Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

5-series vs 7-series iPhone

I had a 7 series and it crashed 5 times last week. The usage monitor never worked from day 1, attachments in email did not render. Also, battery was about 2 days.

Last weekend, the apple store replaced my phone. This was on Sunday at 11 AM. By noon, I was home and the phone had a full charge. It is now a 5 series.

Rendering files. Check
Usage Monitor. Check
Battery Life: over 3 days of stand bye and 10 hours of use.

The 5 clearly blows the 7 out of the water in my situation
 
LanikaiGirl said:
WOW! I have to say, I read this thread laughing at y'all for your obsessiveness. My Dad and I both got our iPhone's on opening day. They were both series 5. I exchanged mine for getting bad battery life. It turns out I was given a series 7. I just put them side by side. There is a BIG difference in screens. The complexity of the shades is so much nicer on the series 7. Having said that, had I not read this thread, I would never have noticed. The difference is also not as noticeable at 50% brightness. The biggest difference is at the full brightness setting.

Gina
Click to expand...

Do you also notice that there is a yellow tint with the 7? Goto the Settings screen (or another screen with a lot of white and gray). The 7 has a noticable yellow tint to it compared to the 5 I have.
 
How is everyone exchanging the iPhone?

My brother has a 7-series, and when he brought it to the Apple Store, they didn't let him swap it .....?
 
This is DEFINITELY a problem.

I have polka dots, backlight stripes in the black plastic, semi-pathetic battery life (compared to my other iPhone carrying friends), and the black plastic is lower in the lower right corner (not flush w/ the chrome edge).

It's bugging me, and I'm going to the Apple Store as soon as I finish my summer camp.
 
Time to toss my hat in the ring!

Ok, first off, there is definitely a difference between the 5 and 7 series. BUT there will also be a difference between individual screens, too. For example, EVERY iMac that I've set up at my store has been calibrated differently to a degree defined by factory standards. So the best way to be happy is....stop comparing it to other iphones, because you will never be happy. What I am worried about is the quarter inch vertical bar that is streaking my screen. Now that sucks, I think it's faint enough that I'll wait a year to exchange it, and hopefully get newer improved iPhone.
 
I exchanged my 5 with dots with another phone in hopes to get a 7. I'm crushed to see I have another 5. Just looking at the weather, I can see the lack of contrast. :(

Wish we all can trade with each other.
 
iph0ne said:
I went to the Apple Store and asked a Genius about the 2 different screens. He looked at me like I was crazy, said he "had no idea what I was talking about"....unless "I'm talking about the difference b/w the 4GB and the 8GB iPhone" Because apparently, the 4 GB only come with 5 LCD and the 8 GB only come with 7 LCD...but that doesn't seem like...what you guys are saying?
Click to expand...

at my apple store I know more than the "genuises" they gave me a werid look when i asked if a game was universal
 
I sadly did a replacement today and got another 5. Someone recently posted they got a 7 in my area and I still got the 5. It's harder to read for me compared to our other 7. There's bleeding into the letters. Thinner. On some backgrounds - blurred in comparison.

I think the thing that would solve this is the ability to adjust contrast, saturation, tone, etc. on the phone. Either via Apple or a 3rd party. I know it links to iPhoto but I'm sure it can't be done now. I'd love to know if it's technically possible.

It's my understanding the parts are identical between the series from the same company. But they come from 2 different plants/locations. My theory is that they are being calibrated differently either by design or gear not being right between the 2 plants.

Would anyone know if it's possible to tweak the calibration on these things?
I'm personally a big fan of the 7 series for detail, clarity, sharpness, reading ability but they'll never let me swap it without a restocking fee for this and I might get another 5. I think 5's are making the rounds right now.

Or - would anyone know if an update to the software would enable better contrast/clarity? I was told the first update is going to be pretty huge.
 
HotdogGiambi said:
You people all sound bonkers! This thread is proof that the apocalypse is nigh.

:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

:D I LOLed

In all honesty I believe the OP had a legitimate gripe with his particular iPhone, but in general it doesn't seem to be a widespread problem, just a kind of problem that happened specifically to a select run of "7 series" LCD. Unfortunately the OP wanted to create some fuss about it. Now other folks like the one above me is getting defensive in EVERY forum and is trying to convince himself and everyone else that the "7 series" is better than the "5 series".

Good Lord just be happy with your phones. If you have a legitimate gripe with your phone call Apple and get a replacement, it isn't that hard to figure out...
 
Rolling - Not trying to convince myself of anything. There's been many posts with pics describing the difference between the 2 screens accurately. Those that own or the 2 types know there's a difference. They're clearly calibrated differently and IMO it's not a small difference.

In my case this difference results in a grey/soft (5) vs. black/crisp (7) typeface on white background & vice versa - which translates to harder to read for us. It's hard to take pics of this. Tweaking brightness can't fix it.
 
I have an 8GB iPhone with the 7-series and my wife has a 4GB iPhone with the 5-series. I think mine is a bit brighter than hers, and her screen seems a bit softer-looking.
 
Jovian - do you find the 5 harder to read or that the white letters on blue background lack a black rim or have soft edges/bleed into the blue a bit? And the 5's 'black' text really more a grey with soft edges? I find black text is lighter in color and 'thinner'. White text 'blooms'.

I wouldn't say the 7 is brighter though. I feel the 5 is. It's just the 7 is more vivid and deeper blacks. More contrast. Different gamma.

Could anyone smarter than me (likely most here) tell me if this is pretty much a basic LCD screen that theoretically could be adjusted if the software/ability exists?
 
I really think the 5 vs 7 is a wash. I went through two of each. The 7 may have the white dots that are severe and ruin the screen, whites are slightly reddish or yellowish, blues and reds have more saturation, and the contrast is tuned down a bit. The 5 has nicer bluish whites, greens have more saturation, and the contrast is tuned up a bit. I haven't really seen a great difference in actual contrast between the two, and black levels are similar in a lit environment.

In the end, I think if the screens were each properly calibrated the two screens would be very close in appearance except for the temperature of whites.
 
Your take on the contrast is interesting because I find the opposite. I do agree that the 7 is 'warmer' and the 5 is 'cooler' as far as the whites. I do find more of a green push in the 7 though. I do believe the screens are the same and there's no defect - just different calibrations.

I wonder then if the white dot issue is a calibration issue. Perhaps there's one eensy little area in the array of calibrations one can do to a screen that allows the polka-dot pattern to show and it's not a screen defect after all. I'm leaning that way.
 
meagain said:
Jovian - do you find the 5 harder to read or that the white letters on blue background lack a black rim or have soft edges/bleed into the blue a bit? And the 5's 'black' text really more a grey with soft edges? I find black text is lighter in color and 'thinner'. White text 'blooms'.
....
Click to expand...

I'll have to check again when my wife gets home. It was such a minimal difference that I can't remember it without having them side-by-side.
 
And you can tell in the Wallpaper section where you bring up a pic and it gives you the set wallpaper option. Like the frog's detail/blackness/depth. It's very nonticeable on weather, stocks, notes too as far as contrast/color/vividness, and the text isn't too bad, but on websites, the text's difference in black/sharpness is really seen in webpage text.

I would swap my 5 with my husband's 7 while he slept but he'd notice it instantly. I'm no 20 year old anymore so perhaps this text difference affects me more but I grow a frown when reading webpages on mine. :)
 
meagain said:
Call me crazy, but I just got a 5 series and want the 7.

Am I the only one who thinks the 7 is better? It's gorgeous compared to the washed out pale 5. I'll try to take comparison pics tonight thought I know this will be tricky to do accurately.
Click to expand...

yea i still dont understand what the hub bub is about it. I dont even know how to tell what i have.
 
So the summary is that most people that have a 7 would like to have a 5 and vice-versa. This is a PHONE not a display that you calibrate to do softproofing.

My iphone's screen is GREAT; I can't see how it could be better. I dialed-in the code and it happens to be a 7. I checked some B&W photos that I have loaded in the phone against the same photos on my calibrated Apple Cinema Display and yes the iphone's is a bit warmer; and let me tell you that I like it. If the 5 is cooler than I prefer the 7, but I'm sure a 5 would be just as good...

Just remember that this is a phone. If what you see on the screen is good than life is good. It's not meant to represent the exact Kelvins of real life.
 
If anyone's just bought a 7 in Northern Illinois, I'd love to know where you found them. Oak Brook seems to have 5's right now.
 
In regards of the brightness of the 5 vs. the 7 version screens:

They are exactly the same. My friend owns a 7 version and I own the 5. We did a light reading with a spot light meter and got the exact same footcandle reading. It is true however, that the 5 version SEEMS to be brighter due to the fact that it emits a cooler light than the 7 version.

So as far as the brightness goes: It's the same.

Don't know about any of the other aspects though.
 
The trick is 'how' to get the version we want. IDK how Apple handles returns that were simply 'buyers remorse' but I imagine these 'open box' versions will be for sale at some point? I wonder how that'll be handled. It would be nice to be able to buy one that's already been opened.
 
Well I was finally able to get my iPhone exchanged after waiting for a month. I got a 7. The good news is the sound output works, the bad news is it has the same yellowish tint that my wifes 7 has. The 5, while not as high of contrast, had much better white balance.

I hope a software update fixes this in the future.

EDIT: a few other observations I've noticed. It doesn't seem to be built as well. The chrome along the left side has a little edge on it from not being flush against the metal. Also the home button wiggles a bit if you move your thumb across it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back