Finally, Apple has taken the covers off its sixth generation iPhone or the iPhone 5 at an event held yesterday at the Yerba Buena Center of Arts in San Francisco. The ‘thinnest, lightest iPhone ever’ flaunts a sleek profile that measures about 7.6mm along with a large screen spanning 4 inches.
Enclosed in an anodized aluminum exterior, the latest Apple gadget features glass inlays as well as diamond cut chamfered edges. Its taller 4-inch Retina display should allow prospective users to have a firm grip over it. The handset’s iOS 6 platform tags along an improved Siri in addition to Passbook, the Maps app with Flyover View and Facebook integration for contacts and calendars amongst others.
The iPhone 5’s 8MP iSight camera is reinforced with a sapphire crystal lens cover and comes with a stabilizer as well as the Panorama mode. This redesigned snapper claims to detect as many as 10 faces and enables users to click still shots, while recording videos. Its front-mounted FaceTime webcam can be employed for the purpose of making video calls, recording HD 720p videos and clicking pictures that can be shared instantly, thanks to the iCloud Shared Photo Streams.
“iPhone 5 is the most beautiful consumer device that we’ve ever created. We’ve packed an amazing amount of innovation and advanced technology into a thin and light, jewel-like device with a stunning 4-inch Retina display, blazing fast A6 chip, ultrafast wireless, even longer battery life; and we think customers are going to love it,†quoted Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.
The internal working of the sixth generation iPhone is carried out under the supervision of the A6 chipset which should make it capable of delivering a relatively fast performance. Moreover, it is compatible with LTE as well as DC-HSDPA and features dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi for wireless internet access. Deployed with the noise cancelling technology, it integrates a beam-forming directional microphone system and even supports cellular wideband audio.
As was speculated, the device has ditched the 30-pin port for the smaller, reversible and adaptable Lightning connector. The company has also introduced the Lightning-to-30-pin adapter in order to make the phone compliant with 30-pin accessories. It is accompanied by the Apple EarPods, designed for a natural fit and to render improved audio.
The 16GB, 32GB and 64GB sixth generation iPhone prices in the US are tagged at $199 (approx. Rs. 11,030), $299 (approx. Rs. 16,580) and $399 (approx. Rs. 22,125), respectively. It is slated to go up for pre-order on September 14 and will be made available through Apple Online Store in the US, the UK, France, Canada, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Germany from September 21. The iPhone 5 will be picked up by AT&T, Sprint, Verizon Wireless and a few other network providers. Also, the iOS 6 update will be rolled out on September 19. The iPhone 4S price has dropped to $99 (approx. Rs. 5,490), while the iPhone 4 is now free, with a two-year contract.
