Apple highlights invention behind iPhone 5 - Page 2

 

No matter what brand smartphone I owned I would have it in a pouch or case of some kind. Actually, my preference is the foof case, textile lined with sheepswool. I put my naked iPhone in that and take it out when in use and can enjoy the design in it's original glory.

I'm not sure the glass is completely inlaid within the band - in the pictures on Apple's website it seems to be slightly raised. Which is a shame as there's less symmetry.
 

The antenna gaps spoil the clean lines too, especially where they cross the bevel. The two tone back panel would look much better if it was just the brushed metal. Though in both cases there's a engineering reason for it.

 

It does look good though. When people can actually see/feel how thin and light it is they'll probably be even more impressed.

Whetherit works or not, the egg trick will be fun to try.

I know this isn't in line with the rest of the comments, and maybe even a little off topic, however, has anyone noticed how Apple is pushing the BLACK iPhone 5 over the WHITE one?

The WHITE is beautiful, in a contrasting way, I will admit, however it seems the break through for them, in design, style, and manufacturing, is the BLACK one.

Usually, if Apple has both a BLACK and a WHITE model of something available, EVERYTHING on their site pushes the white one, however in the case of the iPhone 5 they higlight the BLACK one all over the place :

http://www.apple.com/iphone/

 

http://www.apple.com/iphone/built-in-apps/

 

http://www.apple.com/iphone/from-the-app-store/

 

http://www.apple.com/iphone/ios/

 

There are actually markedly more instances of BLACK over white all over their site.

 

The WHITE is "clean", but not really a break through (no anodizing), while the BLACK is "Elegant", and a nod to Steve Jobs at NXT computers (his anodizing the screws inside the case), and I would not be surprised if there were some shortages of black over white this time around, due to the extra steps of anodizing the aluminum.

Just something to think about in the decision making process, as well as the manufacturing process.

I swear there is no way to satisfy people nowadays. Last year when the iPhone 4S came out, everything inside the phone was upgraded. The only thing that stayed the same was the exterior. Just because it looked the same people were bitching. Which doesnt really make too much sense.

So then this year Apple goes and again upgrades basically all the internals, and also does a whole new exterior design. And people still whine....what is it that would satiafy them?

From http://www.apple.com/iphone/design/

 

"Although the surface of the iSight camera is as clear as glass, it’s not made of glass. It’s actually sapphire crystal, whose hardness is second only to diamond on the scale of transparent materials. That means the surface of the lens is far less likely to scratch."

There are only glass inlays on the back, because a solid metal case wouldn't let the antennas "see out".

One interesting item the most tech news (except Cringely.com) missed regarding the new iPhone 5 is the nature of the new Lightning cable/connector. It's not USB and may be Thunderbolt. No one is quite sure yet. If it's using the Thunderbolt protocol, it could be possible to attach a full size monitor directly to the iPhone 5.

Is this the beginning of the confluence between iPhone and laptop? With a Thunderbolt cable connecting your iPhone to a full size monitor, and then using an Apple Bluetooth keyboard, couldn’t most people use their phone for their computer?

I see an awful lot of people discarding their $299 laptops and consolidating around their beloved iPhone.

The Thunderbolt is a natural for the new iPads ( and mini) as well! Think about that one! Cheap PC and cheap laptop manufacturers could be in big trouble!

B.J.
BlaneJackson.com

One interesting item the most tech news (except Cringely.com) missed regarding the new iPhone 5 is the nature of the new Lightning cable/connector. It's not USB and may be Thunderbolt. No one is quite sure yet. If it's using the Thunderbolt protocol, it could be possible to attach a full size monitor directly to the iPhone 5.

Is this the beginning of the confluence between iPhone and laptop? With a Thunderbolt cable connecting your iPhone to a full size monitor, and then using an Apple Bluetooth keyboard, couldn’t most people use their phone for their computer?

I see an awful lot of people discarding their $299 laptops and consolidating around their beloved iPhone.

The Thunderbolt is a natural for the new iPads ( and mini) as well! Think about that one! Cheap PC and cheap laptop manufacturers could be in big trouble!

B.J.
BlaneJackson.com

 

USB 2. Potentially able to go faster, but only USB 2 now.

 

Who the heck would use a $299 laptop?

This is how I see it: Previously (as in 4 and 4S), a single piece of glass was the back (and back) - smooth and continuous. Any variation in tolerance would not be visible to the eye (because they deliberately designed the assembly so that the glass protruded from the antenna band rather than being flush with it). With iPhone 5, the two pieces of glass inlays on the back have to mate seamlessly with the aluminum back. Aluminum (or alumin-e-um, if you are Jony Ive) can be machined to fraction of a thou (i.e. ±0.0002") or, as Ive said, microns. This may not be enough to ensure true seamless transition from glass to aluminum to glass (I know that you can feel an edge if two mating parts are ±0.0005"). So they measure the parts to find the best matched ones. Through trial and error, they must have discovered that there is sufficient and detection tolerance variations within 700+ inlays. For Ive, changing the design from a smooth back to a three-part back is not trivial because he doesn't want anyone to feel any seam. Worse, imagine fabric or skin caught on a seam. So this 3-part back has to be perfectly smooth.

Edited by Harbinger - 9/13/12 at 2:35pm

I would guess the metal bevel bezel is probably better than the plastic one in this respect. The plastic edging was a bit soft, I don't think it did much.


That's the shame of it. I've broken the glass on various iPhones three times over the years, once with a drop onto wood, so I'm just not going to go without a case. The device design and manufacturing sure looks nice, but the chassis design probably won't be much of a factor for me.


Huh. The scratchy problem with iPhone 4 camera cover glass was because the cover glass protruted out the back face a bit. Inset a bit and it probably would have been fine, making sapphire not as necessary, though still pretty nice.


Why would the USB to Lightning cable have Thunderbolt built into it? That's a waste of a protocol translation. It sounds like jack on the iPhone side can self-reconfigure, so if Apple chooses to offer a Thunderbolt mode, they can, but that seems unlikely given that single chip NAND can only go so fast.

Apple doesn't say anything other than USB right now.


All I see is less pressure on the other devices. iPhone is a nice go-anywhere device, but I like to have a larger screen if it's available. And the fact that mobile apps and sites seem to take away one feature I really must have.

On the referenced Apple page (http://www.apple.com/iphone/design/) there is a video extolling the awesomeness of the new headphones ("EarPods").  Have we heard any first hand commentary about them yet?  I hope they are better than the old included ones.  I must have 4 sets of those that I've never unwrapped.

It is indeed sapphire, aka crystalline Al2O3, manufactured rather than mined.

I'm still looking forward to the diamond age (thanks Neal Stephenson) but it seems that we'll be waiting a bit longer for that.

iLounge.com gave the EarPods an A- rating.