New iPhone features come at high price
The new iPhone 5 will be released Friday, and Apple has steadily been building the buzz for its latest product for months.
According to a video on Apples website, Jony Ire, senior vice president of design, said the iPhone is the product you have with you all the time. We take changing it really seriously. We dont just want to make a new phone, we want to make a much better phone.
But the phone, which costs between $649 (for a 16-gigabyte) and $845 (for a 64-gigabyte), hasnt roused the excitement of all.
Its just not worth the money, Kristen Orvis, a junior majoring in English, said. Im happy with the iPhone I have now.
Orvis said she thinks the iPhone is something of a status symbol hipster, 20-something set.
People buy into it all too much, she said. This is the first Apple product Ive ever owned.
New features include a faster download speed than an at-home Wi-Fi system, increased battery life and a reversible digital connector that will fit on both sides of either the phone or the computer its plugged into.
The phone is 18 percent thinner and 15 percent lighter than its predecessor, the iPhone 4s. The screen is also supposedly superior to the 4s, with an increased display size the design of the phone is taller instead of wider, so that more of the screen can be seen.
With its amazing display, you feel like you can do more, Scott Forstall, senior vice president of iPhone software, said on the Apple website. Its great for watching HD videos on a full, wide screen.
The navigation system of the iPhone 5 is also improved, offering turn-by-turn spoken directions and graphic maps that appear almost 3-D, an improvement from the iPhone 4s, which only offers maps in flat, landscape form.
The aesthetics of the phone itself have also appear to have improved.
The cost of the phone has been a deterrent to most, even those who are die-hard iPhone fans.
Despite the hefty price tag, the public does not seem to be deterred from purchasing the new device. USA Today reported that pre-orders for the iPhone 5 reached 2 million in the first 24 hours of availability.
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