Why all the disappointment?

I keep seeing all these blogs/threads about how Apple blew it by not putting out a iPhone 5. But honestly, what would the iPhone 5 consist of that the 4S does not already cover? I can think of one thing: some new spiffy form factor with a slightly bigger screen.

As for form factor, the iPhone4 is already quite good. Is it just because we want something different, and not necessarily better? I don't think they could make things thinner with all the new guts they stuffed into the same case. A bigger screen, but same resolution... I'm not convinced that this would be all that much of an improvement. I certainly don't want a bigger phone, the iPhone 4 fits perfectly in the hand.

We know LTE would not be in the cards. It just isn't ready yet, and Apple isn't big on adopting technologies preemptively (unless they are innovating it themselves.)

So as for the 4S, let's list the highlights:

* A5 chip, x7 graphics
* longer battery life
* new antenna design
* 2x data speed over 3G
* enhanced camera
* CDMA/GSM in same phone
* iOS5/iCloud
* Find my Friends / Cards
* iTunes Match
* Siri

Ok, that is a pretty solid list of improvements. This really is a new phone, but just in the same form factor. Had we wrapped all this up in a new form factor and called it iPhone 5, would it suddenly get the praise and glory?

I think it's mostly perception. As a matter of fact, if Steve Jobs would have been the one on stage, I think things would have been perceived differently. He has a way of wowing the audience. "We started from scratch. We took the already beautiful iPhone 4 form factor, gutted it, and replaced every single component with something better."

[note] this is a copy of my post here.