Now that the
iPad 2 has been revealed, the iPhone 5 rumours should begin to pick up momentum. Indeed, we’ve already started to see some suggestions as to the route Apple intends to take with its next smartphone.
It’s an intriguing prospect, as the
iPhone 4 did so much so brilliantly (an excellent camera, unmatched Retina display screen, gorgeous design) while getting one or two areas very wrong indeed (chiefly those antenna issues). Here are a few things the iPhone 5 will have to address.
Small screen
Apple can’t dodge this issue any longer, surely. While the iPhone 4′s screen continues to stun with its clarity and sharpness, it also feels decidedly puny compared to its Android and Windows Phone 7 rivals. While it’s debatable whether the trend for 4.3-inch ‘HD’ handsets is taking things too far, what’s beyond a doubt is that 3.5-inch feels too cramped for an increasing number of modern apps and games. Hopefully the iPhone 5 will shake things up with a 4-inch Retina display that raises the smartphone display bar yet again.
Single-core processor
To call this a weak point with the iPhone 4 would be unfair – the Apple A4 CPU remains a supremely capable chip in virtually every regard. The problem comes from the ever marching progress of processor technology. It’s widely held that 2011 is the year of the dual-core mobile processor, with a number of Android devices starting to launch with benchmark-destroying doubled up chipsets. The iPad 2 is going to feature Apple’s dual-core A5 CPU, so we’ll eat our hats if the iPhone 5 doesn’t get the same chip. It would be a big mistake if it doesn’t.
Antenna issues
And so we come to the iPhone 4′s main source of embarrassment. You can have class-leading looks, an astonishing screen and the finest camera ever to grace a mobile device, but if you can’t make a simple phone call you don’t have much of a mobile phone in your hands. Of course, “antennagate” was grossly overblown, and the iPhone 4 remains the finest smartphone around by most experts’ reckoning. However, Apple can’t afford to make another mistake of this magnitude with the iPhone 5, which is why reports of it ditching the gorgeous-but-flawed edge antenna design are not surprising.
Weight
Those industrial good looks and that glass and metal design approach came at a cost for the iPhone 4. It’s a bit of a brick, especially considering its slimness and the size of its screen. While many of its Android rivals have shed pounds at the expense of a premium feel, there’s little doubting that the iPhone could stand to lose a few pounds. Apple’s said to be done with the iPhone 4′s glass back for a number of reasons (see below), one of which is the weight penalty it brings. As such, it’s rumoured that Apple will go back to the aluminium shell of the very first iPhone.
Fragility
Another result of the iPhone 4′s various innovative design choices is that it’s proved to be a whole lot more fragile than previous devices. Exposed edges and an abundance of glass have led to a lot of cracks and scratches that just wouldn’t have happened on, say, an iPhone 3GS. It’s another reason Apple’s rumoured to be stripping back to the metal, as it were, with a tough metallic body that will be capable of lasting a year or two in your average clumsy oaf’s hands and change-filled pockets. It might not look as pretty as a pristine iPhone 4, but then neither do most nine month-old iPhone 4s.
