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iPhone 5: Features we need

We’ve heard the rumours, we’ve seen some of what the software can do, but what do we want to see in Apple’s next iPhone, version 5? Here’s what we’d like to see. Add your own thoughts in the comments below, or let us know on Twitter

A bigger screen

Smartphones have come a long way since iPhone redefined portable screens with its retina display. Whilst it still leads in the sheer amount of pixels per inch, Android smartphones have, in particular, upped their game with huge 4.3-inch screens, and whether its LG’s NOVA screen, with battery savvy whites, or Samsung’s sharp, deep Super AMOLED plus display, there’s now a lot of alternatives to Apple’s eye-searing retina offering.

A bit more touchscreen real-estate would make keyboard typing less fiddly, and multi touch functions would also benefit massively.

Good thing this seems to be one of the main points that most iPhone 5 rumours seem to agree on.

Wirelessly sync your music

We know we’re getting it. Simple. You’ll be able to sync your new iPhone across WiFi to your iTunes library through iCloud. In fact, you’ll even be able to do it with the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS once iOS 5 is officially released.

This means no more sluggish USB charging, and we’ll able to leave our phone cheerfully syncing new music and photos whilst getting charged on an AC adapter or in a dock

ThunderBolt compatibility

Alright this one flies right in the opposite direction of no.2, but we’ve got a lot of stuff we’d want to sync immediately to our brand new iPhone 5 from day one.

At the moment nothing beats the speed of a ThunderBolt connection. A zippy transfer of our music collection, photos and apps, and we’re up and running with our new phone.

We’re sure Apple wouldn’t mind supporting a new port format found on their whole range of computers…

Widgets, adjustable icons

This is a bit of a long-shot, but we’ve been charmed by Android’s initially troublesome homescreen-based widgets; adjustable shortcuts that not only act as a portal to the app but display extra information, like the Now Playing widget for Spotify, weather forecast or a weekly calendar.

The iPhone’s neatly ordered row after row of icons seems far too staid in comparison. (Image credit: Business Insider.)

No more antennae-gate and a market-leading camera

The iPhone 4’s launch was a tour-de-force- everyone wanted one, and it was critically adored. Oh, aside from the losing all signal if held in a certain way.

That will be gone in the new phone, and we hope that alongside that, the iPhone will go toe-to-toe with the best cameraphones out at the moment. The Nokia N8 should, quite rightfully, be quaking in its boots. Rumours suggest that Sony are making the camera sensor for the new iPhone, so it’s got legs.

Dual-core power

It’s interesting to consider that the iPhone 4 still rivals Android phones packing two processors, running at faster speeds than Apple’s single-core star.

Granted, developing apps and streaming video services for a single device is easier to optimise, but the iPhone is bound to follow its big iPad brethren into the heady world of dual-core.

We admit it may be a hardware feature so far to underutilised, but imagine what all that power could mean for gaming and streaming media. Apple’s app developers were also quick to optimise the likes of Infinity Blade when the iPad was upgraded to a dual-core beast. Whew, we’re getting a little light-headed.

In the interest of balance, we’ve also penned some features we really don’t want nor need in Apple’s next ‘game changer’. Including the use of the term, ‘game changer’.

 

Are you waiting for the iPhone 5? We’ve setup a poll on our Facebook page, let us know.

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