Quick iPhone 4 impressions
The screen is incredible. It looks like a glowing printed page, as if someone took one of those big vectorized iPhone display stand-ups that they put in the store windows, and shrunk it down.
The screen’s contrast ratio is extremely high. I’m probably going to need to change Instapaper’s Dark Mode color scheme on the iPhone 4 to be closer to what I use on the iPad.
Some common visual techniques, like the 1-pixel white shadow used to emboss header and footer text in grouped tableviews, look strange and a bit harsh at this resolution.
It’s very apparent when an app hasn’t updated its graphics at 2X yet. Honestly, it looks terrible. Developers: Update your artwork ASAP.
The camera is much sharper than the 3GS camera. I suspect this is going to wipe out point-and-shoots even further from the iPhone-owning demographic. I may have second-guessed the S90 purchase if I had this iPhone camera 8 months ago.
The entire interface is fast. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if this A4 runs at the same clock speed as the iPad’s.
The ring/vibrate switch is extremely different. It now has much less travel distance and is much harder to push. This makes it more difficult to tell what state it’s in by feel alone, but should result in fewer accidental toggles when it’s in your pocket.
The $29 “Bumper” is hilarious. I think Apple is really in the iPhone-case business, and the iPhone is just an attempt to sell us something to encase. It’s day one, everyone’s freaked out about breaking their new all-glass iPhones, and they’ll sell you a “bumper” case — the only case available for the iPhone 4 in the Apple store today — for $29. Looking at this tiny piece of rubber, you really have to admire Apple for having the balls to charge $29 for it. And they’re going to sell a ton of them. The best part? It comes in a lot of colors, but today, only black is available. So if you’re really set on a teal or pink one, but are paranoid about breaking your new iPhone, you’re probably going to end up buying two of them.