What I Really Want in the New iPhone 5

iPhone 5. Image source: 9to5Mac

iPhone 5. Image source: 9to5Mac

The Apple iPhone 5. The most talked about, speculated, rumoured mobile device ever in 2012, possibly. The official announcement looms and in less than 24 hours (September 12 @ 10am PST / September 13, 2012 1:00:00 AM GMT+08:00), expect Apple‘s latest smartphone to be revealed. And then some. Let’s disregard all the fancy facts and rumoured specs. Here’s what I really want in the new iPhone 5.

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iPhone 5 Event. Image source: Mashable

A bigger screen
Not a puny 3.7-inch. Not an adequate 4-inch. Give me 4.3-inch at least, 4.5-inch being the ideal. The trend is now for bigger phones, and companies like Samsung has really pushed the envelope on what’s the ideal or acceptable size of a smartphone. Not to say that Apple should “follow trends”, but really look at what the market currently wants.

Yes, the argument that’s usually brought up is that too big a phone would mean less optimal finger reach (so no texting with one hand) but I think this argument is less and less a factor these days. More and more people, I find, text with two hands. I should know, I do that too.

One of the main reasons I skipped a couple of generations of iPhones (I stopped after the 3GS) was the screen size. I outgrew the 3.7-inch display. While I thought the Retina Display was brilliant with the iPhone 4, I decided to look elsewhere for a bigger option. And hence, I was content (and actually pretty happy) with the Samsung GALAXY S II, as blasphemous as that can sound.

So, Apple, 4.3-inch, pretty please?

A bigger battery
Smartphones kill battery life. Social networking kills battery life. Cam-whoring, Instagram-ing kills battery life. I kill battery life. The sub-1500mAh battery just doesn’t cut it anymore. No matter how efficient iOS is, iOS 5 brought the iPhone 4/4S to its knees. Imagine a phone you can only use for less than a day. Pathetic. Being the battery-sucker that I am, I demand a 2,000mAh battery at least.

You only need to look as far as the Motorola RAZR MAXX to see how a huge 3,300mAh battery can be squeezed into a tiny chassis. Motorola did it, Apple. So can you.

A thinner chassis, but not lighter
In terms of looks and design, I always had the opinion that the iPhone 4/4S was near perfection. It’s fantastically well-built, oozes sex appeal, and has that solid feel in your hands. Something so synonymously Apple. I’d love for it to retain its solidness, without it being overly light. The trend for super-thin, super-light phones is widespread, but can sometimes make a phone feel ‘cheap’ and plasticky.

Thinner is always good. The rumours point to a 20% thinner iPhone 5, and I most welcome that.

A quad-core processor
A dual-core A5X processor is more than adequate, but just so I can brag to the Android brethren, I’d love to have a quad-core processor too. Ok, but then I’d need an even bigger battery. Sigh, such is life.

So, what do you think? What do you want the iPhone 5 to be?

Vernon
Vernon is the founder and chief editor of Vernonchan.com. A graphic designer by profession, he has a deep love for technology, cars, gadgets, food, and travel. He tweets too much and is also known as a caffeine bacterium ("life's too short for bad coffee"). Bleeds Blue (go Chelsea FC!) and considers BMW, Porsche, Alfa Romeo cars to have in the garage--hallmarks of a true petrolhead.