Summary: Apple has unveiled the iPhone 5, which it claims is the "biggest thing to happen to the iPhone since the iPhone". Here's a visual tour of what the new handset brings to the table.
Apple unveiled its next-generation iPhone to the world - the iPhone 5. However, if you've been keeping up with the hardware leaks over the past few months then the handset revealed today will be very familiar.
Apple continues with its thinner and lighter mantra.
The iPhone 5 is 18 percent thinner (down to 7.6 mm) and 20 percent lighter (down to 112 grams) than the iPhone 4S. But it packs the punch of Apple's new A6 processor which offers twice the CPU and GPU power of the A5 processor inside the iPhone 4S.
The iPhone 5 features a brand new 4-inch, 1136 x 640 screen resolution, 326 pixels-per-inch, and a 16:9 aspect ratio retina display. This offers increased screen real estate compared to the older iPhone models, enough to let Apple add an extra row of icons on the screen.
The new screen isn't just bigger, it's better. It offers 44 percent more color saturation and the touch sensors have been integrated into the display, allowing it to be both thinner, sharper and throw off less glare.
The iPhone 5 is packed with new wireless tech. Added to the iPhone's communications repertoire is HSPA+, DC-HSDPA, and LTE. It also supports 802.11a/b/g/n, with 2.4GHz and 5GHz 802.11n support.
To save space inside the handset there's now a single chip for voice and data, and a single radio chip.
The camera has been radically redesigned, incorporating a sapphire lens and better low-light capture.
It also features an 8-megapixel sensor, a backside illumination, hybrid IR filter, a five-element lens and an f/2.4 aperture. Also, thanks to the A6 processor, it is faster than ever.
The front-facing FaceTime camera has also been upgraded to 1080p HD and features face detection and the ability to take photos while taking video.
Audiop quality has also been improved, with the addition of some heavy-duty noise cancellation thanks to the three microphones in the iPhone 5.
The earpiece speaker has also been radically overhauled, adding five magnet transducers and shrinking it by 20 percent.
The iPhone 5 comes in black and white, although the aluminum backplate adds a new twist.
The storage capacities and contract prices of the iPhone 5 is unchanged compared to the iPhone 4S:
16GB - $199
32GB - $299
64GB - $399
The iPhone 5 is taller than the iPhone 4S, the width remains the same, but at the same time the new handset is thinner and lighter.
Then there's the redesigned dock connector, dock connector plug, and cable. The old 30-pin dock connector is no more, and in its place is a new 8-signal, reversible connector called Lightning.
Oh, and so we don't have to landfill all out accessories and go out and buy new ones because there's a handy adapter that's also been talked about a lot - but this is going to set you back $29.
The new, smaller dock connector allows for a bigger speaker at the bottom of the handset, not to mention room to move the 3.5mm headphone jack from the top to the bottom.
The new iPhone will ship with iOS 6, which brings with it a whole raft of new features, including updated mapping, improved mail app, call handling enhancements, and some 200 more new features compared to iOS 5.
Even the earphones have been redesigned. The new earphones, called EarPods, have been specifically engineered to stay in place even in awkward ears, and better direct the sound to the ear.
This is the new iPhone lineup. Gone is the iPhone 3GS.
Here's the new contract pricing structure after purchasing a two-year contract with an authorized carrier:
iPhone 5 16GB - $199
iPhone 5 32GB - $299
iPhone 5 64GB - $399
iPhone 4S 16GB - $99
iPhone 4 8GB - Free
Pre-orders for the iPhone 5 start September 14, and it ships starting September 21.
It will be available initiall in the following countries:
- United States
- Canada
- United Kingdom
- France
- Germany
- Australia
- Japan
- Hong Kong
- Singapore
