No surprises as to the features of the iPhone 5 except that there’s no NFC. Most of the enhancements are evolutionary rather than revolutionary. As with its predecessors, iPhone 5 will come in 16 GB (S$948), 32 GB (S$1,088) and 64 GB (S$1,238) configurations.
It will arrive in 9 countries, including Singapore, on 21 September.
The iPhone 5 comes in Black & Slate or White & Silver.
The iPhone 5 will run on iOS 6, which will be released as a free software update two days before the smartphone itself hits the shelves.
| Apple iPhone 5 | |
| OS | iOS 6 |
| Screen | 4″ Retina display |
| Resolution | 1136 x 640 |
| Battery | mAh rating not revealed |
| Processor | A6 |
| Features | LTE |
| Camera | Rear: 8 MP |
| Front: 1.2 MP | |
| Video | Rear: 1080p30 |
| Front: 720p30 | |
| Video | Info not available |
| Memory | Int: 16, 32, 64 GB |
| Ext: Nil | |
| Size /mm | 123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 |
| Weight | 112 g |
| Price (w GST) |
|
The new operating system features 200 new features but will notably be foregoing Google’s Maps and YouTube apps.
The 4-inch Retina display is now taller, with 1136 x 640 pixels at a high 326 ppi resolution.
All these will run off the new Apple-designed A6 chip and 4G LTE network.
Design-wise, the iPhone 5 is a stunner, with a selection of Black & Slate and White & Silver.
The former has most of my friends salivating although the white is beginning to become somewhat commonplace by now.
And the body is only 7.6mm thin.
The rear camera now has 8 megapixels while the front 1.2-megapixel camera shoots 720p video at up to 30 fps for FaceTime HD video calls.
A new panorama feature stitches photos of up to 28 megapixels simply by moving the camera across a scene in one smooth motion – like the sweep panorama in Sony cameras.
Available in 9 countries on 21 Sep.
As expected, Apple has replaced the 30-pin connector with a new 9-pin Lightning connector.
A Lightning-to-30-pin Adapter (sold separately) is available to connect the iPhone 5 to legacy 30-pin accessories.
Due to the variation in LTE networks in different countries, the iPhone 5 will come in 3 variants in terms of LTE frequencies.
The first model (A1428 GSM) works only in the US and Canada, while the second (A1429 CDMA) works for US carriers Sprint and Verizon, as well as KDDI in Japan.
9-pin Lightning connector replaces 30-pin connector.
The third model (A1429 GSM) runs on 850MHz, 1800MHz and 2100Mz.
This is the most international version – compatible with the most number of countries.
Note that although the iPhone 5 runs on 1800MHz for LTE, Singapore operates its LTE network on 1800MHz and 2600MHz.
So in areas where 1800MHz is not available, the iPhone 5 will fall back onto 3G.
Likewise, in countries where the 4G is not compatible with your version of iPhone 5, you will still be able to use in on 3G.
The iPhone 4S will also be available for a suggested retail price of SGD$788 (incl GST) and iPhone 4 for a suggested retail price SGD$588 (incl GST).
The first nine countries getting the iPhone 5 on 21 September are Singapore, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the US and the UK.
The iPhone 5 will be available in 9 countries on 21 Sep and another 22 countries on 28 Sep.
Customers from these countries can pre-order the iPhone 5 beginning 14 September.
All three major Telcos in Singapore, SingTel, StarHub and M1, will be selling the iPhone 5 on 21 September.
The iPhone 5 will next hit the shelves worldwide at 22 more countries a week later on 22 September.
These countries are Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.
