is even more egregious since the high quality product costs the same
as the low quality product.

------
greendestiny
I think if you read in between the lines you can understand the generally
underwhelmed reaction to the iPhone 5. There isn't anything on the iPhone 5
that feels like a step forward for mobile computing. The biggest change is the
change in screen size, which is awkward and driven by keeping up with consumer
expectation.

~~~
ronnier
Maybe phones are becoming feature complete? If they add to much to quickly,
they'll have nothing to put out for the next model :D

If you could magically ship something with the iPhone 5, what would it be?

~~~
nizmow
Seconded. I can't think of any huge, groundbreaking features that have been
included in, say, new laptops over the last 10 years. Faster, thinner,
lighter, better battery life, nicer displays, what more do you want? It's
turning into a software game.

~~~
Bud
I would say SSD replacing disk drives has been the most jarring performance
improvement. It's really a night-and-day, sudden difference. But yes, that's
not a new feature, per se.

------
stiff
This review could be the poster boy for the more and more idiotic consumerism
that is the plague of our age.

------
stevedc3
Gruber is an amazing writer. Blows away the other reviews.

~~~
cracell
Gruber is a great writer but a terrible reviewer. His recent writing
completely lacks any balance. It's obvious that he loves Apple and doesn't
give a fair review. I don't have any issue with people liking Apple products
but I don't understand why Hacker News upvotes his one-sided blog posts so
highly.

~~~
prophetjohn
Exactly. His writing is way too sweet on Apple. I ordered the new iPhone and
when I got to the end at the part where I'm supposed to buy it just because it
says "iPhone" on the back, I was nearing the point of gagging.

The rationalizing of why they would switch from 3.5" to 4" when they always
make the right choices was particularly a low point for me, also. I guess I
knew what I was getting myself into when I clicked the link, though.

And shockingly, downvotes for calling a spade a spade.

~~~
glhaynes
From the linked article: _There’s a reason why, just as with all five of its
predecessors, it just says “iPhone” on the back._

An awfully awkward sentence in a muddled closing, but in context he's not
saying it's worth buying just because it says "iPhone". He's saying that they
all have just said "iPhone" rather than additionally having the model number.

------
erickhill
As an aside, has anyone a clue how iTunes is going to represent the new Retina
4 capable apps in the App Store? They now require screenshots of apps for
iPhone (4), iPad and Retina 4 displays. Where are those going to appear, and
how will people access them?

~~~
cma
The level of fragmentation of display targets is approaching Android levels.
The whole point of retina being a straight linear doubling of pixels was that
you only had two device form factors to worry about: iPhone and iPad. Now you
have to worry about iPhone, tall iPhone, iPad and, soon, mini-iPad (same
aspect, but different physical/touch target size).

~~~
taligent
The Mini-iPad is widely expected to be 1024x768.

So really there are only three display targets. iPhone, iPad and Tall iPhone.

~~~
cma
I mentioned that. It is a different physical size though, so the minimum
readable size text is different, and the minimum touchable target is
different.

------
maskedinvader
The iphone 5 will sell like crazy given the large number of people approaching
their contract expiration with an earlier version of the device. It only makes
sense for most to continue to invest in the ecosystem they have already
invested. The average joe is not going to take the jump,in my opinion that
is.Ideally the phone I really want to upgrade to should have the Android Jelly
Bean's UI with iOS' ecosystem (read apps) combined in a Nokia Lumia phone. I
would pay a LOT of money for that !!!

------
Osiris
I kept reading waiting to find the section on what he DIDN'T like about the
phone. I prefer reviews that address both the good and the bad about a
product.

For example, the article about the inconsistencies in Android 4.x was pretty
well done and definitely points out issues I've had with Android.

I've never owned an iOS device so I want to hear all the pros and cons. Raving
reviews like this one do nothing to persuade me to buy it.

------
alphang
The part that I like about this review is the refrain — "It's nice". It's both
a positive comment about the phone and also a deliberately non-quantitative,
colloquial statement, recognizing it's only an incremental improvement. It's
joining the chorus but also dismissing it. The argument being that yeah it's
just nice, but that's the point. Stylistically, that's a neat little sentence.

------
Tichy
About the just right screensize bullshit: it may be just right - for exactly
one use case, which is typing with your thumb. There are dozens of other use
cases for a mobile internet client. I like to surf and read, in both cases I
cherish the big display of my Galaxy Nexus (which still fits nicely into my
trouser pockets, thank you very much).

Personally I have never typed with a thumb, and I was surprised to discover
that some people actually do that.

Even if you are convinced typing with your thumb is your main desire in life,
there are people with thumbs of different sizes. What if my thumb is 3.7
inches, not 3.5 inches. Apple would be stealing 0.2 inches from my optimal
screen estate then, just to please the masses. Or what if my thumb is only 3.0
inches? No thumb typing for me :-(

What I am saying: yes, the 3.5 iPhone screen size may by just right - for a
selected group of users with specific use cases and specific thumb sizes.
Thank god there is Android with a little variation in devices.

------
davidjohnstone
> So the question is, if a 4-inch 16:9 display is better than a 3.5-inch 3:2
> display, why hasn’t the iPhone been using 4-inch 16:9 displays from the
> start?

How about: Apple got this wrong?

To be fair to Apple, if they came out with a 4" or 4.5" back in 2007 it would
have strangely large compared to everything else on the market (not to mention
having the properties Gruber also mentions). The 3.5" screen made perfect
sense then. However, what Apple didn't do was foresee that most consumers
would prefer larger screens, and this doesn't fit with the Apple ideal of One
True Resolution. (Yes, now there are two resolutions for iPhones, but only the
vertical resolution has changed.)

------
css771
What's this. Gruber complaining that he can't reach the edges of an iPhone
display? I never thought I'd see the day.

He even admits there were some people who couldn't even use 3.5" displays one
handed. Is the Apple kool-aid wearing off?

~~~
alphang
kool-aid?

I find Daring Fireball to be at its best when Gruber pushes back on Apple's
design decisions with thoughtful critique: skeuomorphism, Safari tabs
experiments, this screen thing.

------
Tichy
In Germany there is a saying that "nice is the little sister of crap". Just
saying that the review felt lukewarm to me, even by Apple's greatest fan. But
maybe it was just that the first line ("it is nice") set the tone for me.

------
arthurrr
I think the new screen resolution is a terrible terrible decision, I like a
phone/tablet that has about the same aspect ratio as a piece of paper. For me,
4:3 and 3:2 are ideal. I have no use for widescreen, especially when I am
normally viewing the screen in portrait.

I won't be installing iOS 6, I don't think it's finished and shouldn't be
released in its current state. Too much functionality is lost with new maps.

I get the feeling that it's all downhill from here...

~~~
bluthru
>I like a phone/tablet that has about the same aspect ratio as a piece of
paper.

Once you throw some control bars at the top and the bottom of the content,
you're pretty much there. They keyboard definitely needed more screen space
above it as well.

------
rcraft
"And compared to the 4/4S’s glass back, it should prove far more
durable...this is a phone that was meant to be used without a case."

I won't be holding my breath on that one. iPhones have always been more
fragile than most comparable high end phones.

Anecdotally, I rarely see uncased iPhones in the wild - and I don't expect
this to change anytime soon.

~~~
panacea
Anecdotally, I had the first iPhone from day 1, inherited a 3GS and been
sporting the 4 since it came out. I've never used a case and the worst damage
that's happened was a stuck lock-screen button on the 3GS after years of use.

I do see lots of people with cases, though I suspect they're for bling and to
for the sense of peace-of-mind that they're protecting their shiny object.

------
buf
More features != better: [http://paulbuchheit.blogspot.com/2010/02/if-your-
product-is-...](http://paulbuchheit.blogspot.com/2010/02/if-your-product-is-
great-it-doesnt-need.html)

That being said, I'm content with my 4s, although I will probably buy my wife
a Nokia 920 so I can get a taste of the other side.

------
alexbell
Gee, I wonder why he didn't mention the maps? Apple's devices are still more
compelling for me personally, but less so than they used to me. Hopefully
Google builds and maintains its own iOS maps application.

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6ren
If it's precision-milled to the micron, why do they need "725 unique inlays"?

Serious question - I think there's something I don't understand here.

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eloisant
tl;dr

"hi, I'm Gruber and I love everything Apple does. Well, surprise: I love the
iPhone 5 too!"

