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The look: Thin, metal, light as heck
You know its look, even if the look has been subtly transformed over the years: circular Home button, pocketable rectangle, familiarly sized screen. Can that design be toyed with, transformed a little, changed?
The newest iPhone has a wide metal body that stretches above previous iPhones, but is also thinner; still, this isn't a massive phone like the Samsung Galaxy Note or HTC One X. The iPhone 5 rises above the iPhone 4 and 4S, but subtly.
From the front and sides, it looks very similar to the iPhone 4 and 4S. The same rounded metal volume buttons, sleep/wake button on top, and silence switch remain. The headphone jack has moved to the bottom of the phone, just on like the iPod Touch. Some will like it, some won't; it makes standing the iPhone upright and using headphones a virtual impossibility. Actually, the entire bottom is all new: the headphone jack, the larger, redesigned speakers, a different type of perforated grille, and a much tinier Lightning connector port.
The Gorilla Glass back of the last iPhone is gone, replaced with metal. The two-tone look might seem new, but it's a bit of a reference to the silver-and-black back of the original iPhone. The very top and bottom of the rear is still glass. That anodized aluminum -- which Apple claims is the same as that on its MacBook laptops -- feels exactly the same, and is even shaded the same on the white model. So far, it's held up without scratches. I'd say it'll do about as well as the aluminum finish on your 2008-and-later MacBook. On the black iPhone, the aluminum matches in a slate gray tone. On my white review model, it's MacBook-color silver. That aluminum covers most of the back and also the sides, replacing the iPhone 4 and 4S steel band, and lending to its lighter weight. The front glass sits slightly above the aluminum, which is cut to a mirrored angled edge on the front and back, eliminating sharp corners.
Why the move away from a glass back? Is it about creating a better, more durable finish, or is it about weight reduction? Apple's proud of its claims of how light the iPhone 5 is, and the new aluminum back is part of that. So is the move to a Nano-SIM card (making SIM swaps once again impossible and requiring a visit to your carrier's store). So is the thinner screen and the smaller dock connector. You get the picture.
Hold an iPhone 4S up to the new iPhone, and I could see the difference in thickness. It's not huge, but it feels even slimmer considering its expanded width and length. What I really noticed is how light it is. I still feel weirded out by it. The iPhone 5's 3.95-ounce weight is the lightest an iPhone's ever been. The iPhone 4S is nearly a full ounce heavier at 4.9 ounces. The iPhone 3G was 4.7 ounces. The original iPhone and iPhone 4 were 4.8 ounces. This is a phase-change in the nearly constant weight of the iPhone -- it's iPhone Air.
Yet, the iPhone 5 doesn't look dramatically different like the iPhone 4 once did. Actually, it seems more like a fusion of the iPhone with the iPad and MacBook design.
And, of course, there's the new, larger screen. You may not notice it from a distance -- the screen's still not as edge-to-edge on the top and bottom as many Android phones, but extra empty space has been shaved away to accommodate the display. There's a little less room around the Home Button and below the earpiece. The iPhone 5 screen is just as tall as the screen on the Samsung Galaxy S 2, but it's not as wide. That thinner body design gives the iPhone the same hand feel, and what I think is an easier grip. The extra length covers a bit more of your face on phone calls.
Over the last week with the iPhone 5, I started to forget that the phone was any larger. That seems to be the point. And, the iPhone fit just fine in my pants, too: the extra length has been traded out for less girth, so there's little bulge. And, with that awkward statement having been uttered, I'll move on.
