When it was first released to the retail markets on September 21, 2012, the Apple iPhone 5 became unquestionably the best iPhone ever made.
It was the first iPhone to usher LTE connectivity and it was not just after making the connection, the iPhone 5 actually had a really fast LTE connection, making it nearly ground-breaking at the time of its launch, notes The Verge.
With a superb new design highlighted by its aluminum unibody compared to its smaller predecessor and an excellent battery life, the iPhone 5 was a significant improvement from the smaller iPhone 4S and had iPhone fans thrilled.
The Apple iPhone 5 was also 18% thinner and 20% lighter than the iPhone 4S and its touch sensors are already integrated right into the display itself. Unlike the iPhone 4S, the iPhone 5 comes in separate CDMA and GSM models.
CDMA or Code Division Multiple Access and GSM (Global System for Mobiles) are two major radio systems used in cell phones. It groups together a bunch of technologies run by the same entities.
The iPhone 5 was also the first iPhone to bring out Apple’s Lightning data connector for charging and synchronization, which replaces the 30-pin design used in previous iPhone models.
The emergence of the iPhone 5 was also accentuated then by Apple’s release of the iOS 6 which made it a really fine smartphone and the most innovative among the iPhone lines at that point in time.
Short-lived production
Although reception and reviews on the iPhone 5 were generally positive, it has been plagued nonetheless by hardware issues which resulted to its short-lived production.
According to consumers and users, the Apple iPhone 5’s coating was prone to chipping, and that the photos taken by the iPhone have unintended purple hue in it.
Some users were also not too happy about Apple’s decision to switch to a different dock connector design with its Lightning data connector as the change really affected the iPhone 5’s compatibility with some accessories that were otherwise compatible to its predecessors.
With the launching of the iPhone 5S and the iPhone 5C on September 10, 2013, Apple has discontinued the production of the iPhone 5 and its nearly one-year run as an innovative wonder came to a grinding halt.
The even better news for users is that the iPhone 5C came out even cheaper than the iPhone 5 despite using similar internal hardware. The plastic casing, instead of the metal unibody, has something to do with the lower cost of the iPhone 5C.
It was also a turning point in the market strategy of Apple for its iPhones. Unlike in the past when previous iPhone model would remain in production but sold at lower price point compared to its new model, the iPhone 5 was the first to be discontinued production and the iPhone 5C was the first to come out with a price even lower than its immediate predecessor iPhone model.