ITWire

Earlier in the week I allowed myself to be coaxed by Apple into “upgrading” my iPhone 4 from iOS 5 to iOS 6, believing that somehow the upgrade would deliver a better user experience.

What I got in return for my naivety was the loss of Google Maps, a different coloured phone keypad, and an app called Passbook, which I’m yet to use (but who knows?). Fortunately, I was able to restore my YouTube app, which for some inexplicable reason Apple deemed it desirable to remove.

Anyway, having upgraded to iOS 6, I felt it was time to check out the iPhone 5, for which the operating system was presumably explicitly designed to exploit to its fullest.

I glanced around the store and to my surprise the iPhone 5 was nowhere in site – or so I thought! In fact, it was clearly on display but because it looked so similar to the phone I already owned my eyes had simply swept past it.

What I saw displayed on closer examination was an unremarkable looking black rectangular phone that was a bit thinner than mine and a bit taller. The difference in screen size enabled the phone to display an extra row of icons but other than that it simply looked like a slightly elongated clone of my iPhone 4.

Looking at this purely from a design standpoint – traditionally Apple’s strong suit – the iPhone 5 is a monumental disappointment.

The iPhone 5 is certainly thinner than it’s predecessors but my iPhone 4 feels just fine in my hand and pocket – quite thin enough - and its weight is perfect.

And the taller design of the iPhone 5 with the 4-inch screen provides only a marginal improvement in viewing experience over the iPhone 4.

Looking at a web page or a video on the iPhone 5 didn’t reveal any remarkable or startling difference to viewing the same things on my iPhone 4.