Apple unveiled the iPhone 5 on September 12th 2012 and released the device on September 21st. I have been using the device extensively for the last three days and my overall impression of the device is quite good.

Many pundits have pointed out that the iPhone 5 is more evolutionary than revolutionary. This true and for good reason. The iPhone is arguably the top selling smartphone in the world; any radical change could be catastrophic for Apple, considering more than half of their revenue is derived from the iPhone.

While the phone does appear to resemble the iPhone 4 and 4S, there are some significant changes once you hold the device in your hand. First, the device is light. Very light. It almost feels fragile, but the build quality gives you a sense of confidence that it will withstand some falls. To decrease the weight over the 4S, Apple eliminated the glass rear back panel. This was greeted with enthusiasm amongst many pundits due to the number of broken back panels on the 4/4S and the perceived fragile nature of the iPhone 5’s predecessors. Apple has gone with a brushed aluminum back for the iPhone 5 and it looks fantastic. Unfortunately, following the release of the iPhone 5, the blogosphere was filled with complaints about people scratching the back panel of their phones with ease (much like the older iPod’s). I was a huge fan of the glass panel because of its ability to ward of scratches, so I will be interested to see how these back panels hold up over time.

The next big change is the screen; my wife likened the iPhone 5 to Gumby; tall and skinny. To be perfectly honest, I am not the biggest fan of this direction. Apple makes the argument that by maintaining the width of the 4/4S, the iPhone retains the ability to use the phone with one hand. While this is “somewhat” true, it is not any more true than using a larger Android device. I still find reaching for the top right or left corner of the phone to be challenging at best; it is definitely not comfortable. That being said, I have been struggling with the aspect ratio. While a 16:9 aspect ratio works well for movies and in landscape, it looks awkward in portrait mode. Everything feels squished. Browsing the web is better than on an iPhone 4S, but it doesn’t feel as good or as natural in comparison to the other Android phones that retained a 4:3 aspect ratio.

Apple may end up regretting this aspect ratio change for many reasons. First, it makes it even more challenging to move up in size (say going to a 4.3-4.5 inch screen). Second, the iPad will likely retain the 4:3 aspect ratio, which means many developers will experience some serious level of fragmentation in developing for iOS.

With those complaints aside, I am optimistic that I will get used to the new screen and will quite enjoy it in due time. Change always requires some pain. I am just glad that Apple recognized the need to enlarge their screen from 3.5 inches.

The iPhone 5 also introduced LTE with the iPhone 5. This was the biggest addition in my opinion, having suffered on Verizon and AT&T’s slow 3G/Faux 4G networks for far too long with an iPhone. After playing with my LTE iPad, I was anxious to have the speedy network on my phone. So far, LTE has worked wonderfully. For those with an iPhone 4S considering an upgrade, the addition of LTE is a no-brainer. It is that good. I average between 6-8MB down, which was much faster than the average download speed of 2.0-2.5MB down on Verizon’s EV-DO Rev. A network.

Apple made some minor changes to the camera, which was nice, but not monumental. I found the 4S to offer the best camera anyways, but the 5 simply makes it better. Pictures seem slightly more natural, but the biggest advantage is the speed. Taking pictures was much faster than on the 4S. Apple also added the panorama feature, which is definitely a great addition and one that I love to use.

The guts of the iPhone 5 have been overhauled as well. The iPhone 5 features an A6 processor that claims to be twice as fast as the A5 processor, which was no slouch. The memory has also been doubled from 512MB to 1GB. Both of these changes have made the phone simply fly. The improved internals are very noticeable on Maps; comparing the 4S to the 5 it is clear to see how these new internal components help the 5 render artifacts as compared to the 4S; the pictures just flow naturally. The “experience” is just better.

With the iPhone 5, Apple has made some changes to iOS6. While I would like to hold off on getting too detailed into iOS6 (that is a separate blog entry), the improvements make the iPhone 5 even more attractive. The Apple ecosystem is what truly gives this phone an edge over the competition and with iCloud, it becomes even more difficult for Apple fans to wonder off the reservation.

Overall, I am happy with the iPhone 5. I do think that it will take some time to get used to the screen resolution and redesign of the phone, but overall I highly recommend the iPhone 5 to those that are looking for a good LTE phone with a strong software offering.