Review of the new iPhone 5

Just a few hours ago, at a presentation at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco, California, Apple introduced new generation iPhone, which (finally!) received serial number 5. At first glance, it may seem that this is the old familiar iPhone 4S, only slightly elongated vertically. However, upon closer examination, it becomes clear that Apple engineers, in fact, created a completely new device in a shell familiar to users. Let's see what exactly has changed in the new iPhone.

Design

In addition to the obvious lengthening due to the new four-inch display (more on that below), the new iPhone boasts characteristics that will become clear only after direct contact: with all the technological innovations, it has become 18% thinner, 20% lighter and decreased in volume by 12%. Also, Jony Ive's team said goodbye to the much-unloved glass on the rear panel. It was replaced with an aluminum insert, which certainly will not break if dropped. All this beauty is produced using specially developed technologies - for example, a 20-megapixel camera photographs the iPhone body during assembly and selects from 725 glass inserts on the back panel the one that fits best. Journalists who managed to look at the new iPhone in person have already compared their impressions of its quality with jewelry.

Display

There's no point in making a display bigger just for the sake of making it bigger - following that philosophy, Apple introduced a 4-inch display that's only bigger vertically. So you can still control your phone with just your thumb, but you'll see a lot more information, whether it's your calendar, mail, or Safari in the new full-screen mode. Old applications will launch with black bars on the sides until the developers update them. The display itself has also improved. It has become more saturated and clear. This was achieved not least by removing the top touch layer - the display pixels now serve as touch-sensitive electrodes.

LTE

As experts predicted, iPhone 5 received support for the LTE communication standard, with which you can forget about the speed difference between Wi-Fi and cellular communications. Of course, the actual speeds will depend on each individual operator. In addition, the new iPhone has built-in HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA technologies - the fastest systems for 3G mobile communications. So wherever you are in the world, you can count on a fast mobile connection.

A6 processor

Along with the iPhone, it acquired a new number in its name and a processor designed specifically for it. The A6 chip is twice as fast as its predecessor, both in terms of processing power and graphics processing. Moreover, designing chips specifically for iOS 6 has another advantage - they have increased energy efficiency and can now last up to 8 hours of calls or surfing on an LTE connection, and you can watch videos for a full 10 hours without stopping.

iSight Camera

One of the key features of the previous iPhone was a new camera, designed to take it from the category of fairly popular cameras (first place on flickr is no joke) into a full-fledged replacement for a consumer camera. iPhone 5 continues this tradition with updates on all fronts: the front FaceTime camera has been upgraded to 720p resolution, and the rear one has received a host of software bonuses, including 40% faster shooting, a 29-megapixel panorama mode, improved video stabilization and low-light shooting.

EarPods headphones

Very often one could hear reproaches that standard headphones from Apple are not the highest quality. It seems that Apple has heard these reproaches as well. Along with all the devices announced yesterday, brand new EarPods headphones will be included. According to Jony Ive, they were developed taking into account the anatomy of the human ear and will fit perfectly on everyone, without pressing or falling out. In addition, Apple acoustics engineers included a special speaker diaphragm in the EarPods design, made from both rigid and flexible materials. The result is sound comparable to headphones hundreds of dollars more expensive.

Lightning connector

Another component that has undergone a complete redesign is the familiar dock connector. The 30-pin connector in the iPhone has been replaced by a new, fully digital eight-pin connector called Lightning. Accordingly, the cable has become lighter, more durable and - an idiot's dream! - now you can insert it into your iPhone with either side facing up without fear of breaking or damaging something. Well, to make the new cable compatible with old docks (or with old iPhones), Apple will sell special adapters.

iOS 6

Along with the release of the new iPhone, the next version of iOS will also be released. Among the key features of iOS 6 are new maps from Apple with 3D Flyover mode, Siri, which has learned to show results of sports matches and movie schedules, Facebook integration, general Photo Streams, the Passbook application for managing digital coupons and tickets, and a whole bunch of other interesting features.

iPhone 5 pre-orders will be available from September 14, and sales of the phone will begin on September 21. By the end of the year, the iPhone will be available in 100 countries. It is not yet known when sales of the phone will begin in Russia.