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Apple announces the iPhone 5

By Mark Peters on September 12, 2012 in , , ,

Apple has announced the iPhone 5. Currently the device looks a lot like the leaks we’ve seen…

- Screen is 1136 x 640, 4″ and 16:9 aspect ratio.
- The device is 7.6mm thin, 18% thinner than the iPhone 4S. Also 20% lighter… that is a lot!
- Some apps run with black borders on either side, if not optimised for the larger, longer display.
- It includes what Apple are calling the ‘world’s most advanced display’, including the touch screen being built into the display, rather than a separate layer.
- The iPhone 5 also includes ‘Ultrafast wireless’, including HSA+ DC-HSDPA, and LTE.
- EE in the UK, and O2! Up to 150Mbps WiFi. (Edit – Three too !)
- Apple has upgraded the processor to the A6 chip, with up to “2x performance across the board”.
- The battery tech has been improved, and Apple are quoting standby of 225 hours, 8 hours of 3G talk time, and 8 hours of LTE / 3G browsing.

The rear camera is still an 8MP sensor, but with a ‘Dynamic low light mode’, precision lens alignment, and ‘Sapphire crystal’ – what difference that makes, I guess we’ll need to wait for the review units. Apple claim this offers better low-light performance, faster photo capture, noise reduction  and some other features, including in built panorama mode. You now have the ability to take photos whilst recording videos too. FaceTime is now possible over a cellular connection, from the new 720p backside illuminated FaceTime camera.

The iPhone 5 now includes 3 microphones, an improved speaker design, and a noise cancelling ear-piece. The dreaded new dock connector has also come to fruition, called Lightning. It is 80% smaller, and has improved durability, and crucially, reversible. Apple has an adaptor, so accessories may or may not work, depending on their physical dimensions.. The iPhone 5 will run iOS6 from launch…watch this space for iOS6 news..

Pre-orders for the iPhone 5 start this Friday, and launch is 21st September. Pricing for the UK has not yet been announced, but the US numbers are the same as the iPhone 4S, so expect a similar situation here.

So what do you think? Incremental upgrade, or staying at the cutting edge? Let us know in the comments, or our forums.

Update – Full press release below

Apple Introduces iPhone 5

Thinnest, Lightest iPhone Ever Features All-New Aluminum Design, Stunning 4-Inch Retina Display, A6 Chip & Ultrafast Wireless

SAN FRANCISCO—September 12, 2012—Apple® today announced iPhone® 5, the thinnest and lightest iPhone ever, completely redesigned to feature a stunning new 4-inch Retina™ display; an Apple-designed A6 chip for blazing fast performance; and ultrafast wireless technology*—all while delivering even better battery life.** iPhone 5 comes with iOS 6, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system with over 200 new features including: the all new Maps app with Apple-designed cartography and turn-by-turn navigation; Facebook integration; Passbook® organization; and even more Siri® features and languages.

“iPhone 5 is the most beautiful consumer device that we’ve ever created,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “We’ve packed an amazing amount of innovation and advanced technology into a thin and light, jewel-like device with a stunning 4-inch Retina display, blazing fast A6 chip, ultrafast wireless, even longer battery life; and we think customers are going to love it.”

iPhone 5 is the thinnest smartphone in the world, with an all-new 7.6 mm anodized aluminum body that is 18 percent thinner and 20 percent lighter than iPhone 4S. Designed with an unprecedented level of precision, iPhone 5 combines an anodized aluminum body with diamond cut chamfered edges and glass inlays for a truly incredible fit and finish.

The new 4-inch Retina display on iPhone 5 delivers even more pixels than iPhone 4S, making the already incredible Retina display even better. By making the screen taller, not wider, iPhone 5 is just as easy to use with one hand so you can tap, type and scroll the same way you always have, while enjoying even more of your content including amazing apps optimized for the larger Retina display, widescreen HD video, a full five days of your Calendar and more of every web page.

iPhone 5 supports ultrafast wireless standards including LTE and DC-HSDPA, so you can browse, download and stream content even faster. To support the latest LTE technology, Apple has pioneered a unique single-radio LTE solution that provides blazing fast speeds while fitting perfectly into the new remarkably thin design. iPhone 5 features dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi support for a wireless experience up to 150 Mbps.***

The all-new A6 chip was designed by Apple to maximize performance and power efficiency to support all the incredible new features in iPhone 5, including the stunning new 4-inch Retina display—all while delivering even better battery life. With up to twice the CPU and graphics performance, almost everything you do on iPhone 5 is blazing fast for launching apps, loading web pages and downloading email attachments.

The 8 megapixel iSight® camera is the most popular camera in the world and with iPhone 5, it’s even better. The new camera is completely redesigned with incredible optical performance, yet amazingly it’s 25 percent smaller than the camera in iPhone 4S. The new iSight camera in iPhone 5 features a sapphire crystal lens cover that is thinner and more durable than standard glass with the ability to provide crystal clear images. The new panorama feature lets you capture jaw-dropping panorama images of up to 28 megapixels by simply moving the camera across a scene in one smooth motion. New video features include improved stabilization, video face detection for up to 10 faces and the ability to take still photos as you record. A new FaceTime® HD front facing camera makes FaceTime calls incredibly clear and can also be used for self portraits and recording 720p HD video. iPhone 5 also allows you to share photos with friends and family using iCloud’s Shared Photo Streams.

iPhone 5 features the new Lightning™ connector that is smaller, smarter and more durable than the previous connector. The all-digital Lightning connector features an adaptive interface that uses only the signals that each accessory requires, and it’s reversible so you can instantly connect to your accessories. The Lightning-to-30-pin Adapter is also available to connect iPhone 5 to legacy 30-pin accessories.****

iPhone 5 introduces new enhanced audio features including a new beam-forming, directional microphone system for higher quality sound, while background noise fades away with new noise canceling technology. iPhone 5 now includes support for cellular wideband audio for crisper word clarity and more natural sounding speech. Wideband audio will be supported by over 20 carriers worldwide at launch. iPhone 5 comes with the new Apple EarPods™ featuring a breakthrough design for a more natural fit and increased durability, and an incredible acoustic quality typically reserved for higher-end earphones.

iPhone 5 comes with iOS 6, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system with over 200 new user features including: an all new Maps app with Apple-designed cartography, turn-by-turn navigation and an amazing new Flyover™ view; Facebook integration for Contacts and Calendar, with the ability to post directly from Notification Center; Passbook, the simplest way to get all your passes in one place; new Siri features, including support for more languages, easy access to sports scores, restaurant recommendations and movie listings;***** Siri and Facebook-enabled apps like Photos, Safari® and Maps; and Shared Photo Streams via iCloud®.

Pricing & Availability
iPhone 5 comes in either white & silver or black & slate, and will be available in the US for a suggested retail price of $199 (US) for the 16GB model and $299 (US) for the 32GB model and $399 (US) for the 64GB model. iPhone 5 will be available from the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores, and through AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Wireless and select Apple Authorized Resellers. iPhone 5 will be available in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the UK on Friday, September 21, and customers can pre-order their iPhone 5 beginning Friday, September 14. iPhone 4S will also be available for just $99 (US) and iPhone 4 will be available for free with a two-year contract.****** iOS 6 software will be available on Wednesday, September 19 as a free software update.

iPhone 5 will roll out worldwide to 22 more countries on September 28, including Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

* LTE is available through select carriers. Network speeds are dependent on carrier networks, check with your carrier for details.
** Battery life depends on device settings, usage and other factors. Actual results vary.
*** Based on theoretical speeds, actual speeds may vary.
**** Sold separately.
***** Not all features are supported in all countries.
****** Availability varies by carrier.

About Mark Peters

Tech Support guru by day, gadget head all the time :)

Love technology in general, but phones in particular. I can usually be found holding an iPhone or the latest Android handset. Very occasionally a Windows Phone too…

Have been hooked since the original Pocket PC devices and can’t wait to see what’s next!

Follow me on Twitter using @markdotpeters5

  • Anonymous

    So far looks like the only Edge Apple has since Steve Jobs left is in a GSM Band. Cramped screen and 1136×640 resolution! That’s lower than already existing competition. Even the Lumia 920 with Microsoft has gone 1280×768 with WP8. This is the first iPhone release that is below current specs unlike others having specs way above the competition

  • Joleen

    Is that it?!

  • Rob J

    wasnt the original iphone 2g when there were already loads of 3g phones in the wild?

  • Anonymous

    Yes but back then everyone was still trying to shift from resistive screens/stylus to finger friendly OS’s. Competing OS’s have now matured and in many ways caught up, even surpassing the aging IOS. This was apparent with the Iphone 4S when they started ripping off features from Androd and WP7 like the Camera access on lock. There are good OS’s with better specs hardware already on the market, never mind what’s coming out in the next 2-3 months! It makes the iPhone 5 look pretty Mediocre if you ask me.
    Of course, Apple has realized one key rule to being successful in business. Most people are stuipid and if you market with this in mind, you can always sell and be successful ;) So I’m sure they will sell millions of them.

  • http://twitter.com/frowbags Just me

    I thought all phone manufacturers had signed up to use a standard charging lead? So people are going to have to stump up for an adapter :-( Apple really do like rinsing money from punters. $100 for 16gig of memory, $29 for a dock adapter, why not use a headphone socket lead instead?
    I knew the screen size would cause issues with apps. Black bars because the os cannot resize the app properly, oh dear! And making a big thing about panoramic photos? Jebus, my Xperia Ray can do that. Why advertise a smaller camera module as a feature? Surely the bigger the camera module the better, more light for photos is better no?
    How much per month is this going to be on a 4g contract, plus the what? £269 up front cost for a 32gig phone? I shudder to think :-(

  • Androidgirls

    Ha all the android phones bring nothing but cheap copy’s while at least apple give you a phone that looks and feels quality …. Hope you didn’t get a 24 month S3 contract ha …..

  • Apple

    Need to get your facts right android didn’t own or come up with any features apple use others wise they would have to pay for them… You forget android pays apple and windows on each handset they sell… Funny how this sites try’s to get you to think otherwise

  • kxp

    What I think is that Apple has stopped inventing the weel and just started to improve it. This however for me made the most boring Apple event since the first iPhone. I get the refining and trying to be the best built smartphone out there, but that’s not what people are looking for in the iPhone.

    I have never been a fan of Apple but Apple events always get me buzzed up. They have always brought something new and interesting to the market. This time, I actually was bored by it and considered going to sleep.

  • Anonymous

    Actually you need to stop listening to Apple marketing and research just the facts. Apple may have won in the US but they copied parts of Samsung Technology as well.

    You can also take examples, Samsung has had Panorama shots in phones 10 years ago. The The iPhone 4S/IOS 5 copied so many features from Windows Phone 7.5 it wasn’t funny. In fact I remember how the iPhone 4S release got delayed right after Microsoft demoed the featues in WP7. Take a look at IOS 5 lock screen, press the Camera button without sliding up. Then go look at a WP7 devices lock screen, press it and take a look at that camera button on the side that lets you snap pictures from a locked state. Then there are the social intergrations. Siri….

    Apple has been ripping people off for years and marketing like they invented it. Only problem is other companies just ignore it instead of going after them.

    Companies haven’t just caught up and surpased the iPhone 5, they are getting smarter. Microsoft demoed a fraction of features in WP8, just enough so hardware OEM’s could design phones (and would have resulted in those features being leaked anyways). They got smart to not reveal everything and let Apple copy them like they did with Windows 7.x

    If you really believe your comment, then it’s like I said originally, Apple realized one import thing about most people, that they are…..

  • Anonymous

    First of all, nice username!

    Secondly, I don’t think anyone pay’s Apple license fees on each handset they sell. That would be the reason why Apple is taking so many of them to court.

    And we have more than our fair share of pro Apple writers (no names mentioned!).

  • Anonymous

    I think you misunderstood my point. I’m not accusing anyone of copying or taking sides with anyone.

    I’m just saying that if companies were paying Apple to license features, then Apple wouldn’t be suing them.