The iPhone 5: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

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Well what do you know, the iPhone 5 rumors were right! This afternoon Apple CEO, Tim Cook, announced the new iPhone, called the iPhone 5. Here’s a rundown of the good, the bad and the ugly:

The Good

• Bigger, Slimmer & Lighter:
  The new iPhone is bigger, slimmer (it’s only 7.6 mm thick) and 20% lighter. The size increase is in height. The taller 4-inch screen now allows for a 5th row of App icons.
• Processor & Network Speeds: The iPhone 5 is also faster thanks to a new faster chip chip, called the A6, 4G LTE wireless connection with Verizon, AT&T and Sprint networks and the new iOS 6 operating system.
• Better Battery Life: But unlike Apple’s previous attempts to make the iPhone faster, supposedly these new speed improvements won’t completely kill your battery. According to Apple, the iPhone 5’s battery can last 8 hours during 3G talk time and browsing, 10 hours for Wi-Fi browsing and video watching, 40 hours playing music, and 225 hours on standby.
• Camera Improvements: The camera also got some updates. The iPhone 5’s new camera has modes to work better in low light and stitch images together to create a panorama view. The front camera can take 1080p HD video with image stabilization.
• Navigation & Maps: Bye-bye Google Maps. Apple is replacing Google Maps with their own Apple Maps app with built-in GPS  turn-by-turn navigation. It doesn’t look as good as Google Maps but were excited for the navigation.
• Voice Access: If you’ve ever wanted to update your social media accounts while driving, then you’ll like this. Users can now use the Siri voice command feature to create and post messages for Facebook.
• Price Reduction for iPhone 4 & 4s: If you were waiting for the iPhone 5 to come out so you could buy a cheap iPhone 4 or 4s, then you’ll like this. The price for the Phone 4s is dropping to $99 and Apple is giving the iPhone 4 away if you sign a two-year contract in the U.S.

The Bad

• New Connector: If you’re a current iPhone owner or an all iPhone hosehold, then here’s the bad news…. the iPhone 5 has a new connection port. The smaller port means there’s a new smaller connector cable and any physical iPhone add-ons that you’re purchased, like the iPhone Breathalyzer, probably won’t work.
• No Google Maps: Many iPhone owners have gotten pretty comfortable and familiar with the Google’s Maps app. As part of Apple’s break up with Google, now that they are a direct competitor with Android, the iPhone 5 and iOS 6 will have a a new Apple Maps app. How will Apple Maps compare to Google Maps? Guess we’ll find out soon. UPDATE: Apple Maps sucks. Read more here.]

The Ugly

• Innovation?: Although the iPhone 5 is an all around better product and comfortably maintains Apple’s position as an industry leader, many people were disappointed. Twitter was flooded today with tweets from upset Apple fanboys who were looking to get their socks knocked off. The iPhone 5 is good, it just wasn’t mind blowing.

The iPhone 5 will officially be released September 21. Apple will start accepting pre-orders for the iPhone 5 on September 14. What do you think? Are you excited or disappointed with the iPhone 5?