> But, [Maps] isn't nearly as comprehensive as Google's offerings on Android. The biggest drawback is the unfortunate lack of public transportation directions. If you haven't quite mastered New York City's subway system, you won't get any help from your iPhone 5. Curiously, the app offers to give you public transportation directions, but should you choose that option it pops you straight into the App Store with a search for "Routing Apps." Right now, there are zero results.
By itself, no public transportation directions in Maps should be a deal-breaker for anyone living in a big city. How Apple could have allowed such a huge feature regression from the 4S/iOS 5 to get into the final version of the iPhone 5 is beyond me.
Going with Maps over Google Maps is one of the worst regressions I've seen in an OS/Software in a long time. Google Map's is simply brilliant, the de-facto standard, always being improved, flawless in a sense and these guys go with their own mapping software. It really blows my mind. I'm thinking it's simple arrogance on the iOS teams part (perhaps management as well). I've read many stories of how big of an asshole Scott Forstall is and I believe them.
Apple is a great company and their really driving themselves into the ground (well, maybe not yet) with all these frivolous patent troll lawsuits (claiming shape patents, suing a grocery store in Eastern Europe), Sandboxing app, rigorous Nazi-like App store tactics (they claim quality here, yeah my ass, there are probably 300,000 of the 500,00 apps which are pure garbage). It's got to end somewhere.
Anyway, back to Maps. It's a bad move, I've been playing with Maps on iOS6 since the first Beta, I don't know what they're thinking (or even if they're thinking) and it shows the character of that company.
The lightning adaptor is also bullshit - since now everyone will have to spend $100s on adaptors and new chargers. The 24-pin, while dated, worked and was just fine. I haven't played with the new connector yet - but it looks to me like it's easy to disconnect. I remember the older 24-pin connectors had clamps so to speak on the side to lock them in place and the current ones do a good job of staying put. This connector seems very fragile and flimsy and I see it disconnecting all over the place. Again, can't make this call until I play with the device.
It's the same logic with the "new" MagSafe 2 connector. Get outta here. The Mag Safe was just fine. There was nothing wrong with (aside from maybe, the ridiculous price tag). $30 for an adapter is obscene. These things cost $1.99 to produce in China (probably less) and Apple is simply milking the fanboys and corporate "we don't care we'll buy anything Apple because it looks cool" clients. I would know, I'm the one buying $100k of Apple products every year for the company I used to work for. It's really something.
BTW, the iPhone 5 is the iPhone 4Stretched. Bigger screen and a A6 process. Come on. The 4S has an A5X, I bet the performance benchmarks are negligible between the two. Software and the placebo-effect will do a hell of a job convincing the normal user that it "feels faster."
They could have done a lot more with this phone, they didn't because they didn't have to. I don't blame them.
>The 24-pin, while dated, worked and was just fine
Kinda like VGA ports on notebooks.
>This connector seems very fragile and flimsy and I see it disconnecting all over the place
>The 4S has an A5X, I bet the performance benchmarks are negligible between the two
The maps change is such a big deal I can't help but think there's also some big money involved. Also gone is the youtube app. Since google makes money from ads, and the iphone apps don't have a lot of ads, was apple paying google? Did google ask for eighty bajillion dollars when it came time to renew the contract?
Anyone with a MagSafe 2 connector knows how inferior it is compared to the previous connector. I'm just hoping the lightning connector doesn't follow suit.
Inferior how? I've got one, and I've yet to have trouble with it. It comes out a little easier than the MagSafe 1, but that's a good thing with twin toddlers running about.
The pervious MagSafe ran "flushily" out of the back of the macbook, the new one juts out and is easily dislodged. I'm I the only one that detests the new MagSafe?
I liked that previous (pre latest magsafe 1) connector because you can plug it any way. Though with magsafe2 it seems that there's a lottery involved, some people on twitter did say that new one is actually stronger
Sometimes it's worth skipping the new software entirely. I think my old iPhone 3G could have been the last phone running iOS3 when I finally upgraded to the 4S. I refused to "upgrade" an iPhone 3G to iOS4 and burden the phone with an OS that the hardware couldn't handle.
As far as the article goes, I wonder why Engadget didn't list the new maps as a con. Certainly sounds like one, even in their own words.
You won't be able to designate that as your "default" Maps app though, right? So if there's an address in another app, you can't just tap on it to go straight to the Google Maps app.
With Chrome on iOS, Google might have some wiggle room. For instance, in the G+ app, if you try to open a link in a browser, you get the option to open in either Safari or Chrome. Maybe they can do something similar for Maps?
I know that doesn't really solve the issue for other apps, but I bet a good amount of address-clicking comes from the browser.
It's sad that every time the authors chose to compare the phone they compared it with iPhone 4S instead of comparing it with any of the newer phones out there in the market such as Lumia 920 or GSIII. That is like taking a page from Apple's marketing book. Of course it is going to be better than the older version released last year. How does it compare to the phones of this generation?
That question is left unanswered. May be that is because the audience won't like the answer...
Sure, comparisons with the 920 or GSIII are interesting to those who are watching the market, but frankly only comparisons to previous iPhones are useful.
Nowadays iPhones and flagship Androids have gotten good enough that the pain of switching ecosystems far outweighs any benefit to be gained by switching ecosystems.
>> the pain of switching ecosystems far outweighs any benefit to be gained by switching ecosystems.
Not sure I agree. Most people I know ended up with their phone because that's what was popular at the time, or because it was pushed into their face, or it was reasonably inexpensive, or it was what their company handed out. They use it, play games, might use a specific app here and there, and might use the more advanced ecosystem features but more than likely those confuse them. They use it because they're used to it by this point, and not much more. Meaning changing wouldn't be the end of the world.
Personally I have an iPhone (and iPad) and have a good number of apps, though I regularly use very few of them and am enamoured with even less. I'm not necessarily invested in the ecosystem -- I wouldn't mind throwing away most apps I paid for since they were $1 and because I don't even use most of them any more, and the ones I do care about are most likely available on alternative ecosystems. It also doesn't help that my backups in iTunes fail 90% of the time and the bulkiness and slowness of iTunes does not often lead to a positive experience. I'm not saying alternative ecosystems would be all roses, just that this is my experience and that it prevents me from becoming overly attached.
I'm also thinking in terms of familiarity. For me, I get frustrated whenever I use an iPhone because there's no back button. I also get frustrated whenever I need to change any sort of setting on my wife's iPhone.
I disagree. After using and enjoying my iPhone 4 for quite a while my next phone is going to be android, to see how the other half lives. $10 in the play store and a few hours making sure all my settings are synched should be sufficient (and the synching I would have had to do anyway to go from iPhone 4 -> iPhone 5).
I've been in the ecosystem since the original iPhone. Switching would involve a significant time and money outlay as I figure out what apps I should replace my current apps with and outlay the money to do so. It would easily wind up costing me as much as the phone.
It depends on how many applications you use very regularly. Games pretty much get old as you complete them. When it comes to the rest of the apps, I doubt an average person buys more than a few bucks worth of non-game apps.
smartphone costs a few thousand dollars to own over a couple of years. Cost of apps is bust a small portion of that cost.
but how long in the play store to find good replacements for your iOS apps?
(btw, I'm not at all saying there aren't good replacements, just that you have to learn about which ones these are. The same argument could be made with regards to switching from Android to iOS).
This is simply false they compared the Sunspider mark (924) to SG3 (1400) and HTC one (1700) and the battery life (11:15 rundown) to industry leading Droid RAZR Maxx (+10 min longer).
I have zero desire to upgrade to iPhone 5. At this point, I can't see anything that would compel me to plunk down any money for the device over what I have now (iPhone 4).
That being said, if I had a free upgrade, I'd take it, but I wouldn't pay any money for it.
I'd actually be more interested in a new iPad (please call it the iPad 4...'The New iPad' is a ridiciously stupid name) with a better processor for playing Madden NFL type games.
I can't believe they are using those round icons. Does that strike anyone else as odd? It doesn't fit with anything else they are releasing and, IMO, looks pretty terrible.
Developing with 4/4S everyday I just can't help but notice the difference in performance between them. Now, 5 is 2+ times as fast as 4S it seems, so I would argue that for 4 owners it's a pretty good upgrade. For 4S, well, maybe it's not that exciting
The more I see that Lightning port, I can't help but wonder why they didn't just do the obvious and go for micro USB. I'm wholly confident Apple could design the highest of quality micro USB connector to satisfy even the biggest of haters that claim its too flimsy while silencing the constant gripe of obsolescence.
Spend any time with an iPad or iPhone, try plugging it in in a dark room, and you'll curse Apple for having such a lame 30-pin connector.
Problem solved, finally. In fairness, it's hard to make a 30-pin connector reversible. And Apple probably didn't want to annoy legions of customers by switching until they had something that was incontrovertibly better, and that they could hang their hat on for a good long time.
The real question is: why does micro-USB suck so badly? The standards committee could have gotten it right all those years ago. They just didn't bother.
Apple bothers. I appreciate this, so I send them some money every few years.
Most microUSB cables have an engraved USB logo on the top of the cable. Once you realize that it quickly becomes a habit to ensure that your thumb is on the logo when plugging it in and you get it right every time, even in the dark. Throw out any cables that don't do this.
Even with the engraving, I still miss with microUSB upwards of 60% of the time in the dark, and upwards of 30% of the time in the light (I also miss with regular USB connectors). See also this proof that USB connectors/cables exist in 4D space: http://www.smbc-comics.com/?id=2388
Strong reversible or universal connections are the way to go—and none of the USB standards are it. By universal, I mean like the nearly-ubiquitous circular plugs, but not the circular plugs—as I have yet to find one that is quality on both sides of the equation. I had a laptop die because of one of those plugs, and it wasn't the male part of the plug, but the female part. The female receptacle was slowly but surely pushed off the motherboard.
Sure. And I used to have a phone with a hateful connector that had a glow in the dark arrow on one side of the plastic housing. Treo maybe?
It worked. I was happy that it was there, and I thought it was clever-ish at the time. But it was more clever than smart. Smart is designing a connector that is easy to plug in, aligns itself, and can be done in either polarity.
That's what Apple did -- the obviously right thing that no one else had bothered to do.
Also, consider that micro-USB sucks for auto-insertion (docks, etc). It wasn't designed for it. Apple has never been shy abut breaking with common practice if they see a benefit for the product, and a few ruffled feathers won't stop them.
I'd bet lots of people won't realise that and won't make an attempt to learn that way of doing it. For them the problem will just just be a temporary, minor -- but frequently repeated -- inconvenience that they won't ever really pay much attention to.
I think it'd be far better to completely remove the opportunity for doing it wrong in the first place.
If you'll permit me to rant a bit here, why is it that IT people seem to so frequently respond to some non-optimum feature of software or hardware with a response that comes down to "but it's possible to work around it" as if that was the only legitimate option? Does this also happen in other fields?
I disagree with all the points of the article you linked. I guess most android users with a micro usb port can disagree just the same.
I charge at 2A and it's not burning. Yes you read right. Many modify their chargers to charge at 2A. Also most computers charge them at 0.5A as it's the standard (yes, some charge at 1A).
There no function micro USB cannot do due to less pins, because its 100% digital.
But then, those are just nitpicking and lightning is just fine here.
There's however actual advantages to micro-usb:
- it supports USB3, which is faster than lightning
- everyone and their dog have micro usb cables
- every phone with micro usb works on every device, dock, what not, that has a micro usb and uses usb standards for storage, audio, etc.
For USB3 support on Micro USB, you need an extra connector off to the side for the extra pins, so it's not a plug and play, reuse all your cables panacea:
Whereas Lightning just requires me to replace several of my accessories, not the cables - much better.
No, I can't just use an adapter - I have a head unit in my car that gives me some fantastic functionality, integration with the GPS, Pandora, iPod, iTunes. I thought "Great, I can upgrade, use the adapter..." - sorry, no can do. The adapter doesn't support "iPod Out" which means no remote control of devices.
Same for my bedside alarm clock, and it having the ability to wake me with my playlist, or control tracks from the console, no more 'remote control' for it.
Yeah, and they could've waited a year longer to switch directly to micro-USB 3.0, especially considering their new laptops are also supporting USB 3.0, and it would've improved the transfer speed for iTunes files anyway.
They don't. They no longer pipe audio out through the dock connector, you have to plug in a headphone cable, or the external device has to have its own DAC (ala the giant adapter they have now).
I fully agree with the OP here, the back looks bad. I don't get it. The all-glass back on the 4S was really nice. Had a certain allure and design sense to it.
Apple this time around:
Tim Cook: "Hey Jony, let's make the back uglier by anodizing the steel and let's see how many we can sell before we release the 5S next year."
Jony Ive: "Alright Tim, I bet we'll sell more than the 4S with an uglier case, you're on"
I found David Pogue's early review hilarious if only because, reading between the lines, it boils down to: David Pogue has spent thousands of dollars on third party Apple dock gadgets and does not appreciate compatibility being broken.
I find it interesting that everyone is talking about the screen size instead of the screen technology. The CNET review[1] and I'm sure others often show them side by side with the iPhone 5 brighter!, when of course it's like the before/after pictures on TV and could very well just be the slider setting.
I'm also waiting to hear better estimates for battery life -- why is talktime the best standard when no one I know talks for 8 hours on a bill, let alone a charge? I love the data/cpu usage shackles Apple has put on apps, but iOS 6 better let me turn off LTE with less than 6 taps!!
iOS 6 better let me turn off LTE with less than 6 taps
I wouldn't count on that. It wouldn't even surprise me if they didn't provide a setting to do that at all, after all, there is no way to turn of 3G in the settings.
You might have to jailbreak to get that capability.
By itself, no public transportation directions in Maps should be a deal-breaker for anyone living in a big city. How Apple could have allowed such a huge feature regression from the 4S/iOS 5 to get into the final version of the iPhone 5 is beyond me.