iPhone 5 – So what’s new?

What we know from the iPhone 5 keynote

After much anticipation, Apple has finally revealed the iPhone 5 to the public. This comes after a lot of rumors and predictions from both professionals and Apple enthusiasts. CEO, Tim Cook, gave the announcement at the iPhone 5 launch, stating that “iPhone 5 and iOS 6 are the biggest things to happen on the iPhone since the iPhone”.

Bigger Screen

The most prominent feature on the iPhone 5 is the change in screen size. It has a 4-inch Retina display of 326ppi, with 1136 x 640 resolution. The decision by Apple to make a taller, not wider phone was a good move.

As far as apps go, they will have to be resized to fit the new screen size, otherwise old apps will just be letterboxed.

Size and Weight

The iPhone 5 is not only taller, but lighter as well. It is 7.6mm thick and weighs just 112g, making it 20% lighter. This makes it feel great in the palm of your hand. The exterior has also been redesigned, with a two-tone back. The white iPhone 5 model will be white and silver, while the black model will be black and slate.

LTE

The iPhone 5 will be the first of it’s kind to include 4G LTE connectivity, working on 5GHz as well as 2.5GHz. Networks such as Orange and T-Mobile will have the best network speeds, along with 02, and Three.

Processor

The iPhone 5 will have the ARM-based Apple A6 as it’s new processor. Apple promises that it will be great in terms of graphics performance and twice as fast as it’s predecessor in terms of speed. Apple claims that the phone can last up to 10 hours of video playback. This comes as a surprise with a chip that has shrunk in physical size.

iOS 6 Operating System

iOS 6 is the latest Apple mobile operating system. It will include a whole bunch of applications for the iPhone 5, including; Notification Center for Facebook and Twitter, fullscreen Safari, added Mail features, Passbook, and Shared photo streams.

Camera and Sound

The iPhone 5 camera, although smaller, is 8 megapixels in sensor size. It’s not too different from the iPhone 4S, but Apple boasts about it’s low-light performance. There are three microphones, which increase the quality of sound for FaceTime calling.

The new phone will come with some new headphones called EarPods, which are more comfortable and durable. The headphone jack is at the bottom of the phone, which some users might be fund of, but each to their own.

Improved Siri

Siri has been given an upgrade, and can now understand a lot more commands. It can post tweets and status updates to Facebook, which will be very interesting to see in terms of accuracy.

Lightning Connector

The Lightning Connector is an 8-signal dock connector, which replaces the old 30-pin dock connector that we’re so used to. To many people’s pleasure the dock will be reversible, so you won’t have to worry about inserting it the wrong way round all the time.

The iPhone 5 will be available from 21^st September in the UK, US, Australia, Canada, France Germany, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Japan. The product will be shipping at $199 in the US with a contract. There is no indication of contracts for the UK, but there is a price tag of £529 for the phone itself. As usual the iPhone 5 will be available in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB.