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iPhone 5 (Everything You Need to Know)

The rumors, reports, and conversations with anonymous supply chain operatives can finally come to an end. Nearly a year after announcing the iPhone 4S and Siri, Apple today announced the highly anticipated iPhone 5. It may look like a taller 4S but there are a lot of changes. To make it easy for you, we compiled and broke down everything you need to know about Apple's newest handset.  

The Display is Bigger, Sharper, and Thinner

As anticipated, the iPhone 5 has completely upgraded its display to keep inline with the advancements happening on the Android side. For the iPhone 5, Apple has developed an entirely new four-inch (.5-inches larger than the 4S) display that doses away with an entire lay to make it much thinner. The layer that was discarded was responsible to registering touch gestures. This is now the integrated into the display itself. The display is also, according to Apple, much sharper, with 44% more color saturation. It’s still considered a Retina Display and has an output of 326 PPI and a resolution of 1136 x 640. Watching movies on the iPhone 5 should be a much more enjoyable experience now that it has a 16:9 widescreen aspect ration. All apps won’t work on the iPhone 5 at launch. As was the case when the original iPad launched, the apps will fit the screen; they will become centered and two black bars will appear on the top and bottom of the display. Apple says app makers are working to adjust their apps, and that it has worked with some companies to have iPhone 5-ready apps available when it drops in late September.

A6 Processor is Faster, Smaller, and more Economical

Despite the iPhone 4S still being plenty fast, Apple’s next-gen smartphone received an all-new chip in the Apple A6. Apple says the processor itself is smaller than the A5 and therefore consumes far less energy than its “A” predecessors. That said, processor still manages to be two-times faster than the A5 found in the 4S, leading us to believe it’s a quad-core chip similar to the A5X found in the new iPad. Apple also says the graphical performance of the A6 is double that of the A5. There was no word on whether Apple incorporated a NVIDIA graphics processor as it did with the new iPad, but you should expect a noticeable bump in performance when using graphics intensive apps.

A Host of New Camera Features

The iPhone 4S, by our measure, already had one of the best cameras on the smartphone market. However, with HTC reigning supreme with its heavy dose of megapixels and features, Apple thought to up the ante with an upgrade of its own. Interestingly enough, it didn’t bother to up the megapixel count, leaving it at eight, just like the 4S. What it did improve on, though, was everything else. According to Apple, the iPhone 5 camera is 25% smaller than the 4S’, can capture photos 40% faster than the 4S, and has a whole host of new features like a Hybrid IR Filter, backside illumination, Dynamic Low Light Mode, and Spatial Noise Reduction. All that amounts to you being able to take much better Instagram photos. The most interesting new feature will piss off a lot of third-party app makers. Apple introduced a built-in panorama mode that makes it easy as hell to take panoramic shots, giving you the opportunity to shoot a 28 megapixel photo. Pretty nuts. On the video end, there’s still 1080p HD video recording. Only this time we get FaceDetection software, and the ability, like the HTC One, to snap photos while recording video. The front-facing camera also got an upgrade. It’s still 720p, but it now has face-detection and FaceTime over cellular will finally be an option.

Constructed with High-End Materials

Though the iPhone 5 looks to be nearly identical to the 4S, Apple did make some changes in its construction. The iPhone 5 is comprised of an aluminum unibody with a glass screen. This should make the phone more resistant to drops and dings. Yep, hopefully this means no more having to the get the front and back of your phone replaced every time you drop it.

Finally: True 4G

Rejoice! High-speed data has finally made its way to the iPhone. And we’re not talking AT&T’s trickery of putting a 4G icon in your top bar and hoping you just went along for the ride. Nah, this time the iPhone will support HSPA+, DC-HSDPA, and LTE. Apple says this is possible thanks to what it’s coining a Dynamic Antenna. We just hope it works without us having to hold in a special way. The phone will be able to run on the high-speed networks of Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint. Sorry, T-Mobile.

Introducing Lightning: Apple's New Dock Connector

Well, we saw this coming. After 11 years and what we assume are millions of accessories, Apple has ditched the patented 30-in dock connector that has been so closely associated with Apple iDevices. The new connector, called the Lightning (get it? To go along with the high-speed Thunderbolt connector), will have its debut on the iPhone 5. According to Apple it’s not only 80% smaller, and will allow for the miniaturization of the phone, it’s an all-around better connector. It’s all digital, reversible, so it’s easier to use, and more durable. We know, we know: what about all those chargers and docks we’ve told you to buy over the years. Well, for one: Sorry. Two: Apple’s not going to leave you hanging. At least not yet. It plans on releasing an adapter that will allow you use any device made for the old connector.

It Will Come With iOS 6

When the iPhone 5 ships on September 21, it will come with iOS 6 pre-installed, which means you’ll get a bevy of new features that will take advantage of the 5’s new speed and size. During the keynote, Apple showed off some features from the new OS including the all-new Maps app that comes with turn-by-turn directions, great new GPS features, satellite imagery that will make Google shudder, and a host of new Safari features including the “iCloud Tabs” which, like Google Chrome, lets you access tabs from your desktop Safari browser while on the go. Siri is also getting an upgrade. The virtual assistant will be able to look up sports scores and recommend movie theaters. The deadpan voice remains, though. (Can we get a Samuel L. Jackson voice, please, Apple?)

The Speakers and Microphones were Both Upgraded

Apple claims it worked a lot on the sound performance of the new iPhone. For the iPhone 5, the speaker design was supposedly drastically improved. There’s now a noice-canelling earpiece so for those few times you speak on the phone, you can actually hear what your friend is saying. There are three to five magnet transducers in the main speakers so if you need to play something outloud for your crew, it won’t sound as tiny. There are now three microphones in total: One of the front, one in the back, and one in the bottom. There are also new headphones! Called EarPods (duh), Apple says it spend three years developing them and are made to not only sound better, but fit more comfortably into your ear.

Better Battery Life

The iPhone 4S caught a lot of slack for its paltry battery life. Apple wants to remedy that with the iPhone 5. According to the company’s measurements the new iPhone should be able to managed some pretty impressive times: 8 hours of 3G talk time, 8 hours of LTE browsing, 10 hours of Wi-Fi browsing, 30 hours of video and 225 hours of standby. Maybe, just maybe, you won’t need a Mophie.

Same Price Structure

In true Apple fashion, the new iPhones will cost the same as the outgoing models when purchased with a two-year contract. The iPhone 5 prices are as follows: 16GB is $199, the 32GB is $299, and the 64GB is $399. Too rich for your blood? The iPhone 4S, which is still a damn good phone, will now only cost $99, and the iPhone 4 will be FREE. We haven’t used the iPhone 5, but $99 for an iPhone 4S is a straight-up steal. The iPhone 5 will be available for pre-sale on September 14th and begin shipping on September 21. Head to the the Apple Store to pre-order yours. SOURCE