Every review of the iPhone 5 makes great efforts to talk about how light it is. I’ve read those reviews over and over again since Tuesday. Even so, when taking my iPhone 5 out of the box for the first time, I so misjudged the weight that it went flying from my fingers and onto the floor. This is lightness to the point of ephemerability. It’s so hard to believe, and yet it’s testament to the iPhone 5’s construction that such a thin slate of glass and aluminum doesn’t break apart between your fingers like a communion wafer when you touch it, let alone when you — as I did — accidentally fling it across a room. But my iPhone 5 wasn’t even scratched.

This isn’t our review of the iPhone 5. Far from it: we’ll be posting an in-depth review first thing on Monday morning, once we’ve had a chance to put it through its paces in full. These are our first impressions, and let’s say it right off the bat: from the second it comes out of the box, the iPhone 5 seems like such a leap over the iPhone 4S that it’s like picking up your first MacBook Air after lugging around a lunky 2008 MacBook Pro for years. In a couple of years, Apple has improved the design of the iPhone 4/4S so much that the latter now seems absolutely antediluvian.

Gaming is going to be a new experience on the iPhone 5 with that larger 4-inch display, which means it’s going to take a little while for your favorite games to be optimized. Fortunately, there are some incredible titles already available. We’ve put together a list of the best ones, so that you can start enjoying your iPhone’s 4-inch display the day you unwrap it.

The iPhone 5 looks pretty, but how does it fare when it’s actually used in the real world? If you accidentally drop it from 5 feet, will it shatter? Android Authority is already on the case and did a drop test comparison with the iPhone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S3, which you can watch in the video above.

The iPhone 5 dominated the competition. It picked up a few scratches and dings, but the screen never shattered after being dropped 4 times, whereas the S3 screen cracked multiple times and its back casing flew off.

Source: Android Authority

Swampy the Alligator from the hit game Where’s My Water? is turning one tomorrow. To celebrate this milestone, Disney takes a look at Swampy’s first year and the over 2 billion showers he has taken. Bathe in Swampy’s achievements and then head into the game for an exclusive birthday-themed level (tap the birthday present).

Have a happy birthday tomorrow Swampy and thanks for the hours of fun!

After lovingly unboxing your new iPhone 5 today, the first thing you’ll do is install all your favorite iOS apps. But what if you don’t have any? What if this is your first iPhone? Well, we’ve compiled a list of must-have apps for iPhone 5 to get you started. We’ve got Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube clients; news readers; note-takers; word processors, and more — and everything in the list has already been updated to take advantage of the iPhone 5’s larger display.

So dive in and check out the best apps to get you started with your new iPhone 5.

So you just had your own personal iPhone 5 unboxing. What next? If I were you, I’d hop on my bike and go burn a few calories, taking in the sunny view of the city as I go. But where would I put my new toy? After all, there are no iPhone 5 handlebar mounts available yet. Or maybe you live somewhere rainy and dull, and you want to keep your iPhone in a pocket or bag.

Luckily, the RFLKT now exists. It’s a little LCD bike computer that sits on your handlebars, only instead of just spitting out your speed and lap times, it displays sports info beamed to it from your iPhone — 5 or otherwise.

There are many who will tell you that you don’t need a case for your iPhone 5. Heck, even Apple thinks that between the new aluminum back and the strengthened Gorilla Glass 2, there’s no point in a case.

But as this picture shows — taken by a store owner with access to some iPhone 5 display units — the new aluminum back scratches just as easily as it ever did if you attack it with a hard enough object. In this case, it’s the iPhone 5’s liquid metal SIM card tray pin, which to be fair, is one of the hardest metals out there. The edge, though, was scratched up using simple keys.

In other words, depending what kind of pocket you’ll be shoving your iPhone 5 into, you may well want to invest in a case after all, no matter what people say.

Source: Overclockers.org
Via: MacRumors

iPhone launch days, like today, are freaking insane. Rabid fans across the globe line up for hours or even days just to make sure they get Apple’s newest iPhone. It’s always been that way and it gets weirder every year.

Even though this is only the sixth iPhone launch day in the history of the world, iPhone launch days have a rich history of being a little bit odd, with people wearing funny costumes, crazy attention, Apple retail staff cheering like crazy, and just straight up weirdness surrounding the launch of a new electronic device.

Here’s a look at each iPhone launch day in history:

SAN FRANCISCO — This is Charlie Hufnagel, who was paid $1,500 to be first in line for the iPhone 5 at Apple’s flagship store here in the city.

Hufnagel was hired through TaskRabbit, an increasingly popular freelance odd-job company in this economy. He’s been camping out in front of the store for 94 hours (nearly 4 days) to snag a new iPhone for a “private investor.”

In fact, there are about 70 “TaskRabbits” in line here in San Francisco, who are being paid $55 to wait up to four hours for other people. A TaskRabbit rep estimated that one in four in line here are TaskRabbits.

Dodocase is back, but this time without the faux-Moleskine iDevice covers. Now you can protect your tall, skinny iPhone 5 with Dodo’s new Durables range of covers, which also come for the MacBook and the iPad.

Job listings on Apple’s website reveal it is currently seeking developers to help fix its newly-released Maps app, which has received widespread criticism since making its debut in iOS 6 on Wednesday. The company is calling for software engineers who will be tasked with “road rendering,” and “creating new and innovative features.”

Did you ever find yourself walking down a neighborhood street and coming across a heretofore unknown (to you at least) restaurant? Did you promise yourself that you’d check it out next time you were in the mood for pizza/Indian/sushi/brunch?

And did you totally forget where it was when the time came? Then Snag My Spot is for you.

The Mac App store provides a nice, simple, graphical way to keep your Mac updated with the latest software, letting you know when system updates as well as Apple and third-party apps have a new update to be downloaded and installed.

If you don’t want to use the Mac App store, though, you can use the Terminal app along with some Terminal commands to do the same thing. When would you use this? Well, maybe when the Mac App store gets wonky, or if you’re not at the current Mac, and want to securely and remotely administer the Mac in question, that’s when.

It’s fairly simple. Here’s how.

The iPhone 5 just went on sale across the East Coast of the United States. As expected, the device has spawned lengthy queues outside of Apple retail stores all over, with more than 700 people in line outside of Apple’s flagship store on Fifth Avenue in New York.

FedEx is gearing up to deliver a whole mess of iPhone 5s today, and they are almost literally swimming in a sea of iPhone 5 boxes at their distribution center. I can only spot about three boxes that aren’t iPhones making their way through the processing belt, and it looks like one iPhone 5 fell off. I hope that one’s not yours.

Source: Reddit

Verizon has been a bit of a dick about unlimited data and the iPhone 5. First, they told customers that they’d need to pay full price for the iPhone 5 if they wanted to keep their unlimited data plans; now, they are telling customers that they shouldn’t care about unlimited data anyway, because unlimited “is just a word.”

Waiting in line for the latest iPhone is by no means a pleasant experience. Sure, Apple often hands out free coffee and cakes, but I’d sooner stroll into the store and straight back out again and pay for my own coffee on the way home. But for millions of us this morning, standing in line is the only way to secure an iPhone 5 on launch day.

That is, if you’re a law-abiding citizen. If you’re not, you might consider breaking into a local carrier store and stealing more than $100,000 worth of iPhone 5 units — just like thieves in Japan did today.

Good morning! If you got in on the preorder crush last Friday within the first hour, you’re probably not even reading these words, but tucked into your warm bed, dreaming of iPhone 5s and dancing Wozzes. If you didn’t, though, we know where you are: camped outside of your local Apple Store in the cold, going absolutely bonkers with anticipation for Apple’s best phone yet.

So line-waiters, this post is for you. Tell us a few things. Where are you? What time is it there? How big’s the line you’re in? And, most importantly, which iPhone 5 are you getting?

Me, I’m getting too rickety in the bones for lines, so I’m waiting for my 64GB white iPhone 5 on Verizon to leave the Fed Ex sorting facility in South Boston. How about you? Let’s talk about it!

Click here to discuss the iPhone 5 in our forums

There’s an awesome image flying around Twitter this morning that shows someone working for the London Underground has a great sense of humor. On one of the many signs littered around London’s tube stations, someone has written:

For the benefit of passengers using Apple iOS 6, local area maps are available from the booking office.

Apple’s new Maps app has taken a lot of stick since its debut in iOS 6 on Wednesday, and users have been flocking to Twitter to post images of towns and villages that have seemingly been wiped out by the Cupertino company.

Source: Ben Mathis on Twitter

After boarding a plane to Melbourne, Australia to be one of the first in the whole world to get their hands on an iPhone 5, the folks at iFixit have torn it apart and found that — surprise — the new iPhone seems to actually have been designed with easy repair in mind. Partially, at least.

Update: Some of you have let us know that episode 32 is not showing up in iTunes yet. We’re not sure why, but if you subscribe via iTunes or Apple’s Podcasts App, it downloads fine.

Two HUNDRED new features — that’s what Apple claims they stuffed into iOS 6, and on this week’s CultCast, we’ll tell you which of those new additions delight us, and which lesser-known features we positively love.

Then, back by popular demand, direct from our Facebook page, we answer your listener questions, and boy, are some of you guys weird imaginative.

Subscribe to The CultCast now on iTunes, or easily stream new episodes right on your iPhone or iPad with Apple’s newly updated and freshly debugged Podcasts App.

Read on for the show notes!

Apple’s new Maps app has gotten a ton of complaints since iOS 6 officially released this week, and with good reason. Heck, right here at Cult of Mac, we have a feature on how to fix the iOS 6 Maps experience, as well as a gallery on some of the worst imagery from the Maps app itself.

Apple spoke out today about the issue in a statement to AllThingsD, saying, essentially, that people need to be more patient.

iFixit rips into new technology like a ten-year-old with a stack of birthday presents. Co-founder Luke Soules flew down to Melbourne, Australia to be one of the first people to own the magical device, with the sole purpose of taking it apart at the MacFixit offices in Australia.

The process itself is well underway, as you can see in the gallery of images below.

The iPhone 5 went on sale in Australia today, and hundreds of folks lined up for the privilege of being some of the first in the country to purchase and own Apple’s latest cultural and technical marvel. Some waited as long as 68 hours for the iPhone 5, competing to be the first person in the world to own an iPhone 5.

If you’re planning on waiting in line for an iPhone 5 tomorrow, be warned: judging by the numbers of people already waiting outside some of the big Apple Stores, the iPhone 5 launch is looking like it’s going to be an absolute zoo. There have never been this many people in line this far ahead of an official Apple product launch, ever. And Apple themselves anticipate long lines outside of their stores “all day long, into the evening.”