iPhone 5: Hands-on

The new iPhone 5 is Apple's slimmest smartphone yet and also packs 4G LTE connectivity, a 4-inch cinematic screen and a new iSight camera

As well as being Apple's skinniest phone yet, the new iPhone 5 also sports 4G LTE connectivity, and a slightly longer screen with a 1136 x 640-pixel resolution, while the new A6 chip is twice as fast as previous versions.

The new phone also features a new, smaller connector, improved battery life and a new iSight camera.

Does Apple's new handset bring enough to the table to take on rivals such as the Samsung Galaxy S3, HTC One X and Nokia Lumia 920? We went hands-on to find out..

iPhone 5: Build

In the hand, the 112g iPhone 5 unquestionably feels lighter and thinner. The 7.6mm depth is impressive, considering that this smartphone is much more powerful than the iPhone 4S.
However, while the aluminium/glass construction is gorgeous to look at, the reduction in weight also makes it feel less industrial and less sturdy.

We'd take a lighter phone adorning our pocket any day, though. A nano-SIM on the side replaces the old-style mini-SIM, which forms part of the reduction in size, while the new Lightening connector replaces the 30-pin model, again, helping to shave off precious millimetres. A final note on size - it's 9mm taller than the iPhone 4S but the same width.

The headphone socket is now on the bottom – we'll have to see how this works in the wild.
The two-tone back on both black and white models give it a premium feeland Apple tells us the back is crafted from the same anodised 6000 series aluminium material used in Apple MacBooks.
iPhone 5: Features

Standout features that we've had a play with lie within the make-up of iOS 6. Maps has been rebuilt from the ground up and now looks sharper, quicker and has some flashy features such as the cool 3D Flyover that allows you to zoom right into satellite imagery and rotate around landmarks as if you're playing God.

It also includes turn-by-turn navigation that will have the likes of TomTom and Garmin reaching for the booze cabinet.

Siri has also had an upgrade, now boasting the ability to launch apps and post Facebook entries by voice. Both were 50/50 successful in our limited hands-on time, so watch this space for an extended review.

One of the biggest feature upgrades is with the camera. It's now branded iSight and, while offering the same 8mp lens, now has improved HDR and PhotoStream sharing.

Video recording remains at 1080p, while the front-cam is markedly better – 720p FaceTime being the standout feature. The headline newbie, however, is the panoramic mode that will stitch together a landscape shot in real-time and create an image up to 28mp in size.

We tried this out in a packed press conference and while the results were unsurprisingly dull, due to the dim lighting, the technology itself was impressive – telling us to slow down if we panned too fast and then outputting the jumbo image in a few seconds.

Apple has thankfully upgraded its old earphones to the new EarPods, which are a huge step up in design and do sound better. But then most things did...

iPhone 5: Screen

The most significant hardware change in our book is the screen. The Retina display is now upped to four inches and brags a 1136x640-pixel resolution at 326 ppi.

Real-estate is noticeably bigger, with a extra line of apps added to each screen and movies now playing in 16:9 without letter-boxing. It also means that there's simply more to look at when browsing websites, playing games and using apps.

Apple says apps built for the old screen will work just fine but it will allow developers to create new apps specifically for this screen. It didn't seem brighter in our short hands-on, but we were smitten with how much more information is now available to look at.
iPhone 5: Performance

The new A6 chip has affected how fast the iPhone operates. We were pinging around apps more fluidly than our iPhone 4S and video also looked smoother.

Throughout our demo we were connected to wi-fi - which now supports all standards under the sun – but we're really looking forward to seeing how it flies on EE's new LTE 4G network when it (hopefully) launches this year. HSPA, HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA are also supported and it will come in 16, 32 and 64GB models.
iPhone 5: Battery

Apple has quoted 8 hours 3G browsing time, 8 hours talk time, 10 hours video playback, which all sounds pretty reasonable but We'll have to put that to the test when we get a proper review sample in at T3 Towers.

iPhone 5: Verdict

While there will be cries that the iPhone 5 is 'just a longer iPhone', it remains a significant hardware change for the phone that hasn't really had a good going over for a couple of years. Apple has worked wonders to reduce the overall size and weight while upping the power.

It comes with a raft of cool new features (mostly via iOS6), but fans of Samsung and HTC smartphones will cry that many of the features are already available on their devices. Regardless, it's a significant update for an already super smartphone. We can't wait to dig deeper into its prowess. Watch this space.

Apple iphone 5: Set to become biggest selling gadget in history!

 

Apple's chief executive Tim Cook took the stage in San Francisco yesterday to tout iPhone 5, which runs on faster wireless networks, boasts a bigger screen and has a chip that handles tasks more quickly than past versions. Even with few surprising new elements, Apple is betting that the device is loaded with enough features to set it apart in a market swiftly crowding with phones running Google's Android operating system and Microsoft's Windows Phone.

Apple's rivals are introducing smartphones packed with new functions. Samsung said it has sold more than 20 million Galaxy S III handsets, which have a bigger screen than the iPhone 5 and also work with speedier wireless networks. Nokia has adopted Microsoft's new mobile software and debuted a phone last week with a spring-mounted camera for steadier pictures. Google's Motorola Mobility has introduced a fresh batch of handsets running an updated version of the Android operating system.

Against this backdrop, Apple may not have added enough new features, said Anil Doradla, an analyst at William Blair & Co, in a research report. One missing element on the iPhone 5 is the technology needed to work on the network of China Mobile, China's biggest wireless carrier, he said.
'Wow factor'

"Although the company did a commendable job of improving different functions over the previous iPhone, we did not come away with a wow factor," Doradla said.

Because Apple only introduces one new iPhone a year, each unveiling is critical. Apple has sold more than 244 million units since its 2007 debut, and the handset now accounts for about two-thirds of profit. By contrast, Samsung has become the world's largest overall seller of handsets by introducing several new models a year.
Sales estimates

As many as 58 million units of the iPhone 5 may sell by the end of the year, according the average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. That could generate as much as $US36.2 billion in sales for Apple, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Sales could be hampered by limited supplies of new screens Apple introduced for the iPhone 5 as well as the chips that allow the device to connect to speedier wireless networks, said Toni, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein in New York.

Apple upgraded the software that runs on the iPhone to include new mapping and turn-by-turn navigation features, as well as tools that make it easier to share photos and other content with Facebook, the largest social-networking service in the world.

The device will be available for orders on September 14 and lands on store shelves September 21 in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and the UK It goes on sale in 22 more countries on September 28.
Shares gain

Apple gained 2 per cent to $US682.98 at the close in New York. The stock has increased 69 per cent this year.

The iPhone, introduced in 2007, has helped make Apple the world's most valuable company. Once a niche computer maker, Apple now generates higher profit than technology competitors Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft and Google.

Having popularised handheld touch-screen devices that offer swift web downloads and a range of games, entertainment and productivity tools, Apple is now battling with manufacturers led by Samsung for dominance of a market that leaped 62 per cent last year.
Yesterday's event marked Apple's first iPhone introduction since co-founder Steve Jobs passed away in October last year, a day after the iPhone 4S was unveiled. Cook made brief introductory remarks at the start of the event before turning it over to other executives to show off the new iPhone, as well as changes to the iTunes music store and line of iPods.

As much the iPhone 5 represents innovation, it also demonstrates Apple's penchant for following competitors on some features, including screen size and compatibility with faster wireless networks.
With Samsung, Google's Motorola Mobility and HTC introducing devices with bigger screens, the iPhone 5 is the first time Apple has changed the size of the device's screen. The 4-inch screen compares with 3.5 inches in earlier iterations.

"We've worked on that for a few years to come to what we think is the optimal size to give you more screen, but something that is super comfortable, easy to use and is thin and light and fits in your pocket," said Phil Schiller, Apple senior vice president for marketing. "We think this is the ideal size."

The new iPhone, Apple's sixth, works with so-called long- term evolution, or LTE, data networks being introduced by companies including AT&T and Verizon Wireless in the US, and Optus and Telstra in Australia. LTE is designed to enable quicker web browsing as well as faster download speeds for video and music than existing networks.
'Radical revision'

Even though using faster networks can drain a phone's power supply, Apple said iPhone 5's battery lasts longer than earlier models. The iPhone 5 also comes 18 per cent thinner and 20 per cent lighter than the iPhone 4S, Apple said. To make the device more svelte, Apple changed the design of the charging- dock connector. To accommodate the slew of accessories that are available for the older dock design, Apple said it will sell an adapter.

"The iPhone 5 represents the most radical revision yet to the biggest-selling smartphone," Mike Gikas, an editor at Consumer Reports, said in an initial review of the product. "It has enough improvements and enhancements that even satisfied owners of the last-generation iPhone 4S will want to consider upgrading."

Like previous iPhones, the new model will be available in black and white.
'Blowout, home run'
Yesterday's event highlighted how the high level of interest in Apple has made it almost impossible for the company to keep products secret. Pictures of the new iPhone that were posted on websites before the announcement proved accurate.

"There's more attention than ever on Apple," Schiller told reporters after the event. "That's a great thing."

Apple also enhanced the speech-command service Siri, adding features that let users search for sports scores and make dinner reservations by speaking to the smartphone. A new application called Passbook gives users one application to store their loyalty gift cards, as well as digital tickets to movies, concerts and sporting events.

"They have built a juggernaut," said Matt Murphy, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a venture capital firm that invests in iPhone application companies. "This is going to be an absolutely blowout, home-run product."

Google rivalry

In addition to providing a showcase for new features, yesterday's event also highlighted Apple's growing rivalry with Google, the maker of the Android operating system that powers about half the world's smartphones. Apple introduced its own mapping software to replace Google and removed Google's online video service, YouTube, from the batch of applications pre- installed on the iPhone.
During the event, Apple also announced a new version of its iPod Touch music player. The new model has a 4-inch screen to match the iPhone 5 and comes with a 5-megapixel camera and stronger processor for playing games and using other applications.

"When you look at each of these, they are incredible, industry-leading innovations by themselves, but what sets them apart and puts Apple way ahead of the competition is how they work so well together," said Cook, who was dressed in an untucked black dress shirt, jeans and tennis shoes, before ceding the stage to the Foo Fighters.

Apple expected to release iPhone 5!

Apple Inc. distributed invitations to an event in San Francisco on Sept. 12, setting the stage for what is widely expected to be the release of the iPhone 5.

The typically cryptic invitation said “It’s almost here”, sported a number 12 – corresponding to the date of the event – and cast a large shadow of the number 5, a clue that the fifth version of the popular smartphone could be in the pipeline.

Apple’s iPhone launches are among the most-watched events on the tech industry calendar. The latest version of the company’s main product – generating more than half its revenue – may sport a larger, higher-end screen, sources have said.

The new screen could measure 4 inches from corner to corner, one source has said, an increase from the 3.5-inch display that has been held constant since the smartphone began selling in 2007 and revolutionized the mobile industry.

Some analysts say the larger screen may be a response to rival Samsung Electronics, whose larger, Google Android phones have helped it become the world’s biggest smartphone maker.

Speculation had also arisen in past months that the company might offer details about a smaller version of its iPad, but the emailed invitation offered no hint of that on Tuesday.

The event will take place at San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the preferred venue for the unveiling of past products such as the iPad.

The new iPhone will hit store shelves in time for the crucial holiday season. Shares in the company edged 0.6 per cent higher to $669.44.

Even before it hits store shelves, Apple’s new phone is cannibalizing its old one. The world’s most valuable technology company recently reported a rare quarterly earnings miss this week, in large part because many of its regular customers aren’t buying its current line of iPhones. They’re opting instead to wait for the iPhone 5, which is widely expected to be released this fall. Until then, Apple’s iPhone sales are slumping.

This isn’t the first time consumers have stopped buying Apple products because they are waiting for newer, better iterations just around the corner. Indeed, Apple’s near-clockwork schedule of upgrading its hardware lines – especially the iPhone and the iPad – has habituated consumers to expect new models around the same times every year.

But several factors exacerbating this year’s pre-upgrade sales drought. Even though the last iPhone upgrade – the iPhone 4S, released in October as an upgrade to the iPhone 4 – featured myriad improvements, some Apple fans were expecting more. As such, they decided to wait to upgrade to the iPhone 5, rather than buy the current model and break their contracts.