FITTING AN 8
megapixel camera in to a case as thin as this is no mean feat, so in a way it
seems churlish to point out that this is the first new iPhone without an
increase in camera resolution or that other smartphones offer more pixels.
The fact is that 3264 x 2448 is more than
adequate: not even a 27in iMac or 3rd generation iPad screen has
that many pixels, and if (like us) you print your photos, it’s plenty for A4.
Other image quality factors bearing in mind this is not a $3,180 DSLR are more
likely to cramp your style than the resolution.
So has the image quality changed? Yes
marginally. Shooting with an iPhone 5 and a 4S side by side, we were pushed to
identify consistent differences. At times the iPhone 5 produced slightly more
contrast and saturation; this meant shadows sometimes got muddy, but Photoshop
revealed detail still lurking in the data.
Still
8 megapixel stills and 1080p Full HD on the back, now 720p video and 1.2
megapixels on the front
Apple reckons this camera with the revised
image processing functions of the A6 chip performs better in low light, and we
did get more usable stills at dusk. Pixel-level noise was still present, but
not so much of the large-scale mottling that betrays a struggling sensor. Another
promised and delivered improvement was a shorter indeed almost eliminated delay
between successive shots; and you can now grab a quick still while shooting
video, albeit just at 1920 x 1080.
We’d hoped to see less of a tendency to
blow out highlights, a frustrating feature of iPhone 4S shots, but here it was
again: patches of zeroes in the lightest areas. With no Raw data, editing can’t
rescue these white-outs, which in our shots ironically for a camera with face
detection – sometimes included faces.
Video wasn’t noticeably improved either,
but then the 4S was already a satisfyingly capable all-round camera. Superb
overall exposure judgment and colour balance make it very easy to get great
pictures, both still and moving, in a wide range of situations, as long as you
keep in mind that more illumination is better. The new unscratchable sapphire
crystal lens cover can only help further.
Let’s not forget this phone contains two
cameras. We’ve been discussing the iSight camera on the back; it’s the FaceTime
camera on the front that’s had a major upgrade this time. Now shooting 720p, it
gives a conspicuously sharper image on the Retina display and copes far better
with the kind of muted office lighting that creative types prefer. And 1.2
megapixel self-portraits look OK too.
The
headphone socket joins the speaker and mic on the bottom. Inside, two extra
mics perform noise cancelling
Of course, the other change you can’t help
but notice is that the screen has got bigger, pushing the top and bottom of the
phone out with it. The overall increase in length really isn’t all that
significant – it’s well under a centimetre. Looking at the actual-size picture
below, if you lined up an iPhone 4 or 4S with the bottom edge of the iPhone 5,
the top would reach the line where the white inlay joins the aluminium back
panel. But the bezel area has been reduced at both top and bottom, leaving more
room for the screen.
And it’s quite a screen. Size aside, the
sheer quality of the Retina display panel is striking. Although the iPhone made
its leap to high resolution two iterations ago, the change this time in colour
reproduction is strongly reminiscent of the move from iPad 2 to 3rd generation.
Detail looks even crisper, blues and greens especially pop out with
unprecedented saturation, and the overall contrast level is visibly higher.
All of this lusciousness is spread over an
extra 112,640 pixels, stretching the display while leaving its Retina dot pitch
of 326 pixels per inch unchanged to 16:9 widescreen. Anyone who’s still going
around saying they don’t understand how people can watch movies on a phone is
about to have their consciousness raised. What’s hard to justify is doing
anything except watch movies on this immersively vivid panel.
With its wide colour gamut and pin-sharp
precision, though, it also promises to make an ideal live preview screen for
the new generation of wifi-equipped cameras that’s currently emerging.
Meanwhile, games such as BitMonster’s Lili ($4.75 from the App Store) are
already exploring the combination of the bigger, brighter screen and increased
processor power.
It’s hard to argue with Apple’s logic in
going for this screen size. Existing apps run fine without modification, just
leaving a black bar at the top and bottom; you won’t even notice this if you
have a black iPhone, and either way it’s unintrusive. But most developers seem
to be finding it trivial to update apps to use the extra space, and for the
large number of everyday apps that essentially display a vertically scrolling
list of information from Twitter to train time tables it makes perfect sense to
just add another row, as Apple has done with the Home screen icons.
It’s no accident that the screen and the
whole device stays the same width, so it fits just as easily in a pocket and,
as Jony Ive was keen to point out, in your hand. If you’ve seen users of
big-screen ‘phablets’ clutching them in one hand while stabbing giant icons
with the other, you’ll appreciate how practical it is to still be able to tap,
swipe and type with your thumb one-handed without having to shuffle the device
around to access all areas. Oversize screens may look amazing in the shops, but
most people will probably see the sense in a phone staying phone-sized.
THE COMPACT DIMENSIONS of the iPhone 5 also serve its aesthetic purpose. Nothing here is
bloated, showy or cheap. The 4/4S was pleasantly austere after the
chrome-trimmed 3GS, but its stainless steel band looked rather utilitarian. Now
its aluminium successor has texture and articulation; the subtly sandblasted surface
gives way to a diamond-ground mirror finish on the chamfered edges at front and
back, echoed in the contrast between the aluminium back panel and the glossy
Apple and iPhone logos. The result is the elegance of a fine watch; perfection
in miniature.
Those bevelled edges are said to scratch
easily, particularly on the black model, so take care. Our white iPhone 5,
however, is pristine after two weeks in pockets.
If there’s a flaw in this gem, it’s the
awkward division of the back panel to provide a non-metallic area for wireless
reception. The glass end caps may be seamed with surgical precision to the
aluminium midsection, but they align with no other feature and feel like an
afterthought. The continued use of a plastic seal on the front edge, omitted on
the rear, gives the glass a different appearance, accentuating the sense that
the sides don’t match.
This doesn’t stop us loving the iPhone 5;
but it does mean it can still get even better.
