Apple unveils long anticipated “thinner, lighter and smaller” iPhone 5

Apple has finally unveiled its latest product, the iPhone 5, saying it’s unlike “any phone ever made”.

Senior vice president of worldwide marketing, Phil Schiller, said the phone was “an absolute jewel”.

At a launch event in California, he said the phone, which weighs 112 grams and has a 4-inch screen, was “thinner, lighter and smaller”. 

The phone is 20% lighter than the iPhone 4S, 18% thinner and crafted out of glass and aluminium.

Apple confirmed the iPhone 5 will also work on the newly branded Everything Everywhere (EE) 4G LTE network in the UK.

The rumoured two-toned design is real with a 16:9 display running at 1136 by 640 with five rows of icons. 

According to Schiller, it’s “the most accurate display in the industry” because the touch sensors are also embedded into the display.

He said its new A6 chip doubled the speed of its graphics and allowed app developers to use “state of the art performance and graphics”.

The iPhone 4S’s battery life wasn’t a key feature but the iPhone 5 is equipped with eight hours of 3G talk time, as well as eight hours of 3G and LTE web browsing.

Schiller said the phone’s “console quality graphics” did not affect the battery which had a longer life than the previous 4S model.

The phone’s audio system has been bolstered with a smaller but improved speaker. There are also three microphones in the mix: one on the front, one on the back, and another on the bottom.

There will also be a miniature dock connector, all-digital, with eight pins called “Lightning”. There is also an adapter for it, but no comments have been made on the extra price.

The phone’s camera has a sapphire crystal lens cover to protect it and a panorama option allowing the user to take a panoramic picture. 

The camera also supports 1080p video capture and users now have the ability to take images and record a video at the same time.

The San Francisco audience were told the phone’s map function had been updated, now using 3D maps. They were also shown an option allowing users to get an aerial view of streets.

Scott Forstall, the senior vice president of iOS Software, introduced several updates including a shared photo stream allowing users to share their pictures more easily.

The voice control software Siri has also been updated so people can now ask for film and restaurant recommendations and update their Facebook accounts verbally.

Schiller joked: “The world is just a more beautiful place when you use an iPhone 5.”

Zanib Asghar
Photo: Courtesy of Apple