Some Native Americans believe that humans store pain in our bones, that we carry the physical toll of our memories with us for life. I believe we store our entire lives and memories in our iPhones. The pain-body must live there, too.

Chakras by Alex Grey

My iPhone 4 is getting old, slowing down, it can’t handle everything I do fast enough. Thus, a fresh new phone is a fresh slate. Really, I am upgrading because I’m eligible and ready for a better, faster phone. But my soul will feel refreshed.

I don’t mind the new Lightning connector. The incompatibility with old models is a bit annoying, but I always bring my own charger anyway. Sure, Apple may have had this master plan all along so they could sell adapter cords and accessories, but at some point, all tech upgrades make old models obsolete. Plus, at least a year ago I spilled wine or pop in both of my Bose and iHome products. It is probably time to upgrade those so that I will no longer have to rubber band my iPhone to the dock at a certain angle to make it charge and play.

Am I on the upgrade treadmill? No: I use a five-year old MacBook Pro. And I waited patiently for the 5, skipping over the 4S. I deserve a fresh new phone and I got the 32GB version so I can continue to dangerously multitask and text-walk into fountains without sacrificing speed. And you can’t deny these improvements:

iPhone 4 next to iPhone 5 size

image credit: phonearena.com

Highlights from CNET iPhone 5 review:

“Taller, thinner, and a metal back
As expected, the new iPhone is 18 percent thinner (0.30 inch vs. 0.37 inch thick) than the iPhone 4S. Apple says it’s the thinnest handset around, but that’s a race that changes often. That means it’s also 20 percent lighter for a total of 3.95 ounces. The Retina Display expands from 3.5 inches (its size since the original iPhone) to 4 inches. The total resolution remains the same, though, at 326 pixels per inch. The total pixel count is 1,136×640, and we now have a 16:9 aspect ratio.

Faster chip
The iPhone 5 will offer an A6 chip, which is two times faster than the current A5 chip. Graphics will get faster speeds… users will see Web pages load 2.1 times faster, and the Music app with songs will load 1.9 times faster.

4G LTE enabled

The iPhone 5 also fixes a design flaw that we first saw in the iPhone 4. Apple replaced the glass back with one that’s mostly metal. Too many people [Emily Binder] cracked an iPhone 4 or 4S after dropping it accidentally.”

(Here’s where I will recommend Bob Knows Phones in Atlanta for smartphone repairs. They fixed my cracked iPhone 4 screen in June in less than an hour for $100 with good customer service. Support local small business.)

“Smaller dock connector, smaller SIM card
On the bottom of the iPhone 5, there’s that new and long-anticipated smaller dock connector. [Called “Lightning,” it’s 80% smaller and reversible.]”

Read Part 1 of this post, focusing on ordering the iPhone 5 from AT&T.

R.I.P. Steve Jobs. Apple releases just aren’t the same without you.