The new iPhone: Let the Craziness Begin

For those who care, John Gruber has an excellent review of the iPhone 5. In summing up how the phone looks and feels, Gruber concludes:

This iPhone 5 review unit is the single nicest object in my possession. I own things that cost and remain worth more (e.g. my car). But I own nothing this nice. It sounds hyperbolic to put it that way, but I offer this observation with no exaggeration.

 The obvious new feature is the larger screen size: bigger than the 3.5" screen that had been with the phone since the beginning, but far smaller than some of the behemoths that have been released recently in the Android world. There are pluses and minuses for each form factor, and this is clearly a personal decision. I've never found a 3.5" phone to be too small, though for some purposes, such as reading a small type size for an extended period, and can't quite understand the fascination with the enormous screens - can anyone really make a phone call on a 5" phone? - but to each her own. Apple's decision to increase the height of the device without increasing its width was certainly interesting. Gruber thinks the size works, albeit not without some difficulties:

The bigger display is a total win while using the iPhone 5 two-handed. But navigating the full screen while holding the iPhone in one hand is worse, for exactly the one reason why, even one year ago, I did not expect Apple ever to increase the size of the iPhone display: my thumb no longer easily reaches from corner to corner. 

 Nevertheless, he seems to be on his way to being sold on the new form factor:

But if Apple offered me an otherwise identical iPhone 5 with a 3.5-inch 3:2 display, which one would I choose? Last week, in the first few days of use, I’d have chosen the 3.5-inch one. Now, though, one week in, I’m not so sure. My trusty old iPhone 4S feels better to use for tapping those back buttons and the status bar, but, it really is starting to look squat to my eyes. Give me another week and I suspect I won’t look back.

 Anyway, it's a great comprehensive review that doesn't bore with technical specs that no one really cares about.