Apple introduces the thinnest, lightest, fastest and most powerful phone it has ever made, the iPhone 5, which will be released Sept. 21. If the previous lame iPhone 4S managed to pull strong sales, this sexier iPhone 5 with bigger screen and slimmer body should be able to do better. With the four-inch (10-centimeter) screen finally makes its appearance after months (or perhaps years) speculation, Apple literally sends Samsung running for its money.

Now, before we talk about what is new in the latest iPhone 5, let’s see what are the bells and whistles that are not included. As a start, the much talked about NFC digital wallet is not available, probably due to infrastructure technology surrounding NFC is not read yet. When Nokia released its Lumia 820 and 920 that work with wireless charging, immediately Apple fans speculate and even demand that the coming iPhone 5 should come with this cool wireless charging capability. But it didn’t. Apples’ marketing SVP Phil Schiller explained that wireless charging isn’t all that great because you still have to plug something into a wall.

[ 1 ] iPhone 5 Screen

– this is not something new because it has been leaked to the public (intentionally?) but when it was revealed that the iPhone 5 will have a bigger screen than iPhone 4S, everyone was relieve nevertheless. It’s no brainer that Apple should give in to the demand from the prospect customers for a bigger screen. Actually the iPhone 5 is taller (by 9 millimeter) instead of wider (than iPhone 4S), with fifth row of icons on the home screen.

– while the iPhone 5 features 4-inch screen, it doesn’t compromise on the Retina display. In fact, the new phone gives you 18% more pixels through its 1136-by-640 resolution, maintaining 326 pixels per inch. Of course, developers need to do some work in order for their applications to fill-up the remaining extra spaces lest they wish their apps to appear letterboxed.

[ 2 ] iPhone 5 Size, Weight and Color

– size wise, iPhone 5 is 7.6mm thick and weighs 112g. It’s 20% lighter and 18% thinner and is made of aluminum and glass, which is kinda cool as it looks luxurious.

– this phone actually has a two-tone back – either “white and silver” or “black and slate”. According to Apple, the back of iPhone 5 is made of anodized 6000 series aluminum – the same material used in Apple notebooks – with inlays along the top and bottom made of ceramic glass (on the white and silver model) or pigmented glass (on the black and slate model).

[ 3 ] iPhone 5 Processor

– as expected, the new iPhone is powered by new Apple A6 processor, with twice the CPU speed and twice the graphics power, based on the latest dual-core ARM Cortex-A15 CPU design.

– Apple claims the processor is better on battery life than predecessor iPhone 4S – up to 8 hours of browsing on a cellular connection, up to 8 hours of talk time, and up to 10 hours of video playback time

[ 4 ] iPhone 5 Ultrafast 4G Network

– as speculated, iPhone 5 is a 4G LTE phone, supporting more networks over the world such as HSPA, HSPA+, and DC-HSDPA.

– On the other hand, it’s Dual-band 802.11n wireless connectivity can accelerates Wi-Fi up to 150Mbps, provided your ISP provides such speed in the first place.

[ 5 ] iPhone 5 Nano-SIM

– if you think micro-SIM was small, Apple just announced an even smaller card – Nano-SIM. It is 40% smaller than the current micro-SIM format and measures just 12.3mm wide by 8.8mm high, and 0.67mm thick.

– now, if you think you can cut your existing micro-SIM into Nano-SIM, the same way you did it previously by cutting normal SIM to micro-SIM, bad news – you can’t simply because Nano-SIM is also 15% “thinner” than micro-SIM. And since you can’t reduce the SIM card thickness, you’re at the mercy of the telecom providers.

[ 6 ] iPhone 5 Cameras

– the 8-megapixel iSight camera is almost the same as that in iPhone 4S, only smaller in size. Apple also claims improvement in 40% faster photo capture, better low-light performance, and improved noise reduction.

– besides new panorama feature allowing you to shoot up to an impressive 240 degrees, the other thing worth mentioning – now you can do facetime over a cellular connection if Wi-Fi isn’t available. Of course people have been using Skype or Yahoo Messenger to do “third-party facetime” prior to this.

– instead of VGA-resolution photos and video, iPhone 5 produces 1.2MP photos and 720p HD video.

[ 7 ] iPhone 5 Lightning Connector

– Apple is introducing a new connector – Lightning connector – replacing 30-pin connector, supposedly more durable than the older 30-pin, this 80% smaller Lightning connector is reversible, meaning there’s no wrong way to plug in the cable.

– naturally, the next question is what to do with the old 30-pin connector? You can still use it with a Lightning 30-pin Adapter, which is sold separately at an estimated price of a cool US$29 a piece. A full cable plus adapter costs US$39 but it’s only a matter of time before you can find a cheaper alternative from computer hardware shops.

[ 8 ] iPhone 5 features iOS-6

– historically with every new iPhone model, a new iOS would be introduced so there’s no difference with iPhone 5 as well. As speculated, iOS6 comes with Apple’s new Maps app hence R.I.P Google’s Map. The new map features turn-by-turn navigation, real-time traffic info, interactive 3-D view and of course the assistance from Siri in helping you find your way.

– Facebook is now integrated into iOS-6 so you just need to sign-in once and you’re ready to share with the world. You can also share your photos inventories by simply select photos from the Photos app, tap the Share button and choose who you want to share your photos with. iOS-6 is available to download starting on 19 Sept, so mark your calendar.

– Passbook is another feature which literally means you have your boarding passes – movie tickets, retail coupons, loyalty cards, and more are all in one place. Another feature – when you decline an incoming call, you can instantly reply with a text message or set a callback reminder. Hmm, but I want feature that allows me to block certain incoming numbers.

[ 9 ] iPhone 5 EarPods

– together with the iPhone 5 introduction, Apple also introduces new headphone or earbud – EarPods, of which the company’s Industrial Design team had tested 124 prototypes on over 600 people.

– this new EarPods are supposed to provide a more natural fit, better durability and better sound quality (try to copy this Samsung, if you dare).

[ 10 ] iPhone 5 Pricing

– in terms of pricing, iPhone 5 starts at $199 (16GB; $299 for 32GB and $399 for 64GB) in the US with a contract. As usual, the predecessor 16GB iPhone 4S is now priced at $99 (2-year contract) while an 8GB iPhone 4 is free. Since there’ no mention of 3GS, we assume it would be end of life.

[ 11 ] iPhone 5 Availability

– the new phone release date is 21 September and Apple will start taking orders for the phone Friday (14 Sept) in the US, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Australia, Hong Kong,  Singapore and Japan. In the UK, the handset will be available from the Apple Online Store, Apple’s retail stores, and through Everything Everywhere, Orange, O2, T-Mobile, Vodafone, 3 and select Apple Authorised Resellers.

– iPhone 5 will be rolled out worldwide to 22 more countries on 28 September, 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. Other countries will have to wait till end of the year.

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September 13th, 2012 by financetwitter

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