There are now millions of proud owners of shiny new Apple iPhone 5 smartphones. However the new owners may be feeling more than a little post-purchase cognitive dissonance with the seemingly endless tales of problems and bugs with the new Apple flagship smartphone. The range of problems reported with the new iPhone 5 span from cosmetic issues through functionality and to potentially costly financial problems.
Wi-Fi issues and cellular data splurges
Apple iPhone 5 owners have experienced several Wi-Fi problems with the new smartphone. Shortly after launch there were reports of Wi-Fi not working correctly with WPA2 encrypted Wi-Fi routers. Often people complained of “painfully slow Wi-Fi” connections. Apple stores usually have open Wi-Fi so the problem isn’t evident in store, also using the older, less secure WEP encryption can help.
A new more alarming Wi-Fi bug has been reported; alarming because it could have financial consequences. CNN reports that “scores of iPhone 5 users” have experienced their phones “sucking down cellular data even when they were connected to a Wi-Fi network, resulting in big overages as they blew through their monthly data caps”. Apple pushed out a software update on Sunday to resolve the issue for Verizon network users. However it is unclear if other networks are affected. Meanwhile Verizon promised not to charge customers for the “unwarranted cellular data usage”. Other reports suggest this bug is in iOS 6 rather than the iPhone 5 hardware.
The colour purple, the life and trials of a young iPhone 5
Yesterday Apple’s iPhone 5 camera was under scrutiny. Gizmodo published a letter from the AppleCare team explaining the purple tinged photos, which contained a bright light source of some kind, as “normal behaviour”. Included with the Gizmodo article are some startling images. The purpleness is quite intense. Please see below for a comparison with the iPhone 4 imagery.
“The purple flare in the image provided is considered normal behaviour for iPhone 5's camera” explained an AppleCare Support worker. Gizmodo suggested the sapphire glass protecting the camera lens may be a cause of the (dis)colouration.
Scratches, dings and chips are “normal”.
Gadgets do scuff and scratch despite being clad in this and that premium material. However it does seem like the shiny new iPhone 5 is particularly susceptible to becoming permanently marked. In a PCMag report a week or so ago “scuffgate” was being discussed; “customers have increasingly been complaining that the rim and back of the phone are easily scuffed and scratched. Some early adopters and reviewers even noticed that their device came chipped right out of the box, even before it was used,” said the mag.
Phil Schiller, senior VP of marketing at Apple said “Any aluminum product may scratch or chip with use, exposing its natural silver color. This is normal.” You would think that owners of phones costing over £500 would be particularly delicate with them...
The video above demonstrates the comparative scratch resistance of the iPhone 4.
Maps; the amazing iOS 6 maps
We looked at Apple’s new maps app on the iPhone 5 launch date and the comical tragedy of this new app really stole some of the thunder from the iPhone 5 launch. If you want to read more about the errors, bizarre 3D renderings and cloud covered satellite imagery click on through to here to that article.
Hopefully no further iPhone 5 problem roundups will be required.
