????在我看來，速度確實是iPhone 5的殺手級應用。許多人都點評稱iPhone 5的改進微不足道，更多人則提了些吹毛求疵的意見（我自己就是如此）。不過，絕大部分對iPhone 5的評測都漏掉了一點：從4S到5，蘋果iPhone的速度有了質的飛躍。

????那么接下來，我們真正要關心的問題是：iPhone 5的續(xù)航時間如何？蘋果官方聲稱，iPhone 5在3G和4G網(wǎng)絡中的續(xù)航時間為8小時，在WiFi網(wǎng)里更長，可以達到10小時。對于每天偶爾檢查下電子郵件、聽幾首歌、用地圖導航幾次的普通用戶而言，iPhone 5有望撐過一天。不過，對于像我這種幾乎和手機結婚的人，時刻保持充電是必須的，當然，買一款iPhone電池盒也是不錯的選擇。

????我們并不想深入探討iOS 6，因為這只是一次軟件更新，iPhone 4S和iPhone 4也都有份，但要注意，蘋果地圖的3D顯示功能并不支持iPhone 4。不過從目前來看，蘋果地圖仍值得討論一下。在新的iOS里，蘋果已將谷歌完全踢開，開始采用自家地圖系統(tǒng)。此次轉變招致很多批評，尤其是針對美國之外的地圖，大家批評的重點是地圖不夠詳細、精度也不夠。

????經過切身體驗，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)蘋果地圖及其3D街景效果非常棒，不過問題也不少。和去年剛剛推出的Siri一樣，蘋果地圖目前仍處于成長期。舉例來說，我們用iPhone 5導航至附近的一所建筑，不過蘋果地圖兩次把我們帶上了反方向，我們費盡周折，最后才抵達目的地。iPhone 5的定位也經常失效，有時定位誤差有幾個街區(qū)之遠。不過，有些時候，蘋果地圖還是不錯的，能為我們標出好幾條到目的地的路線。無論如何，蘋果地圖任重道遠，仍有許多要改進的地方。

????This speed, in my opinion, is the iPhone 5's killer feature. Much has been written about the incremental seeming nature of this generation's improvements. And perhaps even more has been written about the quibbles (read on for some of my own). But most of the jaw-wagging about the new iPhone misses the point: Apple has made its iconic gadget radically faster in one single move.

????The real question is, how does battery life fare? Apple says to expect up to 8 hours on 3G or 4G and up to 10 hours with WiFi usage. The average user -- one who checks email occasionally, listens to a few songs, and say, uses Maps for a few minutes through the day -- can expect to all-day battery life. Those, like me, who are basically wedded to their phones, will still want to charge up later on or invest in an extended battery pack when available.

????We won't dive too deeply into iOS 6, since it's a software update also available for the iPhone 4S and iPhone 4, though it's worth noting the latter won't officially offer features like the 3-D "Flyover" feature in Apple Maps. But at the very least, it's worth diving into Apple Maps itself. With iOS, Apple has basically swapped out Google's mapping efforts for the company's own. The switch has been met with criticism over maps of areas -- mostly abroad -- that lack detail or are simply inaccurate.

????In our test runs, we found Apple Maps and its 3-D cityscapes quite pretty, but actually using the app proved somewhat problematic. Like Siri when it debuted last year, Maps this year doesn't feel complete. When trying to walk to a nearby building, we were twice led in the opposite direction before the kinks seemed to work themselves out. At times, the phone had difficulty pinpointing my location, sometimes placing me three or four blocks away. Still, in other scenarios, Apple Maps performed fine, offering multiple routes to our destination. But the results were hit or miss, and it's clear Apple still has a lot of work to do here.