iPhone 5: Week One in Review

Almost every time I pick this phone up I instantly notice just how light it is. Perhaps they should have called this the iPhone Air. 

I've had the 5 since delivery on launch day. While I haven't traveled with it yet, I'll provide a quick and dirty synopsis of week 1 which was pretty much all local.

• Maps. Haven't touched them yet. I realize there's a big flap out there for folks who rely on it and I will be traveling this month so I'll find out soon enough.
• Data. Very good performance. I stuck with AT&T since they grandfathered in my unlimited data plan. In just cruising around the L.A. area I'm seeing some pretty decent speeds. It'll be interesting to see how they'll be on the road. I'm also seeing much faster performance on WiFi networks.
• Speed. Unbelievably fast. The camera is extremely quick and location-based apps access the GPS virtually instantaneously. Every function that the phone performs is much quicker from my iPhone
• Screen. Brighter and bigger with better color depth. It is simply more vivid. The phone is a bit oddly shaped versus anything else I can think of in the marketplace. However, it is very functional. I've gone on record previously saying that I don't actually want a bigger phone since I to carry it in my pocket. In this case, it's a reasonable increase that still fits well since it's a thinner phone.
• Battery. I see it being quite a bit better throughout the day. I would estimate that on an average day I have another 20% more battery at the end of the workday.
• iOS 6. I'm not sure when this happened but the iOS now better handles multiple contact sources and calendars. I don't remember seeing this in iOS5.x so if this isn't new I'm sorry about that. But since I see it now, I'll mention it as it allows for better isolation of work vs personal information for example. I haven't touched Passbook yet but I've been playing with Siri a bit. I find "her" to be erratic but pretty funny on occasion. I do remain disappointed that the OS on the iPhone doesn't support the type of rotational capability of the screen like the iPad does. What I mean is: if you rotate the phone into a landscape orientation the icons do not rotate, the lock screen does not rotate, etc. I realize it might look a little odd with the new 16:9 format of the screen, but it's more consistent among devices.
• The new cable. The Lightning connector has created lots of controversy, but I do find it to be a better experience. It is easier to pop it in sight unseen and has a very solid feel. It does, unfortunately, mean that my alarm clock can no longer charge my phone so I'll have to pick up an adapter at some point to see if that solves that problem.

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with this phone. I still waiting for many apps to update to use the larger screen size, but they are trickling in.