The 10 Biggest Questions About Apple’s iPhone 5 (AAPL)
Now that Apple’s iPad 2 has launched, the company’s next big product to finish up is the iPhone 5 — or whatever Apple will call its next iPhone, expected to launch this summer.
While the new iPhone will feature updated hardware and may have a new design, we’re just as interested in Apple’s software improvements.
That’s increasingly where the smartphone business is headed, and while Apple’s software is still ahead of the competition in general, there are some areas where rivals Google and Microsoft are doing better than Apple.
What’s in iOS 5?
While the iPhone hardware is certainly sexy, it’s software that really makes it an iPhone. So what does Apple have planned for the next major version of its iOS software for iPhones and iPads?
We asked a dozen iOS developers what they wanted from iOS 5, and their responses included: A better alerts and notifications system; more background processing features — so the New York Times app could download news articles while you’re sleeping, for example; and potentially “widgets” to customize your iPhone’s unlock or home screens.
We’d also love to see a much better camera app, and maybe a better photo management app, more like iPhoto for Mac OS X. The iPhone camera is becoming very important, and while third-party developers like Instagram have done some really cool things with it, it makes sense for Apple to improve the built-in camera software, too.
Is this another whole new iPhone design?
We expect some of the usual updates — faster, more memory, new chip, maybe some new hardware features — and a new design for the iPhone 5.
While the iPhone 4 is still an attractive phone, and is still selling, it will be a year old this June. That’s a long time in the smartphone industry, where new phones are constantly coming out. So we don’t expect another iPhone 3GS-like “update” from Apple ever again, where it keeps the same phone case design from one year to the next but only upgrades the guts.
This supposed leaked image could be it — sure looks like the iPad 2 — or could be a fake. But either way, we expect a new design.
The critics have shut up about Apple’s iPhone 4 design, and “Antennagate” didn’t seem to have any effect on sales. So we wouldn’t be surprised to see the iPhone 4 stick around as Apple’s cheaper iPhone model. But we expect at least some moderate updates this year to the high-end model.
Will Apple finally turn on some more “cloud” services?
The iPhone 5’s hardware and software is important, but “cloud” services on the back end are becoming increasingly important for smartphones, and Apple could stand to make some improvements there.
For example: How about letting you sync your phone over wi-fi instead of having to plug in a USB cable? How about being able to access your iTunes music library from anywhere? How about being able to grab some of your iPhoto pictures from the road?
How about sharing photos with other iPhone users without having to email them?
Some or all of these features could potentially be built into a new “MobileMe” service, which Apple could potentially make cheaper or even free. Some may have to wait to be built into the next version of Mac OS X, which is expected to ship this year.
But this is an area where Google is doing more interesting things than Apple, so it’s time to wake up.
