Apple Unveils iPhone 5 With 4" Screen, 8 mp Camera, And 4G LTE

Apple CEO Tim Cook unveiled the next-generation iPhone 5 at a keynote address in San Francisco, marking the release of undoubtedly the most eagerly awaited smartphone of the year. As expected, it has a larger 4" screen, yet at 7.6 mm is 18% thinner than its predecessor.

The newly announced handset is powered by an A6 chipset, which is said to be twice as fast as the iPhone 4S's A5 SoC. Its 4" Retina display has pixel dimensions of 1136x640 (pixel density 326 ppi). Here's the list of specs confirmed by Apple:

• 4" Retina display with 1136x640 pixels at 326ppi, 16:9 aspect ratio, pixel density of 326 ppi, fingerprint-resistant oleo-phobic coating.
• 8 megapixel auto focus camera with LED flash.
• Camera Features: 1080p video recording, Panorama, Face detection, Video stabilization, Geo-tagging.
• 1.2 mp front camera.
• A6 chip set, twice as fast as A5 (according to Apple).
• Dual-band Wi-Fi with AirPlay support, Bluetooth 4.0, Assisted GPS with GLONASS.
• Supported Audio: AAC, MP3, AAX, AAX+, AIFF, WAV.
• Supported Video: H.264, MP4, MOV.
• 16 GB \ 32 GB \ 64 GB internal storage.
• Proprietary Lightning connector.
• Three-axis gyro, accelerometer, proximity sensor, ambient light sensor, digital compass.
• Lithium-ion battery with 8 hours of talk time and 225 hours of standby time on 3G, 10 hours of video playback, 40 hours of music playback.
• 4.8" (l) x 2.3" (w) x 0.3" (7.6 mm) (d), 112 grammes.
• iOS 6 enhanced for bigger screen.
• LTE support, uses nano-SIM card.

The iPhone 5 will be available in Black & Slate as well as White & Silver, and will start shipping on the 21st of this month. The US, UK, Canada, and Singapore will be the first to get the new iPhone. Roll outs for the rest of the world are expected to start from the 28th. As of this writing, there's no information regarding SIM-free pricing.