The new iPhone 5 was announced this morning and you can already read the backlash by many in the tech media. They see it as a disappointment and a sign Apple are losing their touch. As I alluded to in my analysis of Nokia, I think its harder to differentiate your product in a mature market where there are so many other great options available. Even Apple are going to have a hard time with this.
But what about those existing iPhone users and people looking to move to iOS, what does the iPhone 5 offer for them?
Well despite the disappointment for tech heads, the iPhone 5 is a nice refinement to an already quality smartphone. It is thinner than the 4S while also having a bigger 4 inch wide screen display. The back is aluminium, not glass like the 4 & 4S, so it is automatically more durable.
They haven’t gone for a higher resolution camera, sticking with 8 megapixels but improving its low light capability and introducing a panorama mode. The iPhone 4/4S cameras were already stellar anyway.
One really important thing about the iPhone 5 that many are glossing over is that its the same width as the existing iPhones. Many buyers would consider competitors such as the Galaxy SIII and the HTC One X/XL too wide to use comfortably with one hand. This continues to be an advantage for the iPhone over its rivals.
And let’s not forget LTE/4G capability. It would have been silly to release a flagship phone without it. It will be interesting to see what Apple can do to negate the battery performance issues that every other 4G phone encounters.
In the end, my recommendation for the iPhone 5 is almost identical to the 4S - a nice upgrade for existing users and a tempting package for new customers. Evolutionary not revolutionary.