Her Campus Logo Her Campus Logo
placeholder article
placeholder article

The Release Of The iPhone 5: Changes And Consumer Reactions

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Illinois chapter.

The iPhone 5 was released on Sept. 21st. There has been much talk about the phone including changes and consumer reactions. The iPhone 5 has an all-new design. This new design has improved the phone, making it the thinnest, lightest and fastest iphone ever. Compared to previous versions, the iPhone 5 is 18% thinner, 20% lighter and has 12% less volume.


A big change is the 4-inch retina display. Apple did not want users to find the iPhone 5 awkward or too big to use. Therefore, the 4-inch display is bigger, but it is the same width as the iPhone 4S. This 4-inch display allows consumers to view more of their inbox, calendars, photos and apps. The retina display is also larger than that of the iPhone 4S. The iPhone 5 provides 18% more pixels, which is a striking 1136-by-640 resolution. The colors are boosted, as well.

Another change is the fast wireless. The iPhone 5 has LTE wireless technology. The LTE is designed for better battery life and ultrafast connection to the Internet. The iPhone 5 has an A6 chip which makes it twice as fast as the previous phones. That means that emails, apps and pages appear practically instantly. The iPhone 5 has eight hours of LTE browsing, eight hours of talk time and ten hours of video playback time.

The audio has also been enhanced, and the earplugs have been changed for the better. They are now called Apple Earpods. The Earpods are designed to fit comfortably in the ear and stay in. The Earpods have three microphones: on the front, back, and bottom. The goal is to enhance the audio and make it clearer.

The camera has also been improved to include panorama, enhanced HD video recording, FaceTime HD camera and even better features than before. The panorama allows for shooting 240 degrees in one motion. Altogether the phone can create a panorama up to 28 megapixels. The iPhone 5 can record 1080p HD and it has face detection for up to ten faces. Users of the iPhone 5 also have the option to take photos as videos are being recorded in order to capture details and the photo capture is 40 percent faster. In addition, the front camera has 720p HD video and FaceTime calls can now be made without a Wi-Fi connection.

These are some of the features that consumers love!

“The iPhone 5 looks a lot better,” William Hsieh, a freshman in Computer Engineering, said. “It’s slimmer, and it looks more futuristic. The headphones are a lot better too.”

Sophomore, Jessica Jacobsen, in the College of Media said, “I love that the iPhone 5 doesn’t have a glass back.”


There have been some changes to the phone that consumers do not appreciate as much as the other features, including the change to the connector. It is now thinner and lighter, but Jacobsen said, “I was hesitant at first before getting the phone because I am really upset that they changed the charger. It is really bad for the environment to now have to either switch out all of your chargers, iDocks and everything or to buy a bunch of $30 dollar converters.”


Despite this feature, many students on campus can’t wait to get their hands on one.

“I have a Droid, and cannot wait to get the new iphone,” Danielle Pape, a sophomore in Special Education said. “It’s so much easier to have an iPhone for music and my group messages will be sent all together as opposed to in separate texts. I can’t wait for all the apps!”Â