iPhone 5: Making real-world use even better

MANILA, Philippines - For its much-talked about iPhone, Apple keeps sticking to what has been working since 2008: an operating system that just needs to be a little better next time around.

The iPhone 5 was conceived with the thought of making it an all-around device for communication and work. If coupled by other Apple devices, such as an iPad or Macs, Apple’s iCloud would close the ecosystem loop.

I’ve used a number of Apple products running on iOS, particularly the iPad 2 and 3 and in most cases, I always enjoyed using these because of the extremely idiot-proof operating system.

The iPhone 5 comes from such a pedigree and while this latest device from Apple seems to just follow on what its predecessors have done, there are some noteworthy improvements. 

Design: Better styling

As the subtitle should already mention, the iPhone 5 isn’t a huge departure from the tried-and-tested design of previous generation iPhones. In fact, the layout of the buttons is just the same. Some of the few design changes that are noteworthy of praise is the thinner, leaner thickness.

By shedding the tried-and-tested stainless steel for aluminum, Apple has made the iPhone 5 less cumbersome to use. There are times, however, that the phone slips out of my hand, owing to its lesser weight; my PC mouse feels a little heavier than this.

Despite the longer four-inch screen, the iPhone 5 still allows for one-handed use. The longer screen also enables wider viewing of websites in landscape view. Despite the even same width, the increase in screen real estate makes it easier for certain older people (such as myself) to look at the screen with clarity. Add to the fact that it has Retina display that is a huge plus for viewing high-quality videos and photos.

Hardware: More power

The use of the custom-developed dual-core A6 processor is also something that makes the iPhone 5 a field worker’s machine. Most people won’t realize that the power of the A6 is really meant to make phone applications, especially the graphically heavy ones, to run smoother.

Web browsing has been drastically sped up and looking at tabs has been improved, thus making it easier to move from one tab to another with just a few clicks. 

Certain applications also heavily rely on the iPhone’s processing power. The A6 can attain stability even with power-hungry apps, especially games, such as Walking Dead: The Game.

Desktop productivity apps such as Polaris wouldn’t really show how fast the A6 can run but try connecting the iPhone 5 to a Bluetooth keyboard and you’ll notice that there is absolutely no lag when inputting texts into the iPhone 5. 

Software: Needing more oomph

I’ve enjoyed the iOS for nearly two years now and the latest, update, iOS 6, retains the look and feel that made the iPhone popular.

The most obvious addition to iOS 6 on the iPhone is the extra row of icons. The Do Not Disturb button is also a nifty addition as it lets me go on a short holiday without getting bothered by calls from people I want to get away from for a while — except my editors who would chew me if I didn’t.

I’m not much into social networking but I do appreciate that the iPhone 5 made it possible to send a status update via the phonebook. Plus, I would already know who sent an update just by the ringtone, which I can customize.

Siri is, well, still Siri and in the Philippines, it still isn’t stretching its legs out to show how useful it can be. If Smart Communications would be able to come up with location-based services specific to the iPhone 5, then it would have made this device a real companion.

Need for speed connectivity

A smartphone is only as good as the network where it runs. The same could be said for the iPhone 5, which requires it to have a stable network if it is to function as it should.

The iPhone 5 is able to access the Internet well and there are almost little hiccups in terms of signal stability.

In fact, I’ve used the iPhone 5 in high-rise buildings where regular signals would normally be cut off. Even on a moving vehicle, Smart’s signal remains stable and I can continue to access data services even when literally on the move.

The iPhone 5’s Wi-Fi sharing capabilities make it an even better option over using USB dongles. Better still, the iPhone 5’s batteries are better suited for such a use and ensure that it won’t drain fast.

What the tech world is really talking about now however is the release of the new iOS 6.1 update, which, not only brings about improvements in the software, but activates LTE connectivity on the iPhone 5 as well.

I was fortunate enough to have been one of the first to see LTE work on the iPhone firsthand and the experience was nothing short of surreal.

I was able to clock in download speeds of anywhere between 10 and 35Mbps. Mind you, this was on a phone — even for desktop PC and DSL standards, such speeds would be given an A+ rating in speedtest.net.

A more practical test however would be viewing YouTube videos in glorious high definition. As expected the Smart iPhone 5 LTE made the experience feel as if I was just opening a movie stored in the built-in memory.

Surfing the Web is just as delightful with load times virtually abolished.

Overall, the iPhone 5 continues to set the standards that other phone manufacturers still need to follow.

Yes, Apple hasn’t moved out of its comfort zone just to follow trends (bigger and wider screens, quad-core processors, Near Field Communication support, etc.) but it is exactly the kind of technical stubbornness that made it successful. Apple knows what it’s doing to its devices and it knows how people would be using these.

The iPhone 5 is far from perfect, but it gets the job done. Of course, I’m still waiting for the next big thing on the iPhone and hopefully, it would be along the lines of location-based telco services.