How can the iPhone 5 and real estate work together? We examine the pros and cons of the device and investigate.
By Peter Ricci
Let’s start with two highly obvious points – real estate is becoming increasingly technological, and the iPhone 5 is the latest, hottest piece of technology on the market today. Nine out of 10 homebuyers begin their homebuying search online, and after selling five million units in its opening weekend alone, Apple is now anticipated by some analysts to sell as many as 40 million iPhone 5s by year’s end. So, given those two facts, one question seems equally obvious – how can the iPhone 5 and real estate work together? To answer that question, we took a look at some of the pros and cons of the device.
iPhone 5 and Real Estate – The Pros
The iPhone 5 provides numerous benefits to real estate agents, especially with its cutting-edge hardware:
- Need for Speed – The iPhone 5 is fast; in some cases, ridiculously so. It’s new A6 chip provides performance and multitasking at twice the level of the A5 chip in the iPhone 4S, but the real star is the phone’s LTE wireless technology; the next revolution in mobile data management, the iPhone’s performance on LTE has been off the charts, with one customer documenting download speeds of nearly 50 megabytes a second. So whether its Evernote or any other notable app, the iPhone should handle it in spades.
- Bigger Screen – The screen for the iPhone 5 is half an inch longer than the 4S, which should be great for any documents or data management related to your real estate operation. And, with Apple’s industry-leading Retina display, photos and videos of listings have never looked better, which brings us to…
- New Camera – The new camera for the iPhone 5 has a number of impressive features, from a faster photo capture, to better low-light performance, to a Panorama option that allows for 240-degree shots; we’ve covered the benefits of mobile photography before, so its new camera would seem to give the iPhone 5 and real estate a nice, cozy relationship.
iPhone 5 and Real Estate – The Cons
The iPhone 5 is a wonderful piece of technology, but even it has its flaws, among them:
- Dude, Where’s My Map App? – Oh yes, we couldn’t resist. Apple’s in-house map app has been absolutely slaughtered by the tech press, and the company’s CEO, Tim Cook, has even apologized for its lackluster performance; you can still use Google Maps through the iPhone’s web browser, but be warned of its native map program.
- Bigger Screen – Yes, we just listed this as a benefit, but some users have encountered problems with the iPhone 5’s new screen; although big and beautiful, many of today’s most popular apps have not been updated yet for the larger screen, and therefore, do not perform optimally.
- New Connector – Another controversy has been the iPhone 5’s new charging connector, which is different from those for the iPod Touch and iPod Classic; though it was inevitable that Apple would upgrade the connector, some users are unhappy with the change.
Clearly, when considering how the iPhone 5 and real estate can work together, it’s a matter of technological power and usability; the iPhone 5 is a powerhouse with immense capabilities, but there are some kinks in its current layout that are frustrating some users.