iPhone 5 In-Depth Look

[Maura]

Now that all the fast-paced excitement of yesterday’s iPhone 5 launch event is out of the way, and in the quiet lull before we all start pre-ordering on Friday, it’s time for an in-depth look at some of the key features of Apple’s next iPhone.

To get down to specifics, the iPhone 5 is the world’s slimmest smartphone, with a 7.6 mm anodized aluminium body, which is 18% thinner and 20% lighter than the iPhone 4S, rounded off with diamond-cut chamfered edges and glass inlays.

The Retina display measures 4 inches, and boasts even more pixels than the iPhone 4S. The taller screen enables you to still use the iPhone with one hand, but now gives better picture quality on the larger Retina display, including widescreen HD video, all five days of your Calendar, and just generally more on view.

As far as speed is concerned, the iPhone 5 supports ultrafast wireless standards such as LTE and DC-HSDPA, with its unique, single-radio LTE solution that provides all the speed while remaining slim enough to fit into the thin casing. Wi-Fi support comes with dual-band 802.11n up to Mbps.

The new A6 chip boasts twice the CPU and graphics performance of the iPhone 4S.

The iSight camera has been redesigned, and despite being 25% smaller than the iPhone 4S camera, includes a new panorama feature for panoramic images of up to 28 megapixels. The camera features a sapphire crystal lens cover that is thinner and more durable than standard glass.

The new Lightning dock connector is all-digital, and features an adaptive interface that only uses the signals that are required by each device. It’s also reversible.

The iPhone’s qualities as a music player have also not been forgotten, with new Apple EarPods, which have been completely redesigned from the iconic shape of the famous white earphones, and are said to now have a more natural fit, increased durability, and the sort of acoustic quality usually associated with high-end earphones. Improvements have also been made to the quality of phone call audio for both the person who is talking and the person who is listening, including a new beam-forming, directional microphone system.

“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.”

Here are the release and pricing details in full courtesy of Apple:

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 (Apple), 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.

Source: Apple