Months of rumors and speculation have now come to an end with Apple officially announcing the new iPhone. It is finally here and it is not all that different from the leaks and reports that we have been sharing with you for the past couple of months.
As expected, the iPhone 5 comes with a design update along with specifications that puts it at the level of the high end Android smartphones.
Design
The first thing you notice is the design. The shape is similar to the iPhone 4/4S with the metal band and flat front/back. The biggest difference is the increased display size and aluminium and glass back. The iPhone 5 comes with a widescreen 4 inch retina display making it the same width as the iPhone 4S only taller. The iPhone 5�s headphone jack has been relocated to the bottom of the device.
Hardware
The iPhone 5 weighs just 112 grams and is 20% lighter than the iPhone 4S. This makes it the thinnest smartphone to date with a depth of just 7.6mm. Instead of only glass on the back like the iPhone 4/4S, the iPhone 5�s back plate is two toned with glass at the top and bottom and metal everywhere else. The home button sits at the center underneath the screen and the volume buttons to the left hand side along with the mute/un-mute switch. The iPhone 5 has three microphones, one at the back, one at the front and one at the bottom which provides better quality sound and improved noise reduction.
Internals
The iPhone 5 is powered by an A6 processor which is twice as fast as the A5 meaning everything loads quicker. The speaker on the iPhone 5 has shrunk down 20% and the earpiece now supports noise cancellation for crisp and clear voice calls. Wideband audio has also been introduced meaning that you can hear frequencies you couldn�t on previous generation iPhones.
Wireless
Another new feature is the support for 4G LTE. Having 4G LTE means users will see marked improvements in streaming heavier content like HD videos and high quality audio streams. 4G LTE on the iPhone 5 supports speeds up to 100Mbps. Wi-Fi now supports two bands, 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz.
Camera
The camera on the iPhone 5 has been improved and you get dynamic low light mode, precision lens alignment, sapphire crystal, so your images come out in far greater quality while maintaining the same image resolution � 8 megapixels. The front-facing camera�s resolution has been increased to 720p HD from VGA on previous phones. The iPhone 5 comes with Panorama mode, so you can capture wide landscapes with ease, and saves the image at a 28-megapixels resolution.
Battery
The battery has been improved as well, and gives up to 8 hours of battery life on LTE. This is an improvement on the iPhone 4S.
Lightning Port
The iPhone 5 also features the new smaller dock connector which has been named Lightning. It is 80% smaller than the previous 30-pin connector. It has an adaptive interface, more durable, and can be plugged in to the device in any orientation.
Accessories
Apple are offering a dock connector converter for the iPhone � named the Lightning to 30-pin Adapter � which will allow you to use your older accessories with the newer hardware. All older accessories are compatible with the iPhone 5, excluding cases and sleeves. Also included in the box will be the all-new earphones called EarPods.
Nano-SIM
The iPhone 5 uses a new type of SIM card, which on many occasions have been referred to as Nano-SIM.
Price
Pricing is the usual we�ve come to expect over the last three years. The 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB models cost $199, $299, and $399 respectively with a two-year contract from AT&T, Verizon or Sprint. The iPhone 5 will be available in two colors � black and white.
Availability
The new iPhone 5 will go on pre-order on September 14th and will ship on September 21st. From September 14th it will be available for pre-order in the following countries: United States, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore. More countries will be added on September 28th. By December, it will be available in more than 100 countries around the globe.
