Where is the best place to be when a new iPhone is announced? In my case it was bed. I was tucked up asleep on the other side of the world, quite content to read about the new loveliness this morning. After all, there was unlikely to be anything new that hadn’t been leaked weeks ago. For once I was right.
Today I ploughed through some 948 news stories from tech sites worldwide. Nearly 900 of these were reprises of the same theme. Put them all in a pot and boil them down and we have another iPhone, impressive but predicted in detail before the launch. It’s business as usual, big business and planned progress over at Cupertino.
Black choice
I like the idea of a bigger screen for its extra length and additional row of icons, I will enjoy the lightness and the thinness. I much prefer the all-black and slate design (of the black version, that is) to the glass back of iPhone 4S. The black looks gorgeous in the photographs; the white is unappealing by comparison but it will sell.
I welcome the new mini dock connector that can be inserted either way up: No more fumbling in the dark. The cost of the changeover for those of us who like to keep charging cables dotted around the house will be considerable, but it is a one-off cost I trust.
Price hike?
I will certainly order one tomorrow when the lists open, although I am waiting to see the price of the 32GB unlocked version. All we have heard so far is that the phone is to cost “from £529” which, if I’m not mistaken, is a £30 hike over the 16GB 4S equivalent when it was launched last year. On that basis we can expect the 32GB vesion, the sweet spot in my view, to cost £629, including tax. That’s a pretty big price tag for a phone, particularly when lined up alongside the much larger iPad.
by Mike Evans, 13 September 2012