In 2007, then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs officially unveiled many of Apple's new products — including the iPhone — to the world at the Macworld show. This product without a physical keyboard, imperfect functions, and even the possibility of crashing at any time was not optimistic about the world at the beginning of its release, but we have to admit that the release of the first generation of the iPhone has completely changed the present and future of the entire mobile phone market.
At the press conference, Jobs said: "We are five years ahead of other mobile phones." This sentence from the beginning of the unashamed to the end really became a reality, and now we mention the flagship mobile phone will be the first time to think of the iPhone.
Coincidentally, Xiao Lei's colleagues recently purchased an iPhone 5 and iPhone 5c, looking back at the classic Xiao Lei looking at these two mobile phones with small screens that can't be seen clearly, and can't help but feel that the evolution speed of mobile phones is also too fast. Today's smart phones have long evolved from 4-inch screens to 7-inch or even larger, and the camera system has evolved from a single camera to a wide-angle, telephoto in one, not to mention the world, but also a makeover.
At the same time, a thought sprouted in Xiao Lei's mind, although these old iPhones are dying of old age, but they are also the great works that changed the industry in the first place, and the iOS system is known for its anti-aging ability, can these four iPhones still be used normally, or even as the main machine?
The opportunity is rare, and a cross-cutting review is already inevitable.
Before the test session officially opened, I first briefly summarized the basic parameters of these four old players, the details are as follows:
Next, it's the performance time of the "old men".
Exterior design: Classics never go out of style
To be honest, when I gathered these four iPhones, my first thought was, "These old iPhones look too good." ”
Of course, the so-called emotional points are not ruled out, but from the current point of view, looking at the three designs of these four models (the iPhone 5 is consistent with the iPhone SE design ID), it can still be seen that the former iPhone has an advantage in all aspects, which may be the reason why consumers would rather spend a month or two of wages to buy an iPhone at that time.
First of all, the most special and impressive iPhone 5c, which is also the first iPhone in my life, the 16:9 resolution in Cell touch screen, polycarbonate (actually plastic) material brings a very warm and smooth feel, rounded corner design also makes it quite comfortable to hold.
When it comes to the iPhone 12/13 (single finger Pro series), my deepest impression is the stainless steel bezel that is easy to stain fingerprints, and I once thought it was one of the most irrational designs in the world. However, as early as 2010, Apple had already brought a stainless steel right-angle bezel design on the iPhone 4, and it wasn't until the iPhone 5 era that this design really played its charm.
Now that the iPhone 5 is in your hands, although the right-angle border is still slightly difficult, due to its small screen size and weight, it will not be as bad as the new iPhone. But what I like the most is that the iPhone 5 retains the unique circular volume key design of the iPhone 4 series, but unfortunately this design disappeared after the iPhone 6 series. (iPhone SE not included)
Finally, the iPhone 6s, which has the highest sales volume in the history of the iPhone and the largest number of nail households, is that my deepest impression on this model is the antenna partition design that has influenced the aesthetics of domestic mobile phone design for several years. Whether it was then or now, I still think that the design of the iPhone 6S can only reach the passing line level, which is not at all the same level as the previous iPhone.
There's nothing to say about its front, it's that the front of the iPhone 5s is enlarged a bit, and the real thing I don't like is its back. The raised camera, three white antennas seriously lowered its appearance, and the rather textured and characteristic circular volume key design was also replaced by a long column. Although I personally have no interest in the iPhone 6 series, this is the first large-screen flagship of the iPhone, and the A9 processor, which was invincible at the time, made it the most successful iPhone in Apple's history.
In general, the design of these four iPhones will not be outdated at the moment, and we can also see the shadow of many Android phones in their bodies, further illustrating the leading role of the iPhone to the Android mobile phone industry. Looking back at today's iPhone, the appearance of the change is minimal, you can think of this as the inheritance of "family design", you can also say that this is "not thinking of enterprising", this is more opinionable.
Ten years ago, the iPhone, can it really still be used?
Software testing
Since we want to discuss whether they can be used in the end, the first point is naturally to see if its system supports today's apps. The first is the national software WeChat, which clearly states in the App Store that only iOS 12 or above versions are supported, so all four models are killed in this link. (Versions are lower than iOS10)
Just when I thought that all apps only support models with iOS 10 or more like WeChat, I suddenly found that mobile games with high profiles such as the Battle of the Golden Shovel, the Glory of the King, and the Original God all supported the iOS 9 version, so in the later game performance testing session, iPhone SE and iPhone 6S can be used as test objects.
Considering that the original god of this kind of game for the mobile phone requirements are higher, so this test project for the "Glory of the King", what I did not expect is that the iPhone SE and iPhone 6s can still run the glory of the king smoothly, almost the whole process is stable at 60 frames, even if the special effects are flying in the sky, the frame rate fluctuations are not obvious, perhaps the glory of the king optimization is too good, of course, you can also see the strength of the ancient processor A9.
However, I believe that people who are still using the iPhone eight years ago at this time will not care much about whether it can play games in the end, and more importantly, whether it will be stuttered in daily use, whether it can still be used, for this reason I also simply did several tests, the results are as follows:
Through a few simple tests, we can see that although these ancient iPhones have belonged to the batch abandoned by the times in terms of software compatibility, they are still at a usable level, of course, they are limited to use, if you really want to use it as a non-collection or backup machine, I personally do not recommend.
In addition, from my personal subjective experience, iPhone SE is the smoothest of the four and the best chiral one, it can almost do where to play, and all aspects of the performance are quite acceptable, if you really want to buy an ancient iPhone, I will recommend the iPhone SE, after all, it has the classic appearance of the iPhone 5 series and still can use the A9 processor.
Camera testing
Everyone should know that the iPhone camera experience is good from the iPhone 4 era, the photos taken by Android in the same period can only be described as being able to see clearly, and Apple at that time has begun to add HDR, autofocus, sapphire glass mirror and other characteristics, so that users can take satisfactory photos at will.
Without further ado, let's look directly at a set of samples: (In order to preserve the sense of mystery, you can guess which sample belongs to which iPhone)
(From top to bottom, iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 5, iPhone 5c, iPhone 6s and iPhone SE)
From this set of comparison samples, it can be seen that in the case of better light, even compared with the latest iPhone 13 Pro Max, these four ancient models are not as bad as imagined, the only difference is that there is a slight lack of color and brightness. On the good side, taking the iPhone 5c as an example, although there are some differences with the view seen by the naked eye, this picture sense gives people a kind of effect with a dark tone filter, if you simply deal with it later, you can't see that it was taken by such an old iPhone.
iPhone 13 Pro Max
iPhone 5
iPhone 5c
iPhone SE
iPhone 6s
However, in the night environment, the gap between several iPhones has gradually widened, and the dark details of the four iPhones have been completely lost, making it difficult to distinguish what is in the sample. Interestingly, the last round of iPhone 5c, which performed quite well, flipped the car in this round, and the whole picture was seriously green, turning the original white LED light strip into an RGB lamp, and the picture perception was poor.
To sum up, the imaging capabilities of the four iPhones are still quite good now, and I also took a few samples to show my colleagues, who agreed that this was taken by mobile phones in the past two years, which is enough to prove the iPhone's strong strength in imaging. However, I have to say that in the past two years, the direction of the iPhone has been slightly offside, such as what night screen brightness is too high, sharpness explosion and other issues will not be explained here.
From benchmark to friendly business
Back to the beginning of the question, what do we see from these iPhones, has it played a positive role in the development of the entire mobile phone industry? The answer is yes, whether in terms of design or system, it has led the entire mobile phone market for three years and five years or even longer, Android has not yet learned the essence of iOS animation, although it gives us a very fast and smooth feeling, but compared with iOS always feel something worse.
But today's Android is no longer that Android, Apple is no longer that benchmark, and other mobile phone brands have no intention of letting Apple "lead" anymore. After the iPhone 8, domestic mobile phone brands quickly refreshed the limits of mobile phone borders and screens with more mature full-screen processes and higher screen ratios, bringing us better-looking and more epochal products. But on the other hand, it wasn't until the iPhone 13 that Apple narrowed the Face ID area for the first time, but at the same time, other brands have begun to make big strides towards off-screen camera technology.
Although today's Apple still has certain advantages in terms of system, chip, and image experience compared to Android, on the whole, Apple is no longer the benchmark and idol of Android manufacturers, they will not blindly learn from Apple, but through their own efforts to surpass Apple, which is also a good thing for the entire market. If Apple has no opponents, then it simply can't come up with a reason to innovate, and we can't see Android on the iPhone 13 series that has already "used rotten" high brush screens, and it is this difference in brand influence that makes some Apple fans disappointed in Apple in recent years.
Indeed, as iPhone users for many years, the ecosystem of iOS, iCloud and App Store has firmly entraped us, and the cost of switching to other operating systems has slowly increased over time. But it's also an undeniable fact that Apple's influence and appeal are declining.
15 years ago, the iPhone that came out of nowhere changed the historical course of smart phones, 15 years later, although the iPhone is still standing at the top of the mobile phone industry, the catch-up behind it is getting more and more numerous, getting closer and closer, which is also difficult to make people look forward to the future "Apple hegemony".