After several months of grinding the rumor mill, the most
anticipated phone of the year is here and it definitely called the iPhone 5.
The new iPhone was announced similar to what was expected
(well in most points). It comes with a refreshed two-toned design with
specifications that raised the “2012 flagship phone” standards, as Apple says
that it is the biggest thing to happen in iPhone since iPhone.
Display and Design
Taking about the design, iPhone 5 has same iPhone-ish shape
from the iPhone 4/4S that has a flat front and back, highlighted with a metal
band. Significantly, the new iPhone comes with aluminum/glass back panel with
screen size upgraded to 4 inches. It also has a taller (or longer) build with
the same width as the iPhone 4/4S, display resolution takes 1136 x 640 with 326 PPI.
Yes, iPhone 5 is now 20% lighter at 12 grams and the thinnest
smartphone to date with 7.6 mm
thickness. The two-toned iPhone 5 back is made of glass at top-back and
bottom-back, metal occupies all of the other back surfaces. Home button is still in its
sturdy place with (yes, it has been relocated) 3.5mm headphone jack relocated
at the bottom. Volume rockers at the left just below the Mute button. It has
three microphones for optimized noise reduction and better sound quality.
Retina has never been this stunning as the new iPhone sports
the Integrated Touch Technology, means sensors and display have been integrated. This
offers a 44% boost in color saturation making it the most advanced display
technology, yet.
Specifications: Processor, Wireless and Battery
Under the hood, the new iPhone 5 runs in an Apple’s A6
processor that is two times faster than the previous A5 chip, immersive gaming experience, faster browsing and loading of apps are expected. Speaker had boost up to 20% in volume but the earpiece supports noise cancellation for crisp and
clear calls.
The biggest news is iPhone 5 bumping into the 4G LTE bandwagon which
supports speed up to 100 Mbps. This could really mean that every content is
just on the tip of your finger tips. WiFi, now, supports two bands – 2.4 GHz
and 5 GHz, this means that you will not lose signals that easily when you
shifted from LTE to your home-based WiFi. Knowing that iPhone 5 supports 4G,
the battery capability has also been improved with (take this) 8 hours of
battery life over 4G LTE.
Camera
Camera still at 8MP but iSight optics has been enhanced
with dynamic low light mode, precision lens alignment and sapphire crystal. The
front camera is now in 720 HD from your previous VGA shooter – that’s what you
call FaceTime in HD! iPhone Camera can now shoot in Panorama mode giving you
the ability to shoot landscapes with 28-megapixels resolution.
Lightning, the dock connector
The smaller and refreshed dock connector is called
Lightning. It lives up to its name giving you compatibility with USB 3.0 which
has 10 times faster than USB 2.0. Specifically, it is 80% smaller than the
previous dock connector. Apple also offers dock connector converter, that’s
Lightning to 30-pin Adapter, which allows connection from your older
accessories to the new hardware. iPhone 5 will support the Nano SIM which is obviously smaller than the previous Micro SIM.
Availability and Pricing
United States’ AT&T, Verizon and Sprint are offering the
iPhone 5 with the usual $199, $299, $399 for the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB versions.
No pricing has been released in the Philippines’ service providers. It’ll come
in Black and White models, will go on pre-order in September 14th in
United States, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong and
Singapore; shipping starts on September 21st. It will be released in
different regions by the end of the month.
