The iPhone 5 has been announced. It will have a 4 inch display and be lighter. Although Apple claims it has a A6 chip, there has been no announcement about the specs, such as how many CPU cores the phone will have. We therefore cannot speculate on how the phone compares to other phones, mainly high-end Android phones, the number one phone for now clearly being the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, which has a quad-core CPU with an incredible 2GB of RAM and over 3000mAh battery capacity. It also comes with an in-built stylus and a screen size greater than 5 inches. We will need to see the iPhones specs (including the price) and compare it.
The old iPhone 4S is a big disappointment. Long before the iPhone 5 came out, it sold for about $700 outright, which is about the price of high-end Android phones, yet the iPhone 4S only had a dual-core 1Ghz CPU with a mere 0.5GB RAM. The screen size on a 4S is only 3.5 inches. Screen size is very subjective, but in my opinion the main reason for getting a smartphone is to get internet access and, mainly, to read (and watch videos) online. You just cannot do that on a small screen without squinting hard and potentially destroying your eyes. If you just use for phone for making phone calls and texting, it's okay to have a small screen, but if you only make calls and text, why not spend $50 on a small dumbphone instead of spending $700 on a smartphone? It just doesn't make sense.
The weakness and cheapness of the iPhone 4S's hardware clearly explains why Apple makes massive 73 per cent gross margins on each iPhone it sells and why, even though Samsung is the number one phone company is terms of sales, Apple is the number one phone company in terms of profits. Apple is able to price their phones at the same price as high-end Android phones, yet their phones are weaker and cheaper to produce. Apple today is the world's biggest public company. Customers get less for what they pay.
Hopefully the iPhone 5 is better value for money.
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