iOS

Best iPhone apps this week

Verity Burns — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 09:55:09 +0000

Get the most out of Glastonbury, wine and zombies with our round-up of this week's best iPhone apps

From finding your way around muddy festival fields to learning more about wine and offing a few zombies, our round-up of this week's best iPhone apps has it all.

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MySpace (£free)

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MySpace is back, and it’s looking pretty promising if this app is anything to go by. Visually striking, you’re able to do all the regular managing of your social network you’d expect, and then some. Browse through other MySpacers with similar interests to you, create GIFs in-app for sharing on your profile and tune into the Social Radio feature. Your own personal radio station will be loaded with music you love, or alternatively you can see what your friends are listening to on their radio stations instead.

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Glastonbury 2013 (£free)

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If you’re one of the lucky ones who has bagged tickets to the festival of the year, make sure you download EE’s ultimate companion app before you go. In it you’ll find a schedule with the ability to make your own personalised planner, an extensive, interactive map and plenty of regular news and updates from the festival team too. If you’re not making it down there this year – worry not! The Beeb will be streaming over 250 hours of live content to the app from six stages. Just add rain and mud and it’ll be like you’re actually there.

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Bridgy Jones (£0.69)

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Train driver Bridgy Jones and his canine companion Bonner are on an epic journey together, driving their locomotive through woodlands, caves and over mountain ranges. That’s all well and good, except for the track they’re travelling on is questionable at best, and often just completely missing altogether. To get them safely across the various rivers, gorges and chasms that face them over 32 levels, you’ll have to think quick, choosing materials including planks, ropes and concrete blocks to build a sturdy path to support them.

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Plonk (£free)

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If you’ve ever wanted to sound like a bit of a winey genius, Plonk is like a secret weapon in your pocket. Not only will it teach you a little more about the grapes and wines you already know you like, it will suggest new grapes to try based on your taste preferences. You can also find out what type of wine will go best with different types of food, and – crucially – hear the correct pronunciation so you don’t make a fool out of yourself.

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Dead Ahead (£free)

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We’ll never get sick of a good zombie game, and that is what rounds off this week’s pick of the App Store. Chased by the pixelated undead, you have to find a vehicle and put as much distance between you and them as you can, ploughing down the hoardes as you go. If they get too close, it’s time to get trigger happy – though if you play it clever, you can trick them into topping themselves without having to lift a finger. Lots of fun, and of course, there are plenty of opportunities to pimp your ride and upgrade your weapons as you progress.

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iOS 7 new look, sharing features and iRadio music streaming all due tonight

Luke Edwards — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 10:21:47 +0000

Prepare yourself for Apple's World Wide Developers Conference 2013 with the latest on what to expect from iOS 7

Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference is kicking off at 6pm UK time this very day – and we expect to see a new iOS 7 unveiled. But what will that mean, we hear you cry?

Byline:

Luke Edwards

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Apple WWDC 2013: iOS 7, Retina MacBook Air …and definitely no iWatch

Sam Kieldsen — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 08:00:00 +0000

With four days left until Apple's annual developer conference, we do some informed crystal ball-gazing

Apple's annual Worldwide Developer Conference kicks off in San Francisco on Monday. In between talk of 'monetisation' and 'kernels', we should see some very exciting new kit indeed – but there are also a few rumoury bits and pieces circulating that simply ain't gonna happen. Here's what we're expecting, and why…

Byline:

Sam Kieldsen

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Apple WWDC 2013 – iOS 7 goes minimal

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If there’s one thing we’re almost certain to see, it’s the first showing of iOS 7, the latest version of the operating system for the iPhone and iPad. With Jony Ive now at the reins (taking over from the cartographically challenged Scott Forstall), all the rumours point to iOS 7 sporting a very different set of clothes: gone will be the metal, leather, green baize and faux wood effects of previous editions, replaced with a cleaner, flatter and possibly black and white-dominated new look. Why? Because Ive apparently can't stand skeuomorphism.

Don’t expect the fundamentals to change too much, though – Apple has far too large a user base to risk upsetting them by chucking out, say, the iconic home screen or slide-to-unlock gesture. That leaves little room for live widgets, unless Ive has pulled an ingenious way of integrating them without compromising iOS' core layout from his enormous creative mind. Indeed, a recent purported leak shows a design that's more of a spit and polish of the current OS, with coloured icons and even a wooden bookshelf icon for Newsstand.

As is the custom with new operating systems, iOS 7 should also bring in a handful of new features. Among those expected are AirDrop quick file-sharing (already available on Macs), notifications with built-in interactivity (say, the ability to reply to texts inside the notification bar itself), Vimeo and Flickr integration for easier video and photo sharing and improvements to Siri’s voice recognition capabilities. [image credit: imjeanmarc]

As likely as... One more thing

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Apple WWDC 2013 – MacBooks get Haswell, and the MacBook Air gets a Retina display

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There's a new Intel chip in town and it's a no-brainer that Apple will build new MacBooks around them. The likelihood only increases when you consider how reliant Apple is on Intel's current Ivy Bridge line-up: the Air and some Pro models even rely solely on their integrated HD 4000 graphical capabilities, so Haswell's extra-strength HD 5000 and Iris GPUs open up exciting new possibilities.

Specifically? A MacBook Air with Retina display to stamp out upstarts such as Google's Chromebook Pixel and Toshiba's KiraBook is now entirely plausible thanks to Haswell's knockout combo of improved energy efficiency and graphical grunt. We would't expect a jump in battery life, as a higher-res screen will be more power-hungry – but we reckon it'll be worth sacrificing a couple of hours for a couple million extra pixels.

As likely as... A handful of whoopers in the crowd

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Apple WWDC 2013 – iRadio is Apple’s curiously old-fashioned answer to Spotify

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It has long been rumoured that Apple is preparing a music streaming service, and WWDC 2013 would be the perfect place to announce it. With Google recently launching its own Play Music All Access service, it’s also the perfect time, at least if Apple doesn’t want to let its greatest rival steal too much of a march on it. Apple reportedly has Warner and Universal already signed up to provide music, and is close to getting Sony on board too. Rumoured to be called iRadio, the service reportedly won’t work in the same way as Spotify or Rdio, but will instead create a free, ad-supported “radio station” based on an artist, song or genre – a lot like US service Pandora. But while you don’t get to choose exactly which tracks play and in what order, iRadio may allow you to pause and even rewind songs.

As likely as... Another musician hitting the big time off the back of Apple's advertising

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Apple WWDC 2013 – Mac OS X 10.9 will look a lot like iOS 7

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Apple’s computer operating system is also in line for an update, and putting our prediction hat on, we’d say it’s going to be simplified in line with iOS 7 – not to an extent where it’s less flexible, but one where it’s more streamlined, less fussy and easier to use.

Basically, OS X will become more like iOS. That could mean we see Siri bringing a real voice control option – or “virtual personal assistant” if you prefer – to Macs, plus an Apple Maps app, plus even perhaps a similar visual overhaul with skeuomorphic textures ousted in favour of clean, flat colours. Sounds a bit like Windows 8 – but we trust Apple has learnt enough from Microsoft’s troubles and won't rush to create something a little too new and radical. [image: crackerpie.com]

As likely as... A cat-themed moniker (how about OS X Ocelot?)

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Apple WWDC 2013 – Apple TV gets apps

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The talk of Apple launching its own HDTV has petered out of late, and we’d be shocked and awed if the company unveils a TV-shaped product this week – a launch late this year or in early 2014 seems much more likely. That doesn’t mean telly addicts will be disappointed by WWDC though: with devices like the Xbox One turning up the living room heat, it’s high time that Apple TV was pushed to the next level, and we’d expect that to take the form of a much-improved OS for the tiny set-top box. We wouldn’t be surprised to see support for third-party apps added, for instance, meaning that WWDC would also see the announcement of an Apple TV SDK, allowing developers to get to work on creating some killer software (and maybe even games) for Apple TV.

As likely as... Netflix commissioning a sitcom based at Cupertino HQ

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Apple WWDC 2013 – iPad Mini 2 with Retina display. Please

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The iPad Mini was launched less than a year ago, but would we be surprised to see a followup introduced at WWDC? No, not really. Firstly, Apple has already set a precedent for quick updates of products (the iPad 3 was replaced by the iPad 4 after a mere six months). Secondly, the iPad Mini has definite room for improvement, particularly when it comes to the screen, which has a last-generation resolution bettered by everything from the Google Nexus 7 to the Amazon Kindle Fire HD. So were we to see the launch of a second generation Mini with a couple of notable improvements – a Retina display screen and processor with uprated graphics – we would not be at all shocked. That said, WWDC is traditionally more software focussed, so an iPad Mini 2 announcement might be saved for its own event later in the year (possibly in September).

As likely as... Your parents saying they can't tell the Retina difference

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Apple WWDC 2013 – iPhone 5S and budget iPhone

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The same goes for the next edition of the iPhone. Or perhaps that should be “editions” – because it may be that Apple has plans for not only a souped-up S version of the iPhone 5 but also a cheaper, plastic-bodied iPhone. Or perhaps merely the latter. With a June launch date rumoured for the bargain basement-priced iPhone (reportedly just £220), WWDC could at a push be the setting for its first public appearance.

As likely as... An iPhone phablet

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Apple WWDC 2013 – iWatch? Not this time

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We think it's more suited to its own dedicated launch event, given that it'd be a whole new and rather exciting product category for Apple, but the iWatch smartwatch could make for a knockout WWDC appearance. OK, so we don’t know for sure that it's even on Apple’s agenda, but with US heavyweights such as the Wall Street Journal suggesting it's a nailed-on fact and Tim Cook recently admitting that wearable tech is an area “ripe for exploration,” it’s certainly looking like a strong possibility. Of course, an iWatch would probably require its own, unique form of software too – so there is a developer-focused element that Apple could explore at WWDC. [image: myvouchercodes]

As likely as... Tim Cook wearing Google Glass

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Apple WWDC 2013 – New Mac Pro. Oh, go on

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There are some folks who still swear by Apple's desktop super-computer (fittingly, mostly pros) The Mac Pro desktop hasn’t changed its outward design in years, but we’ve been hearing talk since last year that Apple has been planning a major update of the range. Talk on just what form this update might take, or what features it’ll offer, has been in short supply. But with the current model lacking even a Thunderbolt port, we’d say that'd be a good place to start.

As likely as... Apple not presuming to know best

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Apple's new look for iOS 7 leaks online

Esat Dedezade — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 13:29:49 +0000

Sir Jony Ive's redesign of iOS 7 has leaked across the interwebs, showing off a simplified, flatter look for Apple's mobile operating system

A very blurry picture purporting to show an alpha version of Sir Jony Ive's redesigned iOS 7 has appeared online.

Byline:

Esat Dedezade

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The iOS 7 redesign could take some hints from these iPhone skins

Luke Edwards — Wed, 29 May 2013 16:09:40 +0000

While Jony Ive and his team beaver away on the minimalist iOS 7 redesign, we've picked out some iPhone skins they could use for inspiration

Apple’s new mobile operating system iOS 7 will reportedly be overhauled by Apple’s head designer Jony Ive with a more minimalist look. But iPhone jailbreakers have been stripping back the skeuomorphism for quite some time – we hope Ive has been looking at these efforts.

Byline:

Luke Edwards

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Metallic

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twitter.com

The image was posted on Twitter by jailbreaker Ryan Petrich. The cluttered tray and overly-textured icons leave a little to be desired, but it manages to bridge the gap between iOS 6 and a more minimal interface. With Jony Ive driving out textures we expect the final version of iOS 7 to even more stripped back. But with the iPhone 5S reportedly cramming in double the resolution of its predecessor, the new OS is sure to look good whatever the final design.

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FlatIcons

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flaticonsios.com

This skin does exactly what its name suggests, doing away with the curved corners and gradients on Apple's iOS icons for a simpler, cleaner look. We're also quite taken with the toggles that pop up at the bottom of the screen.

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Circul8

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andreaslarsen.dk

Apple's iWatch could feature a spiral OS – and these circular icons would fit in perfectly if Apple wants to bring some harmony to its iWatch and iPhone user experiences. Circul8 uses simple circular icons to add colour and minimalism all in one fell swoop.

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WhiteLine HD

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idownloadblog.com

The WhiteLine HD skin is painfully pretty to look at – those centralised icons, that monochrome design. We're particularly happy to see the back of the red notifications circle, which taunts us with unread e-mails. Jony Ive, take note.

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iMIUI

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onehalfkiller.com

Already popular on Android, MIUI has landed on iOS – and it looks good, offering up simpler, cleaner buttons along with a totally overhauled iPod app, SMS app, phone app and general UI.

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iOS '86

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repponen.com

If Ive is planning to look to Apple's past for inspiration, he could do worse than this glorious monochrome effort from designer Anton Repponen. iOS '86, as it's aptly named, pays homage to the old Mac OS with its pixellated icons and Chicago font.

WWDC is due to take place on June 10th where iOS 7 will be revealed – along with, potentially, a new iPhone 5S.

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Details of Jonathan Ive's minimalist Apple iOS 7 makeover leak

Luke Edwards — Fri, 24 May 2013 16:10:09 +0000

Your next iPhone will be "black, white, and flat all over" if Jony Ive has a say – and he does

Apple’s next iPhone with iOS 7 will be “black, white, and flat all over” after Jony Ive’s redesign, say

Byline:

Luke Edwards

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Textures

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The first thing to go will be textured designs. Ive reckons that software designs filled with physical metaphors don’t stand the test of time. He wants iOS apps like Maps, Notes and Mail to have an obvious Apple theme. So what does that mean for the rest of iOS 7?

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Lock screen

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From the lock screen that shiny transparent time bar will be replaced by a black interface. The square pin code grid will be rounded off, with black buttons plus white text and borders.

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Notifications

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You will be able to manipulate notifications on the lock screen using gestures – the notification pull-down will be black with white text. New panels will mean more notification controls like local news feeds, along with Wi-Fi, Airplane Mode and Bluetooth toggles – finally. The above image, from a YouTube conecpt video, seems to be right on the money.

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Home screen

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Say goodbye to the shine, shadows, texture and gloss on your app icons. Panorama wallpapers that pan as you swipe will also make an appearance. Tab bars will be gradient free and will sport a blurring effect. And finally the keyboard will be a lighter shade of grey minus the shadows.

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Apps

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The new Weather app should include animated images to show the weather – just like Android widgets. It could look similar to the above concept image, posted on Dribble. Game Center will lose the green felt and Newsstand shall have no more wood. The FaceTime app may appear as a stand-alone icon, much like the iPad version.

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New features

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Flickr and Vimeo are expected to come built into iOS 7, along with improved in-car support for Maps and Siri. Expect to see it unveiled at Apple’s WWDC on June 10th.

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Vine

content — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 15:14:25 +0000

Twitter gets moving with this bite-size video app – but is it fruitful or a weed?

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Byline:

Stephen Graves

When Twitter burst onto the scene in 2007 it taught us to say more with less. Now a new app from its sister company Vine Labs is teaching us to do just the same, but this time with video.

Pricing

£0.00

Ratings

Overall rating:

8 stars

Pros:

Easy to use

A video is worth a lot of words

Cons:

Could be a fad

Six second video length can be limiting

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What is Vine?

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Vine lets you take six-second video clips and post them both on Vine’s own social network, as well as Twitter and Facebook. It’s a simple app, but you’ll get a tutorial the first time you load it up anyway.

First up you’ll be asked to sign in with Twitter or via email. If you choose Twitter, your bio and picture will be pulled in - you can edit it if you want, but it will give you a profile that’s ready to go.

Making video is easy. On the Vine homescreen in the top right hand corner there is a video icon. Tap that and you’ll be taken to the capture screen.

To start recording you simply hold your finger on the screen, and remove to stop. This allows you to capture one single six-second clip, or stop and start during the same time frame to reduce a longer activity into its highlights. There’s a progress bar at the top so you can see how much time you have left to spare.

Similarly to Twitter and Instagram, when you share your clip you’re encouraged to use hashtags in your description in order for it to be easily searchable by others Vine users. When a hashtag starts to trend, you’ll find it in the ‘Explore’ section, along with all the recent videos that have been tagged with it.

Also in the ‘Explore’ section (found via the menu in the top left hand corner on the home screen), you’ll find the most liked videos and a section for editor’s picks – usually containing the most creative videos doing the rounds. As you scroll through them, Vine will automatically play the video currently on your screen on a loop, with no play or pause button in sight.

As you’d expect from a sister app of Twitter, you can follow users to be kept up to date with what they post, and rack up followers of your own. To help your numbers, you can see at a glance which of your Twitter followers are on Vine, as well as search for users by email or name.

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verdict

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Vine is still in its early stages but it’s already showing great potential in the creativity people can squeeze into six seconds. It certainly rattled Facebook’s cage (the social network put a stop to people being able to search for Facebook friends on Vine), but the question is whether it can keep up its popularity past the first few weeks of release buzz and become a must-have app. Only time will tell.

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An interesting approach to social video, but only time will tell if it will really catch on

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Google Nexus 7 vs Apple iPad Mini video

Lucy Hedges — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 19:38:10 +0000

The Google Nexus 7 and Apple iPad Mini go head to head in a battle for 7in supremacy – but which tiny tab comes out on top?

Apple iPad Mini

Esat Dedezade — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 07:11:34 +0000

Can Apple's not-quite-8-incher take the fight to Google's cheaper Nexus 7 offering? We find out in our review of the tiniest iPad yet.

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Byline:

Sophie Charara

Pricing

£270.00

Price from

(16GB)

Ratings

Overall rating:

10 stars

Pros:

Like the iPad, but easier to handle

Beautifully built

Battery life is impressive

Cons:

No Retina Display means a lack of detail

Expensive compared to the Nexus 7

Review Section

Title:

overview

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Contrary to what Apple told us at the launch event, the iPad Mini is just a smaller iPad. There, we said it. Now that we've got that bombshell out of the way let's look at why millions of people are likely to go crazy for the latest slab of aluminium to grace Apple's iOS line-up.

Its skinny bezel lends it a look that may suggest otherwise, but the Mini is no iPhone phablet. Steve Jobs proclaimed he wouldn't make a 7in tablet until we sandpapered down our fingers, and Apple’s CEO Tim Cook hasn't entirely gone against his wishes with the iPad Mini.

It's more helpful to think of the 7.9in device as a concentrated version of the iPad 2 (Apple's words) than a big iPhone or even a 7in tab: it’s got the same dual-core A5 chip, same 1024x768 resolution, same access to the 275,000-odd iPad-specific apps in the App Store and a much thinner and lighter form. That means the Retina Display is out, but the iPad Mini gets the same iOS 6 that powers its bigger brothers, and will be one of the first 4G tablets.

However, when it comes to reduced-size slates, Apple doesn't quite have the first-to-market advantage it normally enjoys. We've seen plenty of 7in Android tablets round these parts lately and the flood shows no sign of abating.

The most hell-bent of these would-be iPad killers, the Asus-built Google Nexus 7, has just added 32GB storage to its impressive arsenal of quad-core Tegra 3 innards, 1280x800 7in screen and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean OS, all for just £200.

So, can the iPad Mini stop the Nexus 7 in its tracks before it does real damage to Apple's tablet dominance? Or is £270 for a 16GB iPad Mini too high a price for what looks to be a lower-specced machine? Let’s find out…

Read our Apple iPad 4 review

Read our Google Nexus 7 review

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design

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Read all the iPad Mini vs Nexus 7 spec comparisons you like but in the flesh (so to speak) only one of the designs will make you weak at the knees. At 7.2mm thick, with flawless diamond cut edges and a satin aluminium finish, the hewn-from-solid-feeling iPad Mini really does put the fat bezel, smaller display and general chunk of the Google tablet to shame side-by-side. In fact, we’d go so far as to say that this is the best-looking iPad yet.

If you're already an iPad owner, one of the first things you'll notice when you pick up the Mini is how light it is – at just 308g for the Wi-Fi model it's less than half the weight of the 652g Retina Display iPad 4, which makes the decision whether to stick it in your bag for the day a no-brainer. It’ll even fit into the more capacious of jacket pockets.

But while the iPad Mini is officially lighter than both the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD, all three tablets are easy to hold for long periods of time. By comparison, hold an iPad 4 for 20 minutes and your wrists will start to ache – unless you’ve been bench-pressing gaming PCs.

Apple’s decision to go with a 7.9in display and retain the traditional 4:3 ratio means the iPad Mini can be a stretch for one-handed use, although that will of course depend on the size of your spades. For some (including Apple’s giant hand models) it will be a perfect fit. Unless you’ve got the tiniest of digits the Mini is comfortable for two-thumbed typing in portrait mode, is easy to tap game controls without obscuring the onscreen action and is a great size for flicking through newspaper and magazine apps or iBooks.

In actual fact it’s arguably a better size for portable media and gaming than the bigger iPads – more pocketable, less unwieldy, yet usable for just about any task you’d normally carry out on its bigger brothers. And if you’re someone who carries both an iPad and a Kindle on a daily basis, a Mini could be just the thing. It’s like the Wash & Go of tablets.

There's no wasted space here, either – if that slim bezel were any thicker the Mini would be too wide to hold with one hand. It's impressive work to pack nearly 8in of screen into a device that's so thoroughly portable. For comparison, Motorola’s 8.2in Xoom 2 Media Edition is 2mm thicker, 6mm wider and 80g heavier, and yet its screen isn’t as wide as the Mini’s.

The Nexus 7 does have a few design touches in its favour, mind you: a textured back is one, since the iPad Mini doesn't have much to grip on to. If you struggle to hold the tablet in one hand you may spend much of your time worrying about dropping it, unless you spring for a Smart Cover or textured case.

It's also worth noting that while the white and silver version of the iPad Mini we tested didn't pick up any scuffs, the black and slate model features a similar anodised finish to that of the black iPhone 5, and therefore may need more TLC – or a case – to keep it looking box-fresh.

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screen

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If you're expecting the best display Apple can throw at your peepers, you'll feel a little let down by the iPad Mini's 1024x768 effort. Compared to the iPad 4’s 264ppi resolution the Mini’s 163ppi sounds weedy, and sure enough a side-by-side comparison shows the Mini’s icons and text to look a smudgy around the edges.

The more important question is how the iPad Mini’s screen compares to that of the Google Nexus 7, and the Mini draws first blood with its extra 0.9in of diagonal space. Its squat 4:3 ratio could lead you to believe that the 16:10 Nexus would offer you a greater widescreen movie viewing area, but in actual fact the picture on the Mini is still marginally bigger. What’s more, those HD videos are beautifully crisp and naturally coloured. Away from movies the bigger screen has more obvious advantages – web pages, ebooks and apps have an appreciable level of extra room to breathe.

However, the Nexus 7’s 216ppi screen offers advantages that the Mini can’t match. Fonts in ebooks and web pages are rendered with less obvious pixellation, and still images look more detailed. In terms of colours and contrast, though, Apple wins back the advantage with whiter whites and an overall brightness that can make the Nexus 7 look just a little dull. On balance, we reckon the Mini still makes the marginally better ereader and browser, owing to the additional screen space it has to offer.

There’s no need to worry about any accidental prodding of the screen thanks to that skinny bezel, either. Apple’s baked thumb detection tech into the Mini that ignores the touch of an errant digit, and it works a treat.

Speaking of prodding, some tech-heads (including Steve Jobs) have worried that pressing the smaller buttons on a reduced-size screen could be too hit-and-miss to make mini tablets useful. With the iPad Mini, the touch targets are significantly downsized from those of the big iPads, but with most developers already designing apps to meet Apple’s 44x44p button criteria, we found the transition to the Mini’s screen just fine.

For rigour, we loaded our iPad Mini up with Korg’s recreation of a full analogue synth, iMS-20 for iPad. With more buttons, sliders and dials than Apple’s got dollars in the bank the app does require more precise fingerwork on the Mini than it does with the iPad 4, but it won’t slow your mixing down enough to annoy. In fact, aside from the odd need for a double tap – funnily enough mostly on Apple's own buttons in the settings menu and the App Store – we think small-icon anxiety is gadget scaremongering.

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iOS 6

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Apple's iOS 6 overhaul may have been overshadowed by the tech-tastrophe that is Apple Maps, but there's lots to love about the latest OS, from useful Facebook integration to revamped email and, in the iPad Mini's case, an improved and more Europe-friendly Siri.

iOS has kept its simplicity – it's an easy OS to get to grips with, and you’ll be clicking or swiping between apps and downloading goodies from the iTunes Store in no time. However, the grid of icons looks past it’s sell-by date, and the acres of dead homescreen space could be put to much better use housing some energetic widgets.

The notifications pull-down also looks bolted-on, but since it's the only summary of live info such as calendar appointments and birthday reminders, it remains essential. Compare this to Google’s live widgets and Windows 8’s information-rich tiles, and it’s clear Apple has some work to do before the next iOS makeover.

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Maps

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Though mapping isn’t as crucial to the tablet experience as it is the smartphone one, there are plenty of occasions when you’ll find yourself firing Apple Maps up. And Apple Maps is still flawed – whole towns remain MIA and business listings are often hilariously out of date.

Is there anything to redeem the Mini’s version of Apple Maps? Well, the 3D cityscapes are very impressive – a little slower to pan and zoom than they are on the iPad 4 or iPhone 5, but still pretty. And although there’s no turn-by-turn navigation here, the vector-based maps load and scale speedily. Essentially the foundations are there, and with better, more accurate data, Apple Maps would be a contender.

For now, adding a Google Maps shortcut to the homescreen or chancing it with Bing Maps will mostly suffice, but we hope Apple is either throwing a mountain of manpower at Maps or rushing a Google Maps app through the App Store this very second.

[MPU]

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Siri

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Siri boots up as a neat pop-up – minus the Samsung Galaxy Note 2-style resizeable hovering – and in iOS 6 the voice assistant is more helpful than ever. British gadgeteers will be happy to know that Siri now provides UK restaurant details, movie times and sports scores, making it a much more useful digi-PA.

We found that Siri responds quickly to commands to open up apps, play music or search the web and is generally a much better listener in iOS 6. There are few things more embarrassing than being overheard talking to your tech, but being overheard saying the same thing over and over to your tech is one of them – so we’re mightily pleased with Siri’s improved comprehension.

Google’s own voice search isn’t as capable as Siri, but a swipe from the bottom of the Nexus 7 screen conjures Google Now, which pulls in anything from the weather to your bus departure times, upcoming calendar appointments and local bars.

Wonderful as they sound, both systems are still of limited help – for instance, Siri will bring up five movies playing at your local Odeon, complete with a Rotten Tomatoes rating for each, but what if none of those five appeal? That’s right, you’re back to Googling with those old-fashioned fingers. Meanwhile, Google Now often simply doesn’t work. Consider each to be a work in progress.

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apps

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Every one of the 275,000 iPad apps in the App Store will work perfectly with the iPad Mini as its display is the same resolution and ratio as the iPad 2, so you’ll be able to get stuck in to the likes of GarageBand, Sky Sports, Cargo-Bot and the aforementioned Korg iMS-20 from day one. You'll also be safe in the knowledge that most great tablet apps start life on the iPad, so you’re never going to be short of software to toy with.

App compatibility is a real advantage for the iPad Mini. With the Nexus 7 you’re frequently stuck with Android phone apps that have been unceremoniously blown up to fill the 7in screen, and that rarely results in pretty pictures. Crucially, once you’ve spent some time with both tablets you develop the impression that the Nexus 7 is geared towards media consumption, whereas the iPad Mini adds much greater interaction and creativity through its apps. When you boil it down, it’s just a more versatile device.

The ground, though, is gradually shifting. TegraZone brings a selection of high-quality games and apps to to the Nexus 7 and its brethren, some of which are Android exclusives. Plus, the shed-load of Nexus 7s that Google is shifting could well convince Android developers of the need to tailor their apps for tablets in the future.

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performance and benchmarking

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Inside the iPad Mini is an A5 chip that's two generations behind the A6X in the iPad 4, so it's not gob-smacking that the Mini is a step behind the greatest iPad when it comes to web browsing and multi-tasking. Still, with fewer pixels to push it provides a nippy tablet experience, aside from occasional stutters when navigating a 3D landscape in Apple Maps, or swiping into the universal search screen. Apps load up speedily and hi-res jpegs can be downloaded from Dropbox in seconds. It never feels like a slouch.

In our direct benchmark comparison, Geekbench 2 awarded the Nexus 7's 1.3 GHz Tegra 3/1GB RAM combo scored 1375, while the iPad Mini’s 1GHz A5/500MB innards received a relatively poor 752.

However, the SunSpider Javascript test, which rates real-world browser speed, tells a different story. Here, lower is better, so the Mini’s score of 1500.3ms compared to the Nexus 7’s 1884.4 is a healthy win, and side-by-side on the same Wi-Fi connection the Mini is marginally faster at loading fresh web pages.

Both tablets are complete strangers to lag, though, and both tear through graphically intensive mobile games without breaking a sweat. Either slate can handle day-to-day emails, browsing and gaming with no trouble at all.

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storage

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The basic 16GB in the cheapest iPad models will be fine for casual users, but app enthusiasts, magazine readers and film fans would be wise to opt for a 32GB or 64GB model. Yes, that means spending more – and yes, you get a hell of a lot more storage for your money with a Google Nexus 7. Neither device will accept any form of hardware memory expansion so the lesson, as always, is to get as much as you can afford from the off.

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The other obvious trump card that the Mini holds over its rivals is a rear camera. Both Google and Amazon forgot to add one to their budget tabs, and while not quite an essential tablet feature, there’s no harm in having a decent one like this. Indeed, given the Mini’s reduced size, you can almost even use it without looking like a prat.

It struggles slightly indoors and there’s no flash, let alone the incredible low-light skills of the iPhone 5, but the 5MP image quality is roughly the same as the iPhone 4’s – that is, clear and crisp in good light, with a speedy AF and the added bonus of silky 1080p video. Definitely good enough to use in a fix.

The front-facer is a 1.2MP HD cam, which means FaceTime video calls and self-portraits benefit from a bump in detail – if you want everyone to see every last spot, that is.

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connectivity

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Our iPad Mini test unit is a Wi-Fi-only model, and can happily report that its dual-band radio does a fine job at grabbing and holding a signal. It’s impressively fast, too.

However, the more interesting test will be to see how the 4G LTE-equipped model fares. It’s the only 4G mini tablet available (the Nexus 7 has old-fangled 3G), and therefore something of a treat, offering theoretical speeds of up to 70Mbps (although 12Mbps is more likely).

Contract prices for a 4G iPad Mini on EE start at £26 a month for a 2GB data allowance and rise to £31 for 3GB and £36 for 5GB, but you’ll be able to surf HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA for less on other iPad Mini contracts soon enough.

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Lightning connector

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Much has been made of Apple’s switch from the ten year old 30-pin connector to the new Lightning socket, and the sudden obsolescence of all of the bajillion accessories such a move seemingly entails. Before getting all upset it’s worth bearing in mind that Lightning is in many ways better – smaller, neater, reversible – and that you can always buy a Lightning-to-30-pin adapter (£25 or £30), although your dock setup won’t look very neat with a chunky adaptor sandwiched on top.

As always, that’s about it for connections. No more unsightly fissures cleave the flanks of this shining artifact; adaptors are the order of the day. A build-in SD card slot wouldn’t have gone amiss for shutterbugs, but you can connect the iPad Mini to your DSLR with an adaptor kit (£25). Plus there’s a Lightning-to-HDMI adaptor (£39) if you want to make a physical connection to your TV. These additions take the price of even the cheapest iPad Mini over £330, so if you think you’ll need them, prepare to dig deep.

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battery life

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Apple quotes 10 hours of battery life, but the iPad Mini does better than that – for us, it regularly managed a day and a half of intensive usage. The omission of the Retina Display (which necessitates a huge battery) was quite possibly a compromise to make the Mini an all day tablet. Charging, meanwhile, will mean a full couple of hours hooked up to a Lightning connector – no almost-instant iPhone 5 re-juicing here.

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verdict

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If the thought of dropping over £300 on a big iPad has stopped you from joining the Apple slab brigade so far, the iPad Mini should look very tempting right now. And if you’ve ever thought the iPad was just too big, or if you’re the kind of person who carries both a big-screen tablet and a Kindle every day, the iPad Mini could well be the only device you really need. It looks sexy, you’ll barely notice it in your bag, and it’s got the apps to back up that price tag.

That said, the iPad Mini isn’t without compromises. The screen isn’t as crisp as it could be and it’s a little slower than its bigger brothers. Then there’s the price – the Nexus 7 16GB is now £160, a full £110 cheaper than the equivalent iPad Mini. Couple that with a higher-res screen, equally impressive performance and a sturdy, easy to hold form, and the Apple logo starts to look expensive.

The two devices are however quite different. If you’re looking for a tablet that encourages creativity and interaction rather than simply providing a gateway to media consumption, the Mini is genuinely worth the extra cash. It’s built better, too, and over time aesthetic concerns and pride of ownership really matter. For many people, though, access to the web and media on the move is the biggest priority, and for them the Nexus 7 is simply brilliant value. That’s why it retains second place in our Top 10, with the iPad Mini a new entry in third.

But boy was this a close fight.

Review by Sophie Charara

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Small and light enough to take everywhere but big and clever enough to be considered a full-blooded tablet, the iPad Mini provides a near-perfect balance – for a price

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Apple iPad 4

Sophie Charara — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 01:02:48 +0000

The second new iPad of 2012 with Retina Display is here, otherwise known as the iPad 4 – is Apple still on top of the tablet heap?

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Sophie Charara

And now for something we genuinely didn’t expect at the iPad Mini launch – a new Retina Display iPad. Apple’s dubbing the new tablet a fourth generation iPad, just six months after the launch of the last one. We’re just going to call it the iPad 4 to save sanding down our fingers with too much typing.

Pricing

£400.00

Price from

Ratings

Overall rating:

10 stars

Pros:

Sublime display

Stylish and well built

iOS glides along

Cons:

A bit chunky next to some of its competitors

Not a radical departure from the iPad 3

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iPad 4 vs iPad 3

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There are no outward improvements over the iPad 3, but the new, faster A6X chip, dual-band Wi-Fi, a Lightning connector and a 1.2MP FaceTime HD camera are enough for Apple to make the iPad 3 extinct. From the November 2nd release date, the iPad 4 will be the only Retina Display iPad available to buy brand new, making the iPad 3, previously known as Stuff’s Number One slate, a bit of a second-hand bargain.

So is it worth upgrading your Retina Display iPad to a model with twice the processing and graphical power? Or should you wait six months* for the iPad 5? Come join us for another magical mystery tour around the latest iPad. (*okay, we’re guessing, but you never know)

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The iPad 4’s 9.7in screen is exactly the same as the one on the iPad 3 – but that’s no bad thing, because it’s still easily the best display we’ve seen on a tablet. Colours are rich and vibrant, whites are pure as driven snow and blacks are suitably inky.

And then there’s the resolution. At 2048x1536 pixels, it’s astonishingly sharp – that’s 264 pixels per inch for spec junkies. It’s so fine that when viewing the screen at normal distance you can’t make out the individual pixels at all (hence Apple’s coining of the term “Retina Display”). Hold it up closer to your eyeballs and you’ll see just the merest hint of blockiness around the edges of graphics (and you’ll also look like a lunatic). The photo above has the iPad Mini's screen on the left and the iPad 4's on the right, for comparison.

The Retina Display makes photos – particularly those you import directly from a camera via the SD card adapter – look incredibly detailed, while the desktop and built-in apps are equally stunning. Open up the Safari web browser and you’ll be able to read the tiniest text without having to zoom in.

We’ve not had a chance to pit it against a 2560x1600 Nexus 10 yet, but rest assured that we’ll be conducting that eye-slicing battle of the super-resolution tabs at the earliest possible opportunity.

UPDATE: Read our in depth Google Nexus 10 review here.

The iPad 4’s display also features the same thumb recognition tech as the iPad Mini so stray thumbs don’t accidentally press buttons and open apps. It’s less of an issue here becuase the iPad 4 has a sizeable physical bezel, but you can quickly see how badly Android tablets fare in this respect.

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design

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As with the screen, the iPad 4 apes the design of the previous iPad exactly. Well, almost – it features the smaller Lightning docking port instead of the old 30-pin connector. Aside from that, it’s indistinguishable: it even weighs the same.

While a little heavier than the iPad 2 at 652g (versus 601g) – and far from the thinnest and lightest tablet around – it’s a glorious-looking piece of design, and for our money no other tablet on the market offers the quality of finish that Apple has achieved here. A near-seamless union of glass and aluminium, with fantastically precise touches like the miniscule drilled-out holes for the internal speaker, it’s really in a class of its own.

That said, with the thinner and much lighter iPad Mini about to gobble up Apple tablet sales like there’s no tomorrow, we’d like to see Apple’s engineers get to work on a new Retina Display iPad that we can hold up for more than twenty minutes before our arms get tired.

Review continues after the break

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iOS 6

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iPad 3 launched with iOS 5.1 but of course that has been upgradeable to iOS 6 since Apple officially let its latest OS out of the bag alongside the iPhone 5. For anyone buying an iPad 4, this means two things: there’s no downloading to be done to get your tablet in fighting shape, and there’s no option to avoid Apple Maps.

Elsewhere in iOS 6, Apple’s loving improvements to iOS 5 are apparent immediately: you can now tweet or post to Facebook straight from the notifications scroll-down, and email inboxes now get an addictive sticky gum visual when you pull down to refresh.

Siri’s also been the recipient of some love this time around – you can now search for businesses and listings outside the US, which means we might actually find ourselves using the voice assistant more often. And s/he can respond to loads more commands so you could easily get away with controlling the almost the entire tablet via Siri and even use dictation for laughs – if testing voice control is how you get your kicks.

Maps, too, shows promise despite its terrible data. It looks good – especially the visually stunning 3D maps – and integrates with Siri for directions. We’d be very surprised if Apple Maps doesn’t redeem itself in the next 12 months or so – either that or Cupertino will go crawling back to Google.

Yes, iOS is now a little tired around the edges but the functionality is second to none – it’s a very solid operating system and it works. With Sir Jony Ive heading up software design at Apple from now on, expect minimalism across the board in the next makeover – and we’re still hoping that Apple ditches the notification bar and throws some live widgets into the mix for a bit of a freshen up.

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apps

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The number of apps available to the iPad 4 is quite simply mind-boggling: at the time of writing there are 275,000 designed specifically for the iPad, with many now optimised for the Retina Display’s eyeball-slicingly sharp resolution – though Apple wouldn’t take the bait when we asked for an exact figure.

Some apps are still built with the first and second-generation iPads’ 1024 x 768 screen in mind, and these require upscaling on the iPad 4. Bitmap images are scaled so that one pixel now equals four, which softens the detail somewhat. Fonts can look jarringly low-res if they’re delivered in bitmap form, but some apps combine bitmap images with iPad fonts – and these fonts don’t require upscaling and therefore look as deliciously sharp as those in optimised apps.

Games optimised for the screen are console-quality – or even better in some cases, due to the glorious jaggy-free smoothness of the visuals. The iPad 4 has definitely cemented a spot as a serious games machine and still offers a far higher number of quality new titles than Android.

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power and performance

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With a new A6X chip that Apple reckons is two times faster than the A6 chip in the iPad 3 with two times the graphical capabilities, the iPad 4 should fly. And boy, does it. With just under 1GB of RAM under the hood, too, everything gets a speed bump. Opening up apps (though it’s a matter of milliseconds), launching the camera, loading web pages. None of this is surprising considering Geekbench 2 notes the processing performance as 1768 – by comparison the iPad 3 scored just 760.6. Yes, that is as massive a gap as it sounds.

When flicking through magazine apps on the iPad 3, there’s a noticeable lag when scrolling through pages, but on the iPad 4 it’s fluid as ever. Hiccups are few and far between but they do still happen very occasionally – nothing’s perfect. We experienced a blip when playing Frontline Commando and one instance of being escorted abruptly out of the iTunes store.

But these are rare, and otherwise games open quicker on the iPad 4 than its predecessor, and they run far smoother, too. Again, the figures backup our real-world experience – GLBenchmark 2.5 sees the new iPad 4 average a whopping 52fps, just above the already impressive 46fps figure of the iPad 3.

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storage

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Apple hasn’t changed the formula when it comes to the iPad 4’s built-in storage: there are 16GB, 32GB and 64GB options. There’s also no option to expand that with an SD card.

As apps increase in size you could find space running out quickly. HD iTunes movie downloads, for instance, can be up to 5GB apiece. As game graphics improve, they’re also taking up increasing amounts of space above the 1GB mark. Apple may have missed a trick by not offering a 96GB or even 128GB model – but perhaps that’s not coming until the iPad 5.

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The iPad 4’s rear camera is the same 5MP snapper that we saw on the iPad 3. Whip out the iPad 4 when there’s an abundance of available light and the images are mightily impressive: on par with the average smartphone camera. Even better is its 1080p HD video, which is better than that of most pocket camcorders, at least if you’re able to keep the thing steady. Panning around too wildly will bring on some judder.

When things get murkier the camera on the iPad 4 doesn’t fare nearly as well. There’s no LED flash or light to help, and footage and stills end up grainier than a jar of Grey Poupon. Watch them back on the Retina Display and its insanely sharp resolution highlights all the problem shots clear as day.

Stills taken with the iPad 3’s 0.3MP front-facer are noticeably softer than snaps from the iPad 4’s new FaceTime HD camera – the new addition lets in more light and also benefits from more detail and better colour reproduction. Considering it’s a close-up, the iPad 3 might actually be more forgiving, but surely you owe it to your Skype contacts to give them the utmost in accuracy and detail, even if that means they get a good look at the odd spot.

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Lightning connector

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Side-by-side, iPad 4 owners won’t have much in the way of design tweaks to set their shiny Apple slate apart from all those now-shunned iPad 3s. In fact the only physical difference is that the iPad 4 has a Lightning connector port in place of the old 30-pin affair. The new 8-pin Lightning connector is much smaller and apparently more durable, but then again it won’t work with your existing docks and kit unless you buy an adapter.

We should see more and more Lightning connector-compatible accessories, but Apple’s not forgotten those of us who’ll want to use the iPad 4 with our existing kit: you can buy Lightning-to-USB connectors, two sizes of Lightning-to-30-pin adapter, Lightning-to-HDMI and perhaps most usefully, a Lightning-to-SD card reader, but these will all cost between £25 and £50 a piece.

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Lightning vs 30-pin connector

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If you bought an iPad 3 recently, you've every right to be a bit miffed. Apple has – quite unexpectedly – pulled out a refresh of the daddy iPad which is identical in almost every respect. The main difference is the new Lightning connector first seen on the iPhone 5. It's better than the old 30-pin connector (and you can kiss goodbye to working out which way up it goes - it's orientation agnostic) and you can pick up an (overpriced) adapter to (maybe) get your new tablet to play with your 30-pin accessories. That may not sound like a glowing endorsement (and it's not for now), but give it a couple of years and you'll be glad you didn't cling on to Apple's outmoded connector. Mark my words...

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Paddy Smith

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Apple got in trouble for naming the iPad 3 a 4G tablet when it turned out to be incompatible with most networks outside the US, including those in the UK. So it’s good news that the iPad 4 will be compatible with EE’s LTE bands over here – getting an iPad 4 won’t come cheap on a contract (you’re looking at £25+ for between 2GB and 5GB a month) but as 4G coverage improves you’ll have a pretty future-proof tab.

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battery life

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With boasts of up to 10 hours of Wi-Fi and video or 9 hours pulling-down 3G or 4G data, Apple’s selling the iPad 4 as a similarly stamina-filled tablet to the iPad 3. And in our intensive video loop test on half brightness it actually outlasted the iPad 3 – it drained the battery at about 9 per cent an hour rather than 12 per cent.

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verdict

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The sneaky iPad 4 takes our tablet top spot almost by default. There are no cosmetic changes to swoon over but this is a seriously slick, turbo-charged version of our favourite slate, and all for the same price as the outgoing iPad 3.

That said, anyone with an iPad 3 should resist the inevitable sense of disappointment – aside from the fact that the resale value will no doubt plummet you’ve still got a fantastic device. Plus, chances are that unless you’re editing HD video or spending 10-hour sessions on intensive games you’re not even giving your tablet a warm-up never mind a real work-out.

iPad 2 or iPad owners should also perhaps hold out on the upgrade. Maybe the slim, 308g iPad Mini, with its decent 7.9in display and extreme portability would suit you better? In six months time we may also be treated to an iPad 5 with a skinny bezel slimmer waistline anyway.

Still, for any first time tableteers or early upgraders Apple is simply giving you more tech for your buck with the iPad 4, and that can only be a good thing. The Nexus 10, lurking in the wings with its “better-than-Retina” display will have its work cut out as the iPad’s combination of 4G, dedicated (and optimised) iPad apps and unflappable performance could prove too mighty to be quashed. But only time will tell.

Review by Sophie Charara

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A new A6X chip joins the Retina Display and tons of dedicated apps – the best tablet you can buy just got better

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Apple iPhone 5

Sophie Charara — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 05:02:58 +0000

Read on for the Stuff verdict on whether the iPhone 5 beats the Samsung Galaxy S3 and HTC One X in the smartphone stakes

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Byline:

Tony Horgan

Android has attacked the iPhone more viciously than ever this year, resulting in the HTC One X and Samsung Galaxy S3 knocking it from the pinnacle of our smartphone top ten.

Pricing

£530.00

(16GB)

Ratings

Overall rating:

10 stars

Pros:

Slickest smartphone out there

Gorgeous 16:9 Retina screen

Disconcertingly thin and light

Cons:

Old accessories will need an adapter

You'll want to upgrade the Earpods

Apple Maps can get lost

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Screen

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This is the first iPhone without a 3.5in screen, and the first to adopt the 16:9 widescreen format preferred by Android rivals. The width of the screen is the same as ever, and has the same resolution as the 4S (640 pixels), but the height has been increased from 960 to 1136 pixels, yielding a 4in display with the 'Retina' credentials of its predecessor. It's not quite 720p HD, but it's not far off (roughly 80% the number of pixels, fact fans).

The screen somehow feels closer than ever. A new manufacturing process means the touch sensors are now one with the LCD, which means the whole assemblage is thinner. It's still incredibly crisp, and it's more colourful. Blues and purples particularly ping, compared to the 4S, and photos look that bit shinier as a result. Compared to the yellowish Samsung Galaxy S3, whites are whiter and colours generally more natural.

The biggest change, of course, is the extra space. When moving from an older iPhone, the taller screen seems a little peculiar at first, but it's a matter of minutes before you wouldn't go back. We reckon it's a sensible size: 4in in a 16:9 ratio is just about big enough for movies on the move, and the extra space accommodates an extra line of apps and a few extra entries in lists and calendar views, all the while staying small enough for comfortable one handed use.

Could Apple have usefully gone bigger? The Galaxy S3 suggests it could, particularly for films and games, but Apple has its smaller-handed users to consider, and the resolution would also have had to increase to retain that Retina moniker. Oddly, the extra space isn't utilised by the landscape keyboard, which just has a couple of grey buffers to either size. A missed opportunity, we reckon.

Also, it's only Apple's own apps that take advantage of the extra screen space right now. Existing apps are confined to the central area of the screen with black 'untouchable' strips at either end, but essential iOS downloads are bound to be updated to fill the whole iPhone 5 display sooner than you can say 'widescreen Angry Birds Space.'

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Glance at the iPhone 5 and it could very easily be a 4S: the flat edges and rounded corners are iconic to the point of being a little bit dreary. The back is where the action happens, as the glass has been mostly replaced by a panel of wraparound aluminium, leaving only glossy top and bottom strips.

On one side there's a slightly smaller (and less substantial-feeling) lock/mute switch next to the recognisable volume controls, while on the other there's a slot for the new Nano-SIM - if you're planning to upgrade to the iPhone 5 you're also going to need a new SIM card.

Pick it up for the first time and the reduced weight and thickness is rather striking. The 112g weight and 7.6mm thickness mean it's neither the lightest nor slimmest phone in Gadgetland, but it's not far off, and it is noticeably more pocketable than the Samsung Galaxy S3.

All told, the handset doesn't feel that aluminiumy, certainly not in the way a MacBook Air does, but the quality of finish is exemplary, particularly around its diamond-cut edges. It looks and feels as though the iPhone 5 has been styled for stealth rather than showing off, but we suspect that will please as many people as it disappoints.

We're torn as to whether it's an improvement over the 4S, though. On the one hand, it's a fresh look, and that back panel is drop-dead beautiful. On the other, the 4S' extra weight lends it a more substantial feel, and we worry about how long the 5's anodised finish will stay pristine. Let's call it a draw.

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Dock connector

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Thunderbolt and Lightning, very very frightening? If you've just bought a pricey iPhone dock it might be, because the iPhone 5 has ditched the almost-10-year-old 30-pin connector and replaced is with the tiny, all-digital Lightning connector, which means your new phone isn't going to fit.

Apple is launching two adapters, but they're expensive at £25 or £30 (although there are good DAC-flavoured reasons for the prices) and big enough to at best ruin the look of your sexy sound setup, and at worse ensure it doesn't fit at all.

But change is occasionally necessary, and Lightning is certainly more elegant than the 30-pin. It's reversible, it feels robust, and on the bright side it means we can expect a whole raft of new docks in the near future (Apple announced partnerships with audio luminaries Bose, Bowers & Wilkins and JBL on launch night). Lightning-to-HDMI and Lightning-to-VGA (yep, apparently one or two people out there still use VGA) adapters are also planned.

Straddling that Lightning port is a pair of tiny chassis screws, and beyond that are two sets of machined grilles, covering a microphone and a speaker. The latter won't get anyone body-popping, but it is loud and clear enough for hands-free calls, sat-nav instructions and irritating everybody on the bus. The 3.5mm headphone socket is, for the first time in iPhone history, on the bottom edge rather than the top.

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EarPod earphones

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But what should you plug into that headphone socket? Apple would implore you to try out the all-new EarPods, which come as standard. They look great, and they're a huge improvement over the old bundled buds, but they're not perfect. Apple has opted for one-size-fits-all comfort, so the EarPods sit outside the ear canal rather than burrow right in. That means there's very little noise isolation, so you'll be able to hear what everyone around you is chuntering on about and they'll be able to hear you listening to Luther Vandross.

If you're the make-do type when it comes to headphones you'll be getting far better sound quality from your bundled buds this time around, but if you have even a passing interest in sound quality you should budget for a better pair, such as the £35 SoundMagic E10s.

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Speed

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The new processor, Apple's A6, makes a palpable difference to the overall speed of the iPhone 5. Compared to the iPhone 4S there are shorter in-app loading times, smoother 2D and 3D graphics and a general reduction in waiting when you're zipping around from one app to another. Siri opens immediately, adding attachments to email is completely lag-free, the camera is up and running almost instantly, and that chip means it's now also capable of snapping a full-res shot during 1080p capture. If that doesn't sound quite exciting enough, allow us to be more definitive – this is the fastest, smoothest, most seamless smartphone experience money can buy.

A little bit of casual benchmarking using the GLBenchmark Egypt High test yielded a score of 6766, while the iPhone 4S got 1158. The Offscreen test was closer: 16681 vs 8346. This looks like a lot more than day to day usage bears out, but it suggests that there's headroom for the iPhone 5 to do some pretty impressive stuff.

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Camera

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On paper the iPhone 5's snapper looks very similar to the iPhone 4S' – same 8MP resolution, same f/2.4 lens. But there have been upgrades. 1080p video is excellent for a phone, matching the Samsung Galaxy S3's footage in good conditions and beating it whenever the lighting conditions throw up challenges such as high contrast or general gloominess.

The iPhone 5 is equally capable when capturing stills, with a neat new Panorama feature and the ability to dig up detail from twilight and indoor scenarios that's remarkable by smartphone standards. Just look at these sample images for a comparison: iPhone 4S above, iPhone 5 below.

On the downside, the lens is still in the wrong place. It looks neat tucked into that corner, but it makes the phone hard to handle in landscape mode – and it's all too easy to blot out vital footage with a drifting digit.

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iOS 6

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Even more familiar than the iPhone 5's design is the grid of apps that makes up its iOS homescreen. The way iOS works hasn't really changed since 2007, and iOS 6 sticks pretty rigidly to the programme. While certain Stuffers are among those looking for a more fundamental update that would give the iPhone a 'living' feeling as seen in Android's widgets and Windows Phone's live tiles, beneath iOS 6's familiar looks are a number of handy tweaks.

There are obvious touches, such as the 'New' flash that appears across across the icons of any app you've just downloaded, and the sticky gum visual that stretches from the top of the email app as you drag down the list to pull in new messages. Then there's the new 'Do Not Disturb' feature hidden in the settings menu, which allows you to specify how contactable you are to different callers.

Social features have had subtle upgrades, too. Facebook is now just as integrated as Twitter, allowing you to post photos direct from the (also subtly upgraded) Photos app and using Siri. Friends' birthdays appear in Calendar and phone numbers in Contacts. Got too many friends? Birthdays every day? You should have thought of that before you befriended them all.

The shared Photo Stream can be set to send a notification to your nearest and dearest whenever you add a new photo, Facetime now works over 3G as well as Wi-Fi, and there's a VIP inbox into which messages from your chosen contacts are automatically filtered and that notifies you whenever you receive an important missive. Just as usefully, you can now assign different email signatures to different accounts.

Nothing is exactly revolutionary, though. Apple has decided that iOS isn't broken and so hasn't issued a fix. To be fair, it's a brilliantly intuitive operating system to live with; it's just that the widget-based homescreens of Android are more exciting, more instantly informative and more, well, new. For now this link in the iPhone's chain is holding, but it's weakening.

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App Store and iTunes

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Both the onboard iTunes and the App Store apps have been given a refresh and now look much more like their desktop counterparts, pulling in more information on each page and reading less like a list. There are now numerous flickable carousels to browse and tabs to click on for more comprehensive user reviews and ratings. As with many of the iOS tweaks, these changes are so intuitive that you might not even notice at first, but in the long-run this is a slicker, more user-friendly and better looking digital shopping experience.

As for apps in general, they mostly run with those aforementioned untouchable black bars – but that doesn't stop the variety and quality on offer being head and shoulders above those on Android and Windows Phone. The huge pile of entertainment and productivity that is the App Store remains iOS' killer feature.

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Maps

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Much has been made of the severance of Google Maps from iOS 6, and rightly so – navigation is now a fundamental feature of the smartphone experience. Google Maps got the heave-ho so that Apple could introduce its own map app, and for users the switch is something of a mixed blessing.

The headline feature is 'Flyover', which introduces interactive 3D city models. Coverage is currently limited to a handful of cities worldwide, and the practical applications of the tech are limited, but we challenge your jaw not to drop as you zoom in and spin your map around the circumference of London's Gherkin. A gimmick? Sure, but one that we've fallen for wholeheartedly.

On the other hand, Maps can also be used as a full-on sat-nav, with voice-augmented turn-by-turn navigation, ETA, live traffic updates and more. It's decent, but a distance behind Android's Google Maps in terms of its search skills and knowledge of the vagaries of local dead ends and one-way systems.

LATEST UPDATE: Don't call it a comeback but the arrival of a Google Maps app means the iPhone 5 has jumped above the HTC One X+ in our Top Ten Smartphones.

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The great Maps debacle

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Although we didn't have significant problems during our own testing process, millions of people have since downloaded iOS 6 and it's become increasingly clear that Apple Maps is significantly flawed. Some towns in the UK are missing, some other locations are, well, in the wrong place altogether. You know what they say, millions of heads are better than one. In its current state Apple Maps is not a viable replacement for Google Maps. Hopefully Google's offering will be reinstated as a free download from the App Store in the near future; until then, Apple has a pretty major problem on its hands.

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Sophie Charara

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Siri

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iOS 6 has brought with it some neat new features to make Siri far more useful. For example, we asked the poorly constructed question "What are the best films showing around here later on today?", and Siri almost immediately presented us with a list of films showing that evening in our two nearest cinemas, ranked according to their score on Rotten Tomatoes. Dredd was ranked higher than The Dark Knight Rises, but we're not going to hold Siri accountable for that.

We followed up with "How did Tottenham do at the weekend?" and were treated to the glorious 3-1 scoreline Spurs recorded over Reading two days previously, closely followed by a deflating look at the Premier League table. Services are limited (the football results are Premier League-only), but we do also get the local businesses functionality that our US cousins have been enjoying since launch. Most importantly, there's been a significant improvement in Siri's ability to turn convoluted questions and commands into worthwhile responses, making the whole experience more natural and conversational.

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4G and connectivity

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Possibly the iPhone 5's most trumpeted feature is 4G LTE, theoretically capable of pulling data from the ether at up to 100Mbps. We couldn't test it out as EE's 4G nano-SIMs aren't yet available, instead making do with O2's DC-HSPA. This theoretically tops out at 42Mbps, compared with the iPhone 4S' 14Mbps HSPA, and while we got nowhere near either speed, the 5 was noticeably faster loading pages on the go than the 4S was.

There's also a boost for home users thanks to dual-band wireless-n Wi-Fi. Again, this makes for extremely nippy downloading – in our experience, the iPhone 5 installed new apps in about half the time that the iPhone 4S took.

Call quality is supposedly also top-of-the-line on the iPhone 5, although we have to say, we didn't notice. It supports HD Voice services, using a better audio codec to make speech clearer. Again, we didn't get to test this, but as it was, phone calling seemed just fine. There was no noticeable 'death grip', and the dialler has also been neatly redesigned for the bigger screen.

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NFC?

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If you, as we, were hoping Apple was going to give NFC the shot in the arm it so desperately needs, we have bad news – waving your iPhone at the contactless pay machine in Marks & Spencer will get you nothing but odd looks from staff. However, Apple has added an app to iOS 6 called Passbook, which allows you to keep all of your loyalty cards, gig tickets and boarding passes in a single, digital wallet. Think of the British Airways app, which makes checking in and progressing through the airport a simple, paper-free affair, and you're on the right lines.

Passbook is also location- and time-aware, so will fling up your boarding passes when you're at the airport or show you your cinema tickets just before the show. In theory, anyway – it wasn't live at time of testing.

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Battery life

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In our tests the iPhone 5 lasted just as long as its predecessor, and you can expect to get 8-10 hours of normal use out of it and up to five hours of heavy use, watching YouTube over Wi-Fi for instance. Most will need to charge it every evening, but eco-users could eke out an extra day. It won't generally be gasping for a charge at bedtime unless you've been indulging in serious gaming, tweeting or sat-navving during the day.

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Price

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The iPhone 5 is not cheap. If you're going SIM-free, prices start at £530 for the 16GB version and rise to an eye-watering £700 for 64GB. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the 32GB version seems to be the best value option at £600.

Many will be going down the contract route, which is why we've put together a comprehensive guide to the best iPhone tariffs on all the major networks. To cut a long story short, an iPhone 5 contract will still cost you more than one for any other phone, and that's before you factor in EE's 4G tariffs, which haven't yet been announced but are expected to add around £10 a month to a standard 3G contract.

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Updated verdict

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So is the iPhone 5 worth the money? And has Apple done enough to reclaim the top smartphone spot?

In the flesh the iPhone 5 is a delight. And if it feels just right, it performs even better with flawless operation, an excellent camera and a screen that's downright stunning. It's not flashy and it's not radical but it is a significant improvement over what was already an excellent device and it still has the best selection of apps available on any handset.

But we can't ignore the chink that iOS 6 creates in the iPhone 5's armour. With Google Maps in exile and Apple's own Maps app performing considerably below par, the iPhone 5 – not to mention any previous iPhones or iPads updated to iOS 6 – is trailing behind in one crucial way. Put simply, you just can't trust the maps on an iPhone any more.

It's still a 5-star handset, and it has the potential to be the best phone you can buy. So, Apple – hurry up and fix the maps, won't you?

Click here for the latest iPhone 5 deals

Stuff.tv's Top Ten Smartphones

Review by Tony Horgan. Additional testing by Will Findlater, Tom Parsons and Sophie Charara.

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What do you want to know?

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WAYNESTER: Does Maps in iOS 6 give you the number of miles and estimated time to a destination like Google Maps?

In a word: yes. We just entered in a destination and it gave us three suggested routes with estimated times and the number of miles as well as a '3D' view and turn by turn navigation accessed from a tab in the bottom left of the screen. Very similar set-up.

WAYNESTER: Is the iPhone 5's audio quality when listening to MP3s/ Lossless files with headphones better than the iPhone 4S?

Listening to the same files through the same headphones does prove that there's quite a big difference in the audio delivery of the iPhone 4S and 5. The 5 is cleaner, crisper and more detailed. It's definitely a more accomplished, 'hi-fi' sound, but it's also just a little trebly at the top.

With good headphones and decent quality recordings that shouldn't really be a problem, but you'll want to make sure you don't go for a pair of earphones that lean towards sounding a bit bright. In terms of which is 'better', we'd say the iPhone 5 - just take a little extra care when ripping/downloading tracks and choosing headphones.

Jamie Gordon: How far can you throw it?

Our Reviews Ed can throw the iPhone 5 about four yards – but that's because he throws about as well as a one-armed squirrel.

John Donnison: Are the keys on the iPhone 5 keyboard any bigger than the iPhone 4S?

Not in portrait mode as the display hasn't increased in girth but thanks Stuff Facebook fans for helping us make this discovery: the keys are wider in landscape mode. As we noted above, they don't fill the entire space but there's definitely more room for chubby fingers than on the iPhone 4 and 4S.

Darren Tucker: Did the iPhone 5 come with the adapter to stop all our docks becoming obsolete?

Apple annoyingly isn't bundling the Lightning adapter in with the iPhone 5 so we haven't had a chance to test it out yet. It's selling for £25 so it's just one more expense that you'll have to add on. We asked Apple why it has set such a steep price so read our story on the adapter here if you want to know more.

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Mark Beynon: Does the iPhone 5 take a microSIM?

We wouldn't recommend cutting up your microSIM and jamming it into the iPhone 5 – not only is the new nanoSIM slimmer, it's also shorter. See our snap above of the two side by side, complete with SIM trays.

Emma Griffiths Tysoe: Are the iPhone 5 setup screens similar to the iPhone 4/4S?

There's one or two new options like PhotoStream (if we remember rightly) to contend with but otherwise you'll see the usual screens asking you to pick a language, geographical location and set up iCloud etc. Shouldn't take too long to set up and demo then.

What's the iPhone 5's start up time?

You'll see the Apple logo almost instantly but it takes a good 20-22 seconds to fully boot up to the homescreen. Not particularly quick but we tend to leave our smartphones on standby when we're not using them anyway.

Ian Yak Houghton: How's the iPhone 5's battery life?

We tested the iPhone 5's battery life by watching YouTube over Wi-Fi – which we'd class as pretty intensive use – and for that, you should get about five hours out of Apple's latest blower. For day-to-day use (a mix of messaging, calls, browsing, gaming) we'd say that you'll still be putting your iPhone to bed every night to get juiced up for the next day.

For the record, Apple states that the iPhone 5 has an improved battery life over the iPhone 4S: up to 8 hours browsing time over 3G versus 6 hours on the iPhone 4S and up to 8 hours on 4G LTE.

Christopher Maddocks: Will it blend?

We think you took a wrong turning somewhere around the internets.

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Utsav Kankaria: Please can you benchmark the iPhone 5 against the Samsung Galaxy S3 and Samsung Galaxy Note 2?

We focused on our experiences of browsing, multi-tasking, downloading apps and playing iOS and Android games on the iPhone 5 and the S3 in our review but we did throw in some figures for you to pour over too (versus the iPhone 4S) – in our section on speed. We'll update this with benchmarks against the S3 soon but in the meantime, plenty of others – likeGeekbench – have hit the web. You'll see different results every time so we wouldn't make any decisions based on these.

We're still waiting for our Note 2 review unit from Samsung so you'll have to hold on for that too.

John Saunders: Does Passbook work in the UK and with what?

Yes, Passbook will work in the UK once iOS 6 has launched this evening at 6pm. We have spoken to Apple but at this point it is not in a position to say exactly which services will be using it initially. Anyone is free to add Passbook functionality to their apps, and Passbook can also be used without the need for a service provider (eg. a coffee shop) to have its own app.

Paul Cunningham: Is the iPhone 5's new length a problem? Will iPhone 4S cases with backup batteries be impractical?

For smaller hands it can be a bit of a stretch to reach the top of the screen with the thumb when used with one hand. The new size will make it incompatible with existing cases and certain docks.

Andy Bean: What sound does the iPhone 5 make when you throw it into the bin by your desk?

Nothing at all. Our bins are lined with the softest velvet that money can buy.

Chris Barnes: Is there enough innovation and enough of a difference over the 4/4S to warrant shelling out for the iPhone 5 now?

iOS 6 wil still offer the same features like Facebook integration, Maps and Passbook on your 4S, so if you're not desperate or still in a contract it's not a must-buy. Pick one up though and you might find it hard to resist. If build quality matters to you then it's worth the upgrade for that alone.

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Jo Mse Black-Smith (and a few others): What's the iPhone 5's camera like?

The short answer is: one of the best we've used. The iPhone 4S has always been excellent in daylight but Apple has added some improvements this time round. We've devoted a whole section of our review to the iPhone 5's skills as a snapper and though we moaned about the placement not moving (meaning your finger might make an unwanted guest appearance in a ton of shots), we were really impressed by its low-light abilities. Check out the sample images taken in a pretty dark (and scary) Stuff stockroom above.

1080p video also matches the Galaxy S3 and the iPhone can now take stills while recording like the HTC One X.

Becca N Kris Richens (and a few others): Can I have it?

We're afraid that Stuff Office Cat has run off with it and won't let any of us get near him. We're too scratched up to try again.

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Review Rating

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Verdict:

Enhanced, refined and more powerful than ever, but mapping issues keep the iPhone 5 off the top spot

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/review/apple-iphone-5