iPhone 5s and 5c

Finally no longer rumor, the two above phones have been announced, release is imminent.

I’m not sure of what to think… I am going to get one, without a doubt, and there are clear improvements over the iPhone 5.  I have this nagging feeling that they could have added something else, though I’m not sure what (battery life?).

The “s” level of the iPhone cycle has always been about internals, and this is no different.  The significantly improved CPU is now 64-bit.  Whether that is really necessary for a phone with maybe 1 or 2 GB of addressable RAM is moot.  Apple designed it as well as the OS, and I think they’re playing the long game here.  If we get smooth performance and low power use, who cares if they’re using 32- 47.5- or 64-bits?  We’ll have to see what the developers think about the challenge of porting to the 64-bit API and maintaining a 32-bit backport for other devices.

A motion co-processor is interesting.  I’m not on the fitness tracker bandwagon, and may never be, but I can see how this might blend into real-world use, including cell-tower tracking.

Every camera improvement is welcome.  It’s nice to see a big f2.2 aperture available, and I applaud their consistent focus (ooh unintentional pun!) on composite lens elements and big sensors, but the coolest camera stuff is happening in the A7 CPU, meaning the 5c doesn’t get that. Neither does it get the awesome new dual-tone flash.  (I think I used my iPhone 4’s flash once or twice.  When I saw how horrible it was I shied away from it after that).

I’m sure a fingerprint sensor will be neat but I could have (I have!) lived without it.  Also 5s-exclusive.

So as cool as the 5c is, I’m not really understanding it.  I totally get the $100 cheaper thing, especially since we’re probably going to be buying two of these at once (shudder), but it seems somewhat short-sighted to buy this.  Like buying a G4 or G5 when Leopard was out.

Oh wait… I forgot, I will be competing against other buyers for this thing… um…

“Don’t bother with this generation. It still says 5, see? How boring is that?  Motorola will sell you one that’s numerically TWICE as cool”.