NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Apple on Wednesday unveiled a thinner,
taller, faster iPhone 5 at a highly anticipated event in San Francisco.
The device, which is 18% thinner and 20% lighter than the iPhone
4S, is the thinnest smartphone in the world, according to Apple. With a
four-inch screen, the iPhone 5 allows for five rows of apps -- one more
than previous versions of the device, which sported a 3.5-inch screen.
Apple said the iPhone 5's processor speed is twice as fast as the
previous version, an advance made possible by the company's new "A6"
chip.
The iPhone 5 is also the first Apple smartphone to have 4G-LTE
network connectivity, which allows for speeds of up to 10 times faster
than 3G, or about the same as the average home broadband connection. In
the United States, the iPhone 5 will be compatible with the LTE networks
supported by Verizon (VZ, Fortune 500), AT&T (T, Fortune 500) and Sprint (S, Fortune 500).
The new smartphone features an improved "iSight" camera, with a
better ability to take low-light photos and a new mode that allows for
panoramic shots. It also allows users to take photos while shooting
videos -- an increasingly popular feature found on rival smartphones.
Another new feature (correctly foreshadowed by rumors) is
"lightning," Apple's new eight-pin connector, which is significantly
smaller than the 30-pin connector that Apple has used since 2003. Apple
will sell adapters so people can still use old chargers and legacy
connectors -- but they're pricey. The gizmos will cost $29 each, or $39 for versions with attached cables, according to a listing in the Apple Store.
The iPhone 5 will go on sale on Sept. 21, starting at $199 for the
16-gigabyte version with a new two-year contract. Larger 32 GB and 64
GB versions will cost $299 and $399, respectively. Apple will begin
taking pre-orders on Sept. 14.
As Apple has done before, the two previous iterations of the
iPhone will continue to be sold at reduced prices. The 16 GB iPhone 4S
will get a $100 price cut, selling for $99, and the iPhone 4 will be
free with a two-year contract.
The updated iOS 6, the iPhone's new software, will be available
for download on most older versions of the iPhone on Sept. 19.
Shares of Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) were up slightly by the end of the event.
At its Worldwide Developers Conference in June,
Apple had already announced many of the software features that the new
iPhone 5 will possess. They include an all-new maps app with
turn-by-turn navigation, additional queries that Siri can answer, Facebook (FB) integration, FaceTime over cellular networks and a Passbook app that stores all of your coupons and boarding passes.
Ahead of the announcement, Wall Street analysts predicted that the iPhone 5 would set sales records.
The industry's median prediction is that Apple will sell 45 million
iPhone 5 units in the first three months after it hits store shelves. It
sold 37 million in the first quarter after the iPhone 4S went on sale
last fall.
But industry research firm NPD cautioned that sales may be slower than expected,
at least in the U.S., because the smartphone market is getting
saturated. "Blowing away all weakened competition, as Apple has done to
this point, makes it infinitely harder to continue to blow away the
remainder," analyst Stephen Baker wrote.
IPod: In addition to the iPhone unveiling, Apple
announced two new updates to the iPod, which will go on sale in October.
The new iPod touch was modeled after the iPhone 5, with a four-inch
screen, a faster processor and a thinner design. The device will feature
Siri and five different colors.
The iPod nano got an even more radical redesign. The tiny music
player is now 38% thinner than its precessor, and it comes with a
larger, 2.5-inch touchscreen, Bluetooth, widescreen video playback, and
controls on the side of the device.
Apple also showed off the new iTunes 11, with an improved layout
and iCloud integration. The new iTunes is scheduled to launch in
October. The company unveiled new "EarPod" headphones too, which attempt
to solve the "one size fits all" problem with a contoured design.
Apple did not announce a widely expected seven- or eight-inch iPad "mini" that the company is believed to be working on, or an overhaul for Apple TV. Those products would have overshadowed the iPhone, which was the star of the day.
