Many were disappointed at Apple’s release of the iPhone 4S yesterday, not because it wasn’t good enough, fast enough, or didn’t contain awesome new features, but because it didn’t come with a complete redesign and wasn’t called the iPhone 5.
While I can understand slight disappointment that the iPhone 4S didn’t include a slightly larger screen than the iPhone 4, I’m truly puzzled by the number of people who are so disappointed that they say they won’t purchase the new device.
A poll by Mashable suggests that over 59% of people are disappointed at the lack of an iPhone 5, our own poll suggests that only 40% of people are planning on upgrading to the iPhone 4S, and media reports, such as this one from Yahoo News, calling Apple’s announcement “disappointing.”
In my opinion, the iPhone 4S announcement was anything but disappointing, and here are a few reasons why:
What’s in a name?
For all intents and purposes, the iPhone 4S is the iPhone 5 that everyone was expecting. It includes a significantly improved 8mp camera that can shoot 1080p video, gained the awesome A5 processor which boosts its performance by double, and delivers up to 7 times the graphics performance, and features the amazing new Siri personal assistant technology.
The only thing different from the iPhone 4S and the rumored iPhone 5 are the lack of a gesture-sensitive home button (which I’m not sure would have been that great anyway), and a slightly different shape. It’s the same amazing technology the iPhone 5 crowd has been drooling over for months!
Siri
If the dramatically improved performance and amazing new camera aren’t enough for you, Siri should be. Siri is possibly the single biggest advancement that has come to the iPhone in recent years.
The ability to talk to your phone in normal sentences, pull up any piece of information, schedule appointments, make phone calls, set proximity-based alarms (so you don’t leave your wallet at home), control your entire music playlist and more, all with only the sound of your voice is nothing short of amazing, and will change the way people use their phones.
World Phone, New Carriers
The iPhone 4S is also a world phone, and is available on numerous new carriers, including KDDI in Japan and Sprint in the US. Despite the fact that Apple just made the iPhone accessible to a lot more people, the fact that a single model of the iPhone 4S can connect to either major type of cellular network is extremely significant, especially for those who frequently travel.
Full AirPlay Mirroring
The iPhone s will be able to wirelessly stream HD content to an HDTV through the Apple TV, and will be able to connect to any HDTV using Apple’s Digital AV Adapter, which means you can now give presentations, watch movies, play console-quality games on your HDTV, hook up to a projector, and more, all with a device that you can carry in your pocket. The business, entertainment, and productivity implications of this feature alone are staggering.
Improving On Greatness
The iPhone 4 was already an impressive device, featuring a solid camera, excellent performance across the spectrum, a gorgeous high-resolution Retina display, a GPS, a digital compas, and so much more. The fact that Apple was able to take a device that is already great and make it far, far better is extremely impressive! It’s remarkable to me how anyone who was excited for the iPhone 4 could look at the 4S and call it “underwhelming” or “not good enough.”
Conclusion
The iPhone 4S is more than meets the eye – it packs impressive performance increases, a cool and revolutionary new personal assistant feature, a dramatically improved camera, the ability to steam content to an HDTV, all into a device that was already quite impressive in the first place.
If you’re so disappointed that Apple didn’t release a flashy new design or include a slightly larger screen that you aren’t able to notice and give credit for all the amazing improvements that Apple did make to the iPhone 4S, perhaps you should re-evaluate your reasons for buying a smart phone.
The iPhone 4S is every bit as impressive as the rumored iPhone 5, and the fact that it comes in a slightly different shape than you expected shouldn’t downplay the fact that it is an impressive new phone that provides significant and even revolutionary improvements to the iPhone 4. I rest my case.
