If you’re looking for an in-depth post about pixels and processing chips, look somewhere else. I’m here to tell you about
what this stuff actually means for you, and what I think Apple should be doing next. And also, I don’t know much about
pixels, so I would have been doing a lot of Googling and citing other experts.
Here are the biggest takeaways you should care about from the iPhone 5s, and a bit
on the iPhone 5c.
TouchID. Tim Cook
may be cursing Steve Jobs for the name iPod Touch that caused every consumer to
nickname it the iTouch, because that would’ve been an appropriate name here.
This is what everyone was hoping for – consumers, retailers, financial
organizations and banking apps – I can’t think of anyone who didn’t want this.
TouchID is a biometric finger scanning app to unlock your iPhone and process
transactions for iTunes and the App Store. Bye-bye passcode, which only five people I know use (looking at you, Lisa Astor).
Hello TouchID, which everyone should use. The best part is that it’s on the
all-new Home button. So you don’t have to take an extra step to open your
phone’s native screen. Supposedly it’s fast, and it actually gets faster as it
recognizes you better.
.
The potential goes beyond accessing the native screen of
your device. Right now, it’s not open to developers to integrate it into their
apps. It can be used in iTunes and the App Store. In later versions, however,
we’ll see Apple integrate this into Passbook and hopefully, eventually into
third-party apps. Integrating it into Passbook would be a savvy business move
for Apple. It will convince more developers to join the Passbook community, and
as more apps are using advanced biometric scanning, more consumers will want
that ease of use and switch to the iPhone – if they haven’t already. As Apple
expands the use of TouchID (hopefully), mobile banking apps have the potential
to enable a fingerprint scan every time you launch an app instead of typing in
a code. It’s much more secure, since no one else has your fingerprint, and it’s
a much more seamless experience for consumers.
Are there potential pitfalls? Yes, if Apple hasn’t 100%
perfected this feature then there could be a lot of angry consumers locked out
of their iPhones because the scan isn’t working properly. For example, what if
I’m using my iPhone while running (doubtful because I don’t run), and I have
sweat running down my fingertips? Or maybe some nervous guy has clammy hands? Does
that moisture affect the scan if I want to change the song on my locked device
while running? Or will the clammy hands guy not be able to get that girl’s
number because he can’t unlock his device? Ideally, no. But the tech is new;
it’s probably not perfect yet.
M7. According to
Apple CEO Tim Cook, “M7 motion coprocessor gathers data from the accelerometer,
gyroscope and compass to offload work from the A7 for improved power
efficiency.” It accesses CoreMotion APIs for better fitness and health apps by
capturing motion data. This is a good step forward in contextual awareness. If
you don’t’ know what contextual awareness is, think Google Now. It gives you the
information you want, before you even ask for it. Right now, M7 will be most
prevalent in health and fitness apps, and Nike Plus has already been working
with Apple to update their app to incorporate the M7 technology.
This helps improve GPS signals, but the potential of contextual
awareness is far greater than that. In the future, we’ll have contextually
aware apps and devices that read all kinds of signals from our current
environment to proactively alert of us of things we want or need to know. Think
of a world where it’s winter and it’s snowing. If it snows, you need more time
to get ready, but if you didn’t know it snowed – you didn’t set your alarm any
earlier. You phone already has the information you need – it’s snowing (weather
app), so you need to get up earlier. A contextually aware alarm clock can incorporate
weather and set off your alarm a half hour earlier than usual so you have time
to shovel snow and get to work on time. Is M7 there yet? No, it mostly measures
motion and integrates with GPS. But Apple’s headed in the right direction. And
for this perpetually late gal, I could use a contextually aware device. As one
of the CNET live bloggers noted, Apple
didn’t announce a smart watch – the iPhone 5s is its version of the smart watch.
Camera. This
thing is fast, and it’s clear. It takes 10 pictures per second and saves the
best one. But it saves those other nine in an accessible place in case you want
to double check for yourself. Apple says that it’s not about just adding more
pixels, they’ve added bigger pixels. I don’t know much about cameras, but it
sounds like that makes sense to me. It also performs better in low light and
they’ve improved the front-facing camera. As someone who enjoys FaceTiming my best
childhood friend who’s in another country, I appreciate that improvement
greatly. Like I said, I’m not a camera expert, so if you want all the technical
details, Andrew Nusca of ZDNet recaps
the features nicely, and what they mean for better pictures. Check out his article
if you’re interested.
64-Bit Processor. Today,
Apple’s Phil Schiller told us, “The PC world made the transition from 32 bit to
64 bit and it took years. Today you're going to see that Apple is going to do
it on one day." So, the iPhone 5s will supposedly have desktop-level processing.
While this may not mean much to consumers (except gamers), it’s this type of processing
that is letting Apple enable TouchID and the advanced camera. In your other
apps, you won’t see the transition to 64 bits for a long time, and honestly,
you may not notice it at all.
That’s what I’ve got for the iPhone 5S folks. I say go get
it, if you’re due for an upgrade. For those looking into the less expensive
version – the iPhone 5c – my two cents is that this is the child’s version of
the iPhone 5. In terms of capabilities, there aren’t many upgrades from the 5. The
big thing is that these versions are available in colors. They are coated in
hard, durable plastic – probably break less easy when you drop it. But Apple is
also marketing colorful cases with it and this makes the iPhone look exactly
like a child’s toy. Don’t do this, people – do not buy their cases to go with
it. It looks like anyone carrying this should also have a Hello Kitty backpack
with them. If you do get the 5c, buy a different case than the ones Apple is
selling.
As for iOS 7 – that’s a game changer for Apple’s software.
It’s very significant and I will certainly be upgrading to it on my iPhone 5.
Trust me – there is a new sleek design, better user interfaces, and more
intuitive feature and functions. As soon as iOS 7 is available, don’t waste any
more time on iOS 6. That reminds me, don’t forget to download iWork, iPhoto and
iMovie for free – Apple’s no longer charging for those apps.
Recommendation: If you have an upgrade, get the iPhone 5s. If you want a cheaper version, don’t
waste money on the iPhone 5c – just get the iPhone 5. They are not that
different in terms of features and functions, and you will feel like an adult
while you’re carrying it. If you have the iPhone 5 - upgrade to iOS 7 when it's available. You'll notice the difference. My last recommendation regarding the iPhone 5s is simple - someone please buy me one.
