10 things you need to know about the new Apple iPhone 5; plus full specs

The Apple iPhone 5 has finally appeared, and it’s well equipped to stand fast against the Android tide. Here are the choice details… The iPhone 5 is alive! But what’s different? What’s noteworthy? Allow us to strip the specs back into easily a digestible form. In a small auditorium in San Francisco, Apple has shown us its latest handset, and if you want to know what the iPhone 5 features are, read on…

1/ Apple iPhone 5 body and design
Calling it the most beautiful product the company has ever made is some bold statement. So what makes it so stunning? The iPhone 5 is made from glass and aluminium and will be the thinnest Apple smartphone at just 7.6mm thick, but doesn’t quite beat the Huawei Ascend P1 or ZTE Athena which still remain the slimmest smartphones around. In the measurements department the iPhone 5 weighs in at 112g which is significantly lighter than the 4S (140g).

2. Apple iPhone 5 display
So we’ve got our bigger screen and at 4-inches as had been long rumoured, it’s a drastic jump from the iPhone 4S with a Retina display that promises the same 326ppi as the 4S with a screen resolution jump to 1136×640. Essentially you can expect the same width but a bit taller.

3/ Apple iPhone 5 camera
Already a pretty capable of taking great snaps, the same 8-Megapixel camera sensor and f/2.4 aperture is included in the iPhone 5, with the addition of a dynamic low light mode to benefit night-time snapping with a new more durable sapphire crystal lens. Additionally, a new image processor includes a smart filter and should reduce noise in images. In terms of new camera modes, you can now take panoramic photos and with the Share Photo Streams feature share pictures with friends and families where they can comment on your pictorial efforts. It’s good news for regular FaceTimers as the front-facing camera is now capable of 720p video

4/ Apple iPhone 5 processor
Moving from the A5 processor found in the 4S and the iPad 2, to a new A6 chip, Apple claims it will deliver a CPU two times faster than the A5 and up to times better graphics. So, expect apps to launch quicker, browsing to speedier and overall performance to step up significantly from the 4S.

5. Apple iPhone 5 connectivity
The big news is that the iPhone 5 will be available on LTE which means 4G goodness for those who decide to invest in the new Apple smartphone. Apple is also introducing it is referring to as ‘ultrafast wireless’ as well as 802.11a/b/g/n, 2.4GHz, dual channel 5GHz Wi-Fi technology which is the same components nestled inside the recently announced Amazon Kindle Fire HD.

6. Apple iPhone 5 battery
While the iPhone 4 made a big jump from the previous iPhone 3G and 3GS, The iPhone 5 battery is generally the same as the 4S so it should see you through 8 hours talk time on 3G or LTE, and 10 hours of Wi-Fi which an extra hour more than the 4S.

7. Apple iPhone 5 microphones
There’s three (yes, three) microphones situated on the front, bottom and back of the iPhone 5 handset which has been included for enhanced voice recognition and a noise cancelation earpiece. No doubt it should benefit the smart Siri functionality introduced in iOS 6 which is next up on our list.

8. Apple iPhone 5 operating system
New phone, new operating system. iOS 6 promises a slightly tweaked user interface with a new look App Store with iCloud support, a smarter Siri that will launch apps, FaceTime over 3G and plenty more. It’s still one of the best mobile operating systems and the new features have certainly enhanced its capabilities.

9. Apple iPhone 5 new connector
So we’ve got a new way charging cable folks , and it’s called Lightning, which means Apple now have Thunderbolt and Lightning ports. 80% smaller than the current cable, Apple says it can be plugged in either way and aims to keep the overall design more slender and compact than the iPhone 4S. If you are worried about support for the original charging cable, Apple will be making a adapter so the iPhone 5 can be hooked up to 30-pin accessories.

10. Apple iPhone 5 release date and price
The iPhone 5 release date has been confirmed 21st September with the handset to be available in an aluminum black and white version which will hopefully make it out at the same time. Can expect to pay between $199 and $399 which was the same as when the iPhone 4S was announced.

Apple’s iPhone 5 page has gone live, along with all of its full specifications. Let’s see if we can find a few surprises that weren’t in announcement…

Size and weight:

• Height: 4.87 inches (123.8 mm)
• Width: 2.31 inches (58.6 mm)
• Depth: 0.30 inch (7.6 mm)
• Weight: 3.95 ounces (112 grams)

Cellular and wireless:

• GSM model A1428*: UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz); LTE (Bands 4 and 17)
• CDMA model A1429*: CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B (800, 1900, 2100 MHz); UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz); LTE (Bands 1, 3, 5, 13, 25)
• GSM model A1429*: UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz); GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz); LTE (Bands 1, 3, 5)
• 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi (802.11n 2.4GHz and 5GHz)
• Bluetooth 4.0 wireless technology

Location:

• Assisted GPS and GLONASS
• Digital compass
• Wi-Fi
• Cellular

Display:

• Retina display
• 4-inch (diagonal) widescreen Multi-Touch display
• 1136-by-640-pixel resolution at 326 ppi
• 800:1 contrast ratio (typical)
• 500 cd/m2 max brightness (typical)
• Fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating on front
• Support for display of multiple languages and characters simultaneously

Camera, Photos, and Video:

• 8-megapixel iSight camera
• Panorama
• Video recording, HD (1080p) up to 30 frames per second with audio
• FaceTime HD camera with 1.2MP photos and HD video (720p) up to 30 frames per second
• Autofocus
• Tap to focus video or still images
• Face detection in video or still images
• LED flash
• Improved video stabilization
• Photo and video geotagging

Power and Battery:

• Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery
• Charging via USB to computer system or power adapter
• Talk time: Up to 8 hours on 3G
• Standby time: Up to 225 hours
• Internet use: Up to 8 hours on 3G, up to 8 hours on LTE, up to 10 hours on Wi-Fi
• Video playback: Up to 10 hours
• Audio playback: Up to 40 hours

Audio Playback:

• Audio formats supported: AAC (8 to 320 Kbps), Protected AAC (from iTunes Store), HE-AAC, MP3 (8 to 320 Kbps), MP3 VBR, Audible (formats 2, 3, 4, Audible Enhanced Audio, AAX, and AAX+), Apple Lossless, AIFF, and WAV
• User-configurable maximum volume limit

TV and Video:

• AirPlay Mirroring to Apple TV support at 720p
• AirPlay video streaming to Apple TV (3rd generation) at up to 1080p and Apple TV (2nd generation) at up to 720p
• Video formats supported: H.264 video up to 1080p, 30 frames per second, High Profile level 4.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format

Headphones:

• Apple EarPods with Remote and Mic
• Storage and travel case

Rating for Hearing Aids:

• iPhone 5 (Model A1428): M3, T4
• iPhone 5 (Model A1429): M4, T4

Mail Attachment Support:

• .jpg, .tiff, .gif (images); .doc and .docx (Microsoft Word); .htm and .html (web pages); .key (Keynote); .numbers (Numbers); .pages (Pages); .pdf (Preview and Adobe Acrobat); .ppt and .pptx (Microsoft PowerPoint); .txt (text); .rtf (rich text format); .vcf (contact information); .xls and .xlsx (Microsoft Excel)

Sensors:

• Three-axis gyro
• Accelerometer
• Proximity sensor
• Ambient light sensor

System Requirements:

• Apple ID (required for some features)
• Internet access5
• Syncing with iTunes on a Mac or PC requires:
  • Mac: OS X v10.6.8 or later
  • PC: Windows 7; Windows Vista; or Windows XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 3 or later
  • iTunes 10.7 or later (free download from www.itunes.com/download)

Environmental Requirements:

• Operating ambient temperature: 32° to 95° F (0° to 35° C)
• Nonoperating temperature: −4° to 113° F (−20° to 45° C)
• Relative humidity: 5% to 95% noncondensing
• Maximum operating altitude: 10,000 feet (3000 m)

Languages:

Language Support

English (U.S.), English (UK), Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Arabic, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Indonesian, Malay, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazil), Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese

Keyboard Support

English (U.S.), English (UK), Chinese – Simplified (Handwriting, Pinyin, Stroke), Chinese – Traditional (Handwriting, Pinyin, Zhuyin, Cangjie, Stroke), French, French (Canadian), French (Switzerland), German (Germany), German (Switzerland), Italian, Japanese (Romaji, Kana), Korean, Spanish, Arabic, Bulgarian, Catalan, Cherokee, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Emoji, Estonian, Finnish, Flemish, Greek, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Malay, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazil), Romanian, Russian, Serbian (Cyrillic/Latin), Slovak, Swedish, Thai, Tibetan, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese

Dictionary Support (enables predictive text and autocorrect)

English (U.S.), English (UK), Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), French, French (Canadian), French (Switzerland), German, Italian, Japanese (Romaji, Kana), Korean, Spanish, Arabic, Catalan, Cherokee, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, Flemish, Greek, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Indonesian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Malay, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazil), Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian, Vietnamese

Siri Languages

English (U.S., UK, Canada, Australia), Spanish (U.S., Mexico, Spain), French (France, Canada, Switzerland), German (Germany, Switzerland), Italian (Italy, Switzerland), Japanese, Korean, Mandarin (Mainland China, Taiwan), Cantonese (Hong Kong)

In the Box:

• iPhone 5
• Apple EarPods with Remote and Mic
• Lightning to USB Cable
• USB Power Adapter
• Documentation

Let us know what you think of the new iPhone 5 in the comments section below: