The new iPhone launched in San Francisco today, as usual, kept the rumour mills working overtime. But the rumours were uncannily accurate, as our overview of the specs shows.
The new iPhone was launched at 10am Pacific time in San Francisco. For months ahead of the event, as always, the rumour mills worked overtime. As we sifted fact from fiction of the main rumours, most turned out to be spot-on.
Rumour: It will be called the iPhone 5, the new iPhone, or simply the iPhone. Alternatively, different formats will have different letters following the 5.
Fact: Confirmed. It is the Apple iPhone 5.
Rumour: It will have a 4″ screen. One thing that is almost certain is that it will have a larger screen than the now-pokey 3.5″” of the iPhone 4S. The screen will use second generation Corning Gorilla Glass, with liquid crystal display so that the screen is built into the body instead of being a layer over it.
Fact: Confirmed. It has a 4″” screen.
Rumour: It will be thinner. The 8.6mm thick Samsung Galaxy S3 has set the benchmark by which the thickness of the iPhone is being measured. The iPhone 5 is expected to be as thin as 7.6mm.
Fact: Confirmed. It is 7.6mm thick.
Rumour: It will have a new 9-pin socket instead of the current 30-pins of Apple devices.
Fact: Close. It will have 8-pin connector, instead of 30, thereby destroys charging compatibility with old devices. But there’s an accessory for that! An adaptor will allow users to keep using old cables. The 8-pin port is called Lightning.
Rumour: True to Apple’s approach of avoiding too much interaction with non-Apple devices, it won’t have a microSD slot or microUSB port.
Fact: Confirmed.
Rumour: It will have an 8MP camera.
Fact: Confirmed.
Rumour: It will be a 4G phone, using the next generation of mobile broadband. That’s a no-brainer.
Fact: Confirmed.
So far, so predictable.
The full specs for the iPhone 5 follow below:
Colour
Black & Slate
White & Silver
Capacity and contract price
16GB 32GB 64GB
$199 $299 $399
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 wirelesss
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
Cameras, 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
External Buttons and Controls
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
Audio playback: Up to 40 hours
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
Viewable Document Types
.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 access
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)
In the box
iPhone 5
Apple EarPods with Remote and Mic
Lightning to USB Cable
USB Power Adapter
Documentation
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