iPhone 5 revealed
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
[UPDATE] Apple announces taller, lighter, thinner smartphone at San Francisco media event; launching September 21 at $199 with two-year contract.
[UPDATE] Following the publication of this story, Apple confirmed the launch date and pricing options for the iPhone 5. It launches September 21, with preorders available beginning September 14. Three different options will be available for the iPhone 5, including a 16GB model for $199, 32GB for $299, and 64GB for $399.
As for price cuts for old model iPhones, Apple said the 8GB iPhone 4 will be free with a contract, and the 16GB iPhone 4S will sell for $99.
The original story follows below
Apple has finally confirmed the next iPhone. Today during a media presentation in San Francisco attended by GameSpot sister site CNET, the technology giant officially announced the iPhone 5. The new smartphone will be taller, lighter, and thinner than the most recent model, the iPhone 4S.
The iPhone 5 is 18 percent thinner than the iPhone 4S, and weighs 112 grams. According to Apple senior vice president of worldwide marketing Philip Schiller, this makes the iPhone 5 the world's thinnest smartphone. The device features a 4-inch retina display with 326 pixels per inch, with additional vertical pixels allowing for a fifth row of icons to fit on the home screen.
All existing apps will run on the iPhone 5 and none will be stretched or scaled to fit the new screen. Rather, apps will center on the screen, with black borders on each side filling the vacant space. Additionally, the iPhone 5 boasts a new A6 processor, which Apple claims is two times faster than the A5.
Concerning battery life, Apple said the iPhone 5 will cover 8 hours each for 3G talktime, 3G browsing, and LTE browsing. Additionally, users can expect the device to last 10 hours for Wifi browsing and video viewing, and 40 hours for music. Left on standby, the iPhone 5 battery will last for 225 hours, Apple said.
The iPhone 5's new iSight camera sports an 8 megapixel sensor, 3264 x 2448 resolution with backside illumination, a hybrid IR filter, five-element lens, and f2.4 aperture. It is 25 percent smaller than the previous iteration, according to Apple.
Concerning video, the iPhone 5 supports 1080p, and boasts improved stabilization. Additionally, it allows for face detection for up to 10 people, and allows users to snap photos while shooting video. It includes three microphones, an increase from 2, as well as a front-facing camera for "FaceTime HD" with 720p support.
Lastly, Apple announced that it is finally doing away with the 30-pin connector it launched with the original iPod in 2003. It will be replaced by a smaller connector called Lightning.
By
Eddie Makuch, News Editor
Eddie Makuch (Mack-ooh) is a News Editor at GameSpot. He works out of the company's Boston office in Somerville, Mass., and loves extra chunky peanut butter.
632 comments
yay a new apple device that costs10 times more than the competition and only does half the stuff, go apple...
@OFarrell86 Yay another fandroid who clearly knows nothing about the iPhone. What a surprise.
Still have an iPhone 3 and still wouldn't be without it. Word is we will be upgrading to this model ( work phone :) )
haven't looked at the comments, but I'm going to assume it's a bunch of Fandroids bashing Apple?
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@percuvius2 @kamg6 It's not all about specs. If it were, my desktop would be the most popular smartphone. As it happens, size, usability, portability, and interface is just as important. And that is where the iPhone wins (for me at least.)
Yet another site that gives free advertising solely for apple.
This is a gaming website not a website dedicated to apple iPhone and its cult followers.
1 Like Why innovate when the masses love eating up the same thing over and over? The gaming industry is full of the same behaviour. Look how successful the CoD series is. MW3 was pretty much a map pack for MW2. Apple knows this, and they capitalize on it. At the end of the day, it's about making money.
9 Like No USB; No MicroSD; No NFC; No OLED/AMOLED; No Eye-Sensor; No Swype; Apple welcomes 2007 with the iPhone 5 ... PASS !
I have also read that Samsung and HTC are sewing apple, for using their LTE networks without providing shares. OH OH!
5 Like I attended a presentation on technology marketing by an ex-Apple designer. He said straight out Apple isn't interested in innovation. They take solid technologies, sometimes make a few usability improvements, put it all in a pretty sleek package and market the hell out of it. He said the only thing they really had to sell the iPad 2 over the original was the folding magnetic cover. The Apple faithful went ape-shit on cammand and decreed #2 was the greatest thing ever and upgraded, gaining nothing.
OK, he wasn't as harsh as I'm being, but it was more confirmation. No one in the audience of 500 programmers and technology nerds argued with him. (Half of whom had iPhones, iPads and/or MacBooks.)
1 Like Them prices won't even touch the sides in the UK, they start at £529 here, what is that all about? It's some sort of joke the way they feel the need to pull the Brits' pants down. The only problem I have with my iPhone is that it's great at everything except being a phone, dropped calls, signal vanishing at random intervals, all sorts of quirks that prohibit its daily use as an actual phone, I've had no end of trouble with it. That sort of price tag is very hard to justify and eventhough I'm due an upgrade I very much doubt I'd get the 5 anytime soon off Vodafone
1 Like because the £529 is for a pay as you go model those prices above are with a contract
I expected much much more.... It seems that something is not going as well there at Cuppertino... Many of the elements were simply evolutionary.... 4'' inch screen?? So, what... Everyone else has it already... Faster CPU? Really? Hope they bring something better next time, as I may switch platform.....
@DarkManiaN_1979 Why would you? it is using 2011 tech!! and not even close the speed of galaxy 3.
@Cozm1kaos mostly for the developers. I'd like to try an Andriod OS out soon and a lot of my friends have samsung galaxy 2-3. It's up in the air atm.
Yea I had my 4S for 5 months with Telstra, until it was stolen. Dunno if I can upgrade yet, and whether it won't be too overpriced.
4 Like Whether it's on GameSpot, CNET, or some other site, it never ceases to amaze me how a simple report about what Apple did can bring out a slew of people who are determined to dump on the iPhone, iPod, iPad...whatever. It doesn't seem to happen with other products and categories. Heck, you could get less flack for going online and saying that you're a Kansas City Royals fan than for saying that you want an iPhone.
And I don't get it. What difference does it make to Android users if Apple users like their phones? As long as I'm happy with the phone in my pocket, I'm not too invested in what phone anyone else is using. In fact, I hope you're happy with your phone too. I don't have to insult your phone to make me feel better about mine.
So let it go, Android fans. If you like your big-screen, quad-core, Jellyofrocream Sandwich device, then good for you. But stop hating on your smartphone cousins for liking what they like. Together, we can beat Apple Derangement Syndrome.
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@theKSMM Honestly .. considering Apple with their "You are a genius if you buy our stuff" marketing ploy and people with their apple products who can't shut up about how good they are and why I should buy whatever apple product they have kind of begs for a reaction of insults.
6 Like @theKSMM Android fans or anyone interested in smartphone technology hate Apple because their innovations cause the whole industry to go backwards. They are massive patent trolls. Even Apple founder Steve Wozniak believes Apple's patent trolling is ridiculous.
Furthermore, most barbs against Apple comes from the fact that they claim an aged UI and dated hardware as the most Amazing, Magical Innovations ever. So it's not case of wanting to hate but rather a case of constant bewilderment.
Apple has made it's reputation over the years by way of it's cool products and people like/love apple...it's like if you love someone or something you like whatever they do, whereas with someone who you don't love it doesn't matter if they do something which is objectively superior you still don't love it as much
@marcopolo426 @theKSMM I agree, it is not being a fan or not, I myself have always had IPHONE all the way to 4. I switched to android (not thinking I would like it) but man was I wrong. Apples innovations are going nowhere because samsung provides them with their cores/memory. Why would they even give them a fast processor. In fact from what I read, Samsung has provided apple with their AC dual core processor. The same processor infuse 4G used (but dual style) Now i do not no about you but to me thats sad!!! all these years apple has made a name for themselves by marketing massively, to now truely finidng out they are junk.
2 Like I think we've also been spoiled by all of the other manufacturers releasing mostly different designs so often. :)
@shahirbear As long as we keep shoving money their way I think we're square... SARCASM HELLA INTENDED
It is what it is. Apple doesn't really do "revolution" unless they are "reinventing" something...otherwise they evolve - And so far that business model really works for them. It makes me a little sad that they treat their customers like sheep...and even worse...WE ACT LIKE SHEEP! LOL I still love my Mac and I wouldn't ever switch...but that's cause I use them for 5 years each hehe.NEXT NEXUS YOU ARE MINE! CMON SONY! AOSP AOSP!
That is all.
5 Like This has got to be the worst update to any smartphone. Nothing new. Specs are outdated compared to most smartphones out already. I can't believe so many people are this blind. Than again this is apple we are talking about. They do sell outdated PC to people (wake up do research before you buy). They slap a fruit on the side and sell it for way more than what its worth.
Apple, It's been 5 years... How did you go 5 YEARS without making the screen larger at least once already?
@TheBlackEclipse It's not about making it the best they can at this moment in time. It's about making little changes that convince people it's worth upgrading. If they actually cared about making the best iPhone they could right now, it would be INSANE, but it wouldn't leave room for them to design a slightly better one every year, and make as much money as they do from all the sheep :)
Once again the home screen hasn't change since the launch of the iPhone first generation.lmao
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