Apple’s new flag-ship product, the iPhone 5, priced at $199/16GB, boasts a new 4-inch display, an improvement from the previous 3.5-inch displays of the older models. The iPhone 5 also has a new design, faster processor, LTE and dock connector.
The new 4-inch screen is built the same way that the Retina MacBook Pro’s display is built—right into the glass. This eliminates the necessity of two layers for a screen and significantly reduces the distance from one’s finger to the on-screen icons. At 326 pixels per inch, the 1136-by-640 resolution display, in Apple’s words, is “vibrant” and “life-like.” The pixels-per-inch ratio makes one single pixel indistinguishable to the human eye.
The iPhone 5 has a similar form-factor (the size of the phone and how it fits in your hand) to the previous two versions, but, according to Apple, is 18 percent thinner and 20 percent lighter than the 4S. The main difference is the highly anticipated aluminum back, which fixes the problem with iPhone 4S’s and 4’s glass backs cracking. The iPhone 5 is made entirely of aluminum and glass.
Inside the iPhone 5, Apple announced their new A6 processor, which Apple claims is twice as fast as the A5 chip, found in the iPhone 4S. “It just screams,” said Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller, in introducing the device.
There were many controversies when Apple announced the iPhone 4S without LTE capabilities. In the iPhone 5, LTE is built right into the CDMA chip, so that all voice and data connections are found in one place. The iPhone 5 now supports 4G LTE on Verizon, ATT and Sprint carriers. Verizon has the largest nation-wide 4G LTE network. Apple claims that most LTE networks are faster than an at-home Wi-Fi connection.
The new iSight camera has a panorama photo feature where you can take a panoramic photo by just moving the phone. It also has enhanced, 1080p video recording, 40 percent faster photo capture and FaceTime HD front-facing camera in 720p.
For the first time since 2003, Apple has changed the dock connector to their iDevices. The new, reversible lightning dock connector is much smaller than the old 30-pin dock connector. For the old devices that connect to the iPhone with a 30-pin connector—iHome, charging cable, etc—Apple has a 30-pin to lightning adapter for $29.99
In addition to changing the dock connector, Apple also changed their stock headphones. The new EarPods have been tested by “three-dimensionally” scanning hundreds of ears to find a “commonality,” according to JonyIve, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Design. “Making one headphone to fit everybody’s ears is like trying to make one pair of shoes to fit everyone’s feet. It’s impossible. But that’s exactly what we’ve tried to do with the new EarPods.”
With the new iPhone 5 comes the release of the new iOS 6 operating system. Apple has continually had a large update to iOS whenever they released a new iPhone. iOS 6 has new Apple created vector-based maps, an update to Siri and improvements on iCloud’s services.
The iPhone 5 comes in both black/slate and white/silver for $199/16GB, $299/32GB or $399/64GB.
Pre-sales for the iPhone have pushed the shipping date back an entire week for new orders. The first iPhone 5 orders will ship today. All new orders have been delayed due to such a high demand.
To purchase, visit www.apple.com/iphone
