iPhone 5 vs iPhone 4

With all the pre-launch rumours floating around about iPhone 5 and now that 12 Sept is over, what have we learnt…

Here is the low down on all the key specifications of the iPhone 5 in contrast to its previous generation, the iPhone 4S and how the built-in Apps and hardware are useful for education.

The iPhone 5 and iPhone 4S Comparison

Let’s take a quick look at the comparison between the two iPhones before diving into the built-in Apps and creative ways to use this for education.

That supercomputer you carry in your pocket just got faster! – colormylearning

Speed: 2X faster (in Apple speak)
iPhone 5 :Dual Core A6 processor
iPhone 4S:Dual Core A5 processor

Apple claims A6 to be “2x faster at CPU tasks and Graphics Performance” than compared to A5
Size of the A6 chip is also 22% smaller, making it more efficient and easier on the battery.

Memory: 100% more (in Apple speak)
iPhone 5: likely to be 1024MB
iPhone 4S: 512MB

Although not stated in the specification page, it is likely that, like the iPad 3, the iPhone 5 has 1GB of memory, double that of the iPhone 4S. 1GB of memory is pretty much industry standard now with most of the major smartphone releases out there currently.

Screen size: 19% bigger (in Apple speak)
iPhone 5: 4″ at 1146 x 640 resolution retina display
iPhone 4S: 3.5″ at 960 x 640 resolution retina display

The screen on the iPhone 5 is 19% bigger, with nearly a fifth more spatial resolution. This allows the new iPhone 5 to show more of your content (16:9 videos, books and documents), the web, the apps and the home screen. There is now an extra row on the home screen to fit more Apps.

Dimensions: Same Width, 18% thinner, 8.4mm taller  (in Apple speak)
iPhone 5 : (HxWxD) 123.6 x 58.6 x 7.6mm
iPhone 4S: (HxWxD) 115.2 x 58.66 x 9.3mm

In terms of dimensions, iPhone 5 has the same width as the iPhone 4S. Apple differentiates from the rest by focusing on the ease of use, being able to navigate and use the phone in one hand. The new phone is also 18% thinner. So the increase in dimension here is the height, although now by a lot 8.4mm.

Weight: 20% lighter (in Apple speak)
iPhone 5: 112g
iPhone 4S: 140g

The iPhone 5 is 20% lighter.

Storage: No change
Options are the same, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB on both iPhones

Camera: (rear) 40% faster, 20% smaller (in Apple speak)
iPhone 5: 8 MegaPixels iSight with Panorama and Dynamic Low-Light Mode
iPhone 4S: MegaPixels

iPhone 5 camera has a new hybrid IR filter, a five-element sapphire crystal lens, and a fast f/2.4 aperture and a dynamic low light mode. Apple claims taking photos with the iPhone 5 to be 40% faster and is 20%smaller

Camera: (front)
iPhone 5: 1.2MP photo, 720p HD video
iPhone 4S: VGA resolution photos, VGA resolution video

Significant improvement to the front facing camera, also known as the FaceTime camera, better even the front facing camera on the new iPad (VGA).

Battery Life: Same
iPhone 5: 8hrs on 3G talktime, 8hrs/10hrs on 3G/WiFi browsing time, 225 hrs on standby
iPhone 4S: 8hrs on 3G talktime, 6hrs/9hrs on 3G/WiFi browsing time, 200 hrs ons standby

iPhone 5 with all its improvements still manages to achieve the same if not better battery life by comparison to iPhone 4S

Software:
iPhone 5 comes with iOS6 with 200 new features.
iPhone 4S will receive iOS6 update when the OS is released with fewer features subject to hardware limitations.

Network:
iPhone 5: 4G Mobile Network Support, WiFi 2.4Hz and 5Ghz on 802.11n with speed up to 15MBps
iPhone 4S: 3G Mobile Network Support, Wi-Fi (802.11b/g/n; 802.11n on 2.4GHz)

Others:
iPhone 5 comes with new headphones, new digital Lightning connector (80% smaller) and 3 microphones with noise cancellation.

Release Date
Now for the all important question, when can we have it? Apple annouced the release date for iPhone 5 in the U.S and U.K. to be the 21 September with pre-order from 14 September. Until then, iPhone 4S will be priced lower as the iPhone 3GS is discontinued.

Built in Apps for Education

There are plenty of Apps that can be used for education right out of the box and here is how you can make the most of them:

iPhone Apps for Education right out of the box -colormylearning

Email: pick up all your emails in one place, be it your personal email or your school’s email. Download and view attachments. Keep track of email conversations. Get the post lesson support you need from your teacher, lecturer or tutor.

Contacts: keep those important email contacts, lecturer, tutors, teachers, house masters and peers.

Calendar: class timetable, track school events, lectures, talks, seminars

Safari: browse the Internet for research and assignment

YouTube: access many useful documentaries, talks, demonstration and tutorial videos available online

Reminder: set reminders for homework, deadlines, clubs and activities, sync this to the iCloud

Notes: take notes in classrooms, create notes for project or assignment, review notes as part of reflective learning

Messages: messaging with peers, tutors and teachers for support and collaborative working on projects and assignments

FaceTime: face to face video chat with peers, tutors and teachers for support and collaborative working on projects and assignments

Camera: capture and record learning both motion video and photo as part of learning output

Videos: playback recorded video, share and post video as part of assessment, review recorded classes, lectures or lessons

Photos: review photos and create photo streams to share with tutors and friends. Create a slideshow and present this over AirPlay onto projector or large screen television.

Newsstand: access newspaper and magazine subscriptions

Other Apps from Apple

iBook: (available separately) download and read books from the iBookstore. School can create and share books and text books over iBook.

iTunesU: (available separately) access talks

There are well over 500,000 Apps from the App store and a large collection of that, for education. There are bound to be contents and Apps that can be used for education.

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