Everyone published their iPhone 5 reviews moments ago, and unsurprisingly, the initial batch of reviews are mostly glowing. The iPhone 5 is lighter, faster and slimmer than the iPhone 4S, and there seems to be very few qualms with Apple’s latest handset.
We’ve collected most of the early iPhone 5 reviews from around the internet to give you a general sense of what reviewers are saying.
Closed captioning. This wouldn’t have even pinged on my radar if it wasn’t for an email I received from a reader not long ago. Let me tell you about it.
Jeff Benjamin at the iDownload Blog thinks it is. Comparing it to the tiny box shot on the official Apple iPhone 5 ordering page, it looks legit, and also looks as if white iPhone 5s and black iPhone 5s will be shipping in vastly different boxes: all black for the black model, mostly white and light-toned for the white model:
Looks gorgeous. Can’t wait to rip open mine.
Source: iDownload Blog
When the new iPhone 5 is officially released on Friday, it will be powered by Apple’s custom-designed A6 chip, a 1.2GHz, dual-core chip that is the first Cortex-A15 class CPU to market.
How did Apple get to this point? Just four years ago, they made their first step into custom chip design: now they are releasing cutting edge chips that are months ahead of the competition.
Over the weekend, Linley Gwennap, who heads the Linley Group chip consultacy, posted up a brief history of Apple’s chip development. It’s not just illuminating because of how we got here — from Apple buying up P.A. Semi in 2008 to signing secret deals with ARM — but in that it predicts when and what the next-gen A7 chip will look like.
The first pictures of a working iPad mini have surfaced ahead of a rumored unveiling next month. The device sports the aluminum shell we’ve seen a number of times in recent weeks, only it’s fully assembled with what appears to be a working display.
Apple unveiled the iPhone 5 to the world this past Wednesday. Besides the privileged few, most third-party case/accessory makers saw the iPhone 5’s final design at the same time as everyone else: during Apple’s media event. Apple’s thick veil of secrecy hasn’t kept case manufacturers from getting ready, however. Rumors and part leaks predicted the iPhone 5’s look and feature set pretty precisely during the months leading up to last week’s unveiling.
Pre-orders for the iPhone 5 started Friday, September 14th, and the new smartphone goes on sale officially this Friday, September 21st. If you’re in the market for iPhone 5 cases, then companies like Incase, Otterbox, Incipio, and others have you covered.
Apple has issued a press release this morning confirming that iPhone 5 pre-orders topped two million units during its first 24 hours of availability. That’s more than double the record held by the handset’s predecessor, the iPhone 4S, and Apple has warned that while the majority of pre-orders will be delivered on launch day, September 21, “many” are scheduled to be delivered in October.
With Apple’s initial iPhone 5 pre-order stock gone within just one hour on Friday, we knew the company’s sixth-generation smartphone was going to be huge. Even Apple itself has said that it has been “blown away” by the demand. It’s little surprise to hear that the iPhone 5 has broken AT&T’s sale record, then, making it the fastest-selling iPhone the company has ever sold.
We get nearly all our official information about Apple and its products through occasional announcements or developers conferences, such as the big announcement this week in San Francisco.
As we approach each event, there are things we know, things we don’t know.
During the event, there’s a reshuffling. Some questions are answered during the announcement. And some questions emerge from the announcement itself that remain unanswered.
Here are the 6 biggest questions that were either unanswered in the event, or which emerged from the event.
Shipping estimates for iPhone 5 preorders slipped to 2-3 weeks only a few short hours after they were made available this morning, and initial stock continues to dwindle as the day wears on. Apple is expected to shatter the previous preorder sales record it set with the iPhone 4S, and demand for a new iPhone has never been higher.
Although specific preorder sales numbers have not yet been released, Apple has said that it’s “blown away” by how well the iPhone 5 has done so far.
When the original iPod nano was introduced on September 7, 2005, it was one of Apple’s greatest design achievements. In a bold move, Apple decided to replace their iPod Mini with the unbelievably small iPod nano, even though the 2nd-gen Mini had only been on the market for eight months and was the popular iPod.
Over the last eight years, the iPod Nano has experienced more design changes than any other Apple product. It’s gone from metal to plastic, tall to fat, and click-wheel to touch, with more color changes than a chameleon.
If you are one of the many who were holding off on buying a new smartphone until after Apple unveiled the iPhone 5, it’s now time to make a decision. You’ve seen what the iPhone 5 has to offer and now it’s time to compare it to what’s available on Android. I’ll show you a few options, how they compare to the iPhone 5, and then you can decide what’s the best option for you. Ready to explore?
The iPhone 5 will probably be my first iPhone. Up until now, I have gotten by with a combination of dumb phones (and recently something even worse), an iPod Touch and an iPad. I have also tossed a camera into my bag more often than not upon leaving the house. Why? Because I almost never never make phone calls. Because I don’t want to sign a cellphone contract. And because my other gadgets do the job just fine. So why am I buying an iPhone now, after five years of holding out?
If you woke up late and missed your chance to pre-order the iPhone 5 from Apple before shipping estimates slipped, then don’t worry; there’s still a chance you’ll be able to get a handset delivered to your door on launch day. At things stand, AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint are still promising iPhone 5 delivery on September 21, but you’ll have to be quick.
The iPhone 5 is set to become Apple’s best-selling product ever released, and so we’re hardly surprised that just an hour after the company started accepting pre-orders, shipping estimates have already slipped. For those in the United States who haven’t yet pre-ordered, you can now expect a two-week delay before your iPhone 5 is dispatched, while some territories are now being quoted “2-3 weeks.”
It’s the middle of the night and we want to get back to bed, so we’ll make this quick: you can now pre-order the iPhone 5.
Well, it’s a little more confusing than that. As of writing, if you’re doing it through the web, the Apple Store is still down. However, you can complete your preorder quickly using the Apple Store app, and we were able to preorder our iPhone 5 directly from Verizon’s website a few minutes before the slated time with no trouble. Doubtlessly the Apple.com preorder page will go live soon.
Update: iPhone 5 preorder page on Apple.com is now up for us. Hurrah!
We got the 64GB Verizon iPhone 5 in white. What did you get?
Pricing and availability details have surfaced regarding the unlocked flavor of the iPhone 5. Like previous generations, the base 16GB iPhone 5 starts at $649 unlocked, with 32GB costing $749 and 64GB costing $849.
What about getting to pre-order an unlocked iPhone 5? Looks like you won’t be able to do so on the web this weekend. Your best bet is visiting an Apple retail store on launch day next week.
Don’t have time to watch the full iPhone 5 keynote? Don’t worry! We’ve done the work for you and chopped down everything you need to see into just 90 seconds of fast paced product announcements. Check out the video right after the break.
Preorders for the iPhone 5 start tomorrow, so it’s time to consider which model you’re going to drop your hard-earned cash on.
There are several things to consider when purchasing a new iPhone. The iPhone 5 you buy depends on your carrier preference, storage requirements, and most importantly, how much you’re willing to spend.
Still,
With the announcement of a single piece of hardware, Apple has obsoleted thousands of iPhone accessories, almost overnight. Between the thinner, taller case and the new Lightning sync/power adapter, pretty much none of your old accessories (or any accessories you can currently buy) will fit the new iPhone.
Does it matter? Should you stop buying iPhone-specific accessories? Just how useful will these stop-gap adapters be? Find out with our iPhone 5 accessory guide.
Although Apple hasn’t directly confirmed the exact time yet, iPhone 5 preorders look set to begin tomorrow morning at 12:01AM PST, exactly… the same time iPhone 4S preorders started last year.
The iPhone 5 is slated to be Apple’s most wildly in-demand phone yet, and while Apple is attempting to balance the crush on their website by starting preorders in the middle of the night, it will, in all likelihood, still be a madhouse when Apple starts selling iPhones later tonight.
Hence this guide. We’re going to walk you through the best ways to make absolutely sure you get your iPhone 5 preordered right at the stroke of midnight and in your hands next Friday when it officially launches in the minimum amount of time, so you can go right back to sleep.
Wondering which iPhone 5 to buy? Check out our guide to finding the iPhone 5 that is right for you here.
Apple quietly killed off a lot of things yesterday, including Ping, the old “watch-style” iPod nano, the iPhone 3Gs and more.
When we looked at Apple.com, though, we were surprised to notice that Apple seems to have decided with this generation to kill off the Bumper Case as well. They still sell the rubber-band-style case for the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, but they have opted not to stretch it to fit the iPhone 5.
Turns out, though, there’s an excellent reason why Apple didn’t update the bumper case for the iPhone 5. It no longer needs it.
One of the best aspects of the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S design was that, if you wanted to personalize your iPhone, you had more options than just picking out a nifty case: by just undoing two screws at the bottom of the device, you could replace the entire back panel on your iPhone.
This opened up a lot of cool options for modding your iPhone. I, for example, replaced my iPhone 4S’s white glass back panel with a Don-Draper-esque slice of teak.
I loved my wood-backed iPhone so much that I emailed the mod kit’s maker, Monolith, asking them when a similar mod would be coming out for the iPhone 5. The disapponting response? Never. The iPhone 5’s design seemingly makes it impossible.
Cricket has become the iPhone 5’s first prepaid carrier after announcing today that it will be stocking Apple’s latest smartphone in “select Cricket markets” from September 28. That’s a week after the device launches on AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint, but it’ll be worth the wait if you’re determined to avoid a lengthy contract.
If you’re debating on which carrier to go with when you pre-order the iPhone 5 on Friday, then maybe this news will help you make a decision. Verizon has gone on the record to say that it won’t charge extra or have any specific requirements for using FaceTime over Cellular in iOS 6, while AT&T will.
Verizon will let you use FaceTime over Cellular on your current plan (including grandfathered unlimited data), but AT&T requires that you sign up for one of its new Mobile Share plans.