Tuesday, September 25, 2012

iPhone 5 Problems: Users' Biggest Issues With Apple's New Handset

Apple says it sold a staggering 5 million iPhones in the device's first weekend in stores. That's faster than any iPhone has sold before.

But once people took home their taller, slimmer, 4G LTE-enabled handsets, some began noticing quirks that weren't apparent in the store.

From WiFi connectivity problems to odd noises coming from inside the device, here are the nine biggest complaints users have noted about the iPhone 5 (so far). After reading about the snafus, check out what critics have to say about the device in our review roundup.

Are you one of the millions of Apple customers who bought the iPhone 5 during its first few days of availability? Have you noticed anything odd about the handset?

What People Are Saying:



1) The Updated Siri Is Worse Than Your Local Weatherman-

The new Siri for iOS 6 is sometimes confusing cities with the same name but in different states. (A similar problem occurs in the Apple Maps app.) For example, MacRumors noticed that asking for the weather in New York City yields temperatures and forecasts for New York, Texas. Siri is similarly mixing up the St. Louises in Missouri and Georgia and the Carrolltons in Texas and Indiana.

2) It's TOO Thin And Light-

Given that the new iPhone is touted as Apple's "lightest iPhone ever," the company must be surprised to hear people complaining that it's toolight, an issue that Gizmodo has noticed users raising on Twitter.

"It's following Samsung in the flimsy-feel department," writes @befroggled.

"Feels like a toy," tweeted @HERSEYSDARK.

At 112 grams, the iPhone 5 is 20 percent lighterthan the previous generation, the iPhone 4S.

3) The Maps App Is A Mess
If you've been following any coverage of the new iPhone, you've heard that iPhone 5 users (or any iDevice users who have updated their gadgets to iOS 6) are complaining rather loudly about how terrible the Apple Maps app is. The new navigation app, which has replaced Google Maps in new versions of iOS, has been seen to mislabel cities, fail to locate adresses and other problems.  Perhaps worst of all (for city-dwellers, at least) the new Maps app doesn't provide transit directions, which many became dependent upon with Google Maps.

4) Battery Life Seems Sub-Par For Some

Every new iPhone brings complaints about battery life. (Read more about about the iPhone 4S's battery weakness here.) "horrible battery life, i am disgusted," mht83193 wrote on an Apple discussion thread. He describes losing 40 percent of his fully-charged iPhone battery in one hour.

Are people's iPhone batteries just be draining faster because of overuse, a new energy-sucking app or a glitch in iOS 6? During the key presentation on the iPhone 5, Apple claimed the iPhone 5 got 225 hours of battery life while on standby, compared to 200 for the iPhone 4S.
If you're having battery life issues with the iPhone 5, we recommend reading the blog iMore's

5) It 'Leaks' Light

While white iPhone 5s are apparently not as easy to scuff as the black models, the white models have another problem of their own: A a tiny amount of light leaks out of the top right corner of the device's screen. The light leak can be see when they screen is activated in a dark room,according to complaints at MacRumors. The tech blog BGR confirms the "light leak" with its own phones. The iPad 2 reportedly had a similar problem in 2011, according to CNET.

6) It Scratches Too Easily

When you drop several hundred on a new iPhone, you want it to be pristine. That's what makes the so-called "scuff-gate" controversy such a blemish on the reputation of a company as obsessed with design as Apple. Bloggers at AllThingsD and posters on the MacRumor forumscomplain that the black iPhone 5 is very susceptible to dings and scratches, perhaps dueto the iPhone 5's aluminum casing (which didn't exist on previous iPhones). Watch a 2-year-old girls scuff up a perfectly good iPhone 5 to the right, in a video from iFixIt.

7) It's Got A Screw Loose? (Well, Not A Screw)

Rattle, rattle. That's the sounds some iPhone 5 owners get when they shake their device,according to posts on the Apple.com forums. Some claim being told by Apple that it's normal noise created by camera competents, other say it's an unglued battery (the latter problem can be fixed with a trip to an Apple Store). In either case, it's annoying, as numerous YouTube videos show.

8) Its WiFi Radio Is Finicky

Again, Internet forums have been lighting up about slow to nonexistent WiFi connectivity in their new iPhones, when compared to the iPhone 4 or 4S. MacRumor writes(and posts on the Apple Forums confirm) that the issue for some users has to do with using a certain secure WiFi connection called WPA2. Moving to less secure WiFi connections resolves the issue, according to forums.

9) The 'No SIM Card Installed' Error

This is annoying: Imagine buying an iPhone, putting your SIM card in it and being told by your phone that there's "no SIM card installed." That's the error message reported in Apple.com forumshere and here. If you're having this problem, restart your phones by holding down the Home and Sleep buttons. If that doesn't help, take it to the Apple Store and they can replace your SIM Card.

Note from Timsomor:  

Hate the comparison of the Samsung Brand to apple when saying it's too light as someone mentioned in number 2.  Call the Samsung Galaxy Class what you what but I have personally dropped my phone several times and it still works great! Lets see the iPhone 5 owner who mention the weigh issue do this with that iPhone 5. 

Yes, I have dropped my Samsung Galaxy S2 international a record 10 times on a host of surfaces. One of those places a 6 drop on a concrete floor.  This was before I could even get my otterbox  case for it which they make just one for my model and a Zagg skin to protect the front.  All I can say is knock Samsung all you want. However, what I am hearing from people who got this new iPhone is that you pretty much paid for a high priced/high tech test unit. 

So, that means the iPhone 6 is on the way!

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