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Apple announces iPhone 5, bigger screen, 2X speed A6, aluminum and glass ‘best phone ever’

Apple executives are now live on stage at the Yerba Buena Arts Center in California, where the company just unveiled the iPhone 5.

“Today we’re introducing iPhone 5… It’s made entirely of glass and aluminum,” announced Apple Worldwide Marketing Senior Vice President Phillip Schiller. “You see we’re able to add a fifth-row of icons.”

Additional iPhone 5 specs:

  • Retina display: 4-inch (diagonal) widescreen Multi-Touch display, 1136-by-640-pixel resolution at 326 ppi, 44 percent more color saturation, 800:1 contrast ratio, and fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating on front.
  • HSPA+, DC-HSDPA
  • LTE (Sprint, Verizon, AT&T for LTE. In Canada, Rogers, Telus, and Bell)
  • Wi-Fi (2.4ghz and 5ghz on 802.11n)
  • A6 chip (compared to the A5— it is two times faster but 22 percent smaller)
  • AirPlay Mirroring to Apple TV support at 720p
  • Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery: 225 hours of standby, 8 hours of LTE, 10 hours of Wi-Fi, 8 hours of 3G, and 10 hours of video.
  • iSight: 8-megapixel, backside flash, hybrid IR filter, five-element lens, sapphire lens, f/2.4 aperture, next-generation ISP, spatial noise reduction, smart filter, better low-light performance, 40 percent faster on photo capture, and HD video recording (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, improved video stability, face detection, FaceTime over cellular, the ability to snap photos while shooting video, etc.
  • Audio system: improved speaker design—20 percent smaller speaker and wideband audio
  • Connector: “Lightning” (so…Apple will have Thunderbolt and Lightning), all-digital, 8-signal design, adaptive interface, improved durability and reversible.
  • Apple EarPods with Remote and Mic
  • iOS 6: Passbook, GPS, Maps…( iPhone 4S, 4, 3GS, new iPad, iPad 2… upgrade for free to iOS 6).
  • More specs available at Apple’s website.

A full gallery is below.

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Display:

“This is the most accurate display in the industry,” Schiller said. “The touch sensors are integrated into the display itself. We removed a layer and made it sharper. This is the world’s most advanced display. I could not be prouder of it.”

Camera:

“We asked our team to design something better than the iPhone 4S, and they’ve done that…8-megapixel, backside illuminated, hybrid IR filter,” Schiller said. “But they didn’t stop there. They enhanced it even further: Dynamic low light mode, precision lens alignment, sapphire crystal…”

Photos:

“With iOS 6 and iCloud, we have new feature called shared photo streams,” Schiller said. “But perhaps the most amazing new feature in the iPhone 5 is called ‘Panorama.'”

Audio:

“Everything has been updated in iPhone 5, and that goes for the audio system as well…Three microphones, bottom, front, and back,” Schiller said. “With wideband audio, we can fill up more of the frequency spectrum. We’ll have 20 partners on this at launch.”

iOS 6:

“iOS 6 is the most advanced OS for any phone,” Schiller said. “And it powers the iPhone 5.”

Overall: 

“The iPhone 5 comes in this black color…and also white,” Schiller said. “The thinnest and lightest phone we’ve ever made.”

Availability:

iPhone 5 pre-orders start Sept.14 and ship Sept. 21 starting at $199, iPhone 4S is $99, and iPhone 4 is now free.

Stay tuned for more—9to5Mac is covering Apple’s Sept. 12 media event live.

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