Introduced back in September 12, 2012, the iPhone 5 is Apple’s most recent mobile phone and signifies one of the biggest changes it has built since the very first iPhone. The iPhone 5 has broke a record sales in its first week so it’s not surprising it will be the biggest release of Apple company.

I took a more in-depth look and definitely will break the details down to see what makes the iPhone 5 the very best smartphone ever.

Construction and Style

For the longest period of time, in the last five(5) years, the iPhone has preserved its form aspect at 3.5 inches screen size. The moment it was release, that size was still at the top of its class. Due to the fact then, the iPhone has preserved the exact same screen size till they released the iPhone 5. What Apple company did was to expand the height of the iPhone 5 to make way for a 4-inch IPS screen.  The device is now slimmer, higher and lighter in weight regardless of bigger size. At 7.6mm thin, the iPhone 5 is thinner than its forerunner (9.3mm). It also weighs a lot less (112g) compared to the iPhone 4S (140g). The power switch is located at the upper part while the volume controls and the mute switch are still found on the left side. The nano-SIM slot is found on the right side while the speakers are still at the bottom part along with the audio jack and the data connector.

Take note that three of the major adjustments Apple applied on the new iPhone is the smaller nano-SIM, the audio jack which is now located at the bottom, and the use of a smaller 9-pin data/power adaptor( lightning Connector) for the device.

 The back part of the device is now designed with a slim piece of light weight aluminum. It’s got a fine and sleek texture with a discreet color tone to fits the white body of the device. The top and bottom end is still created with polycarbonate to allow signals to pass on to. The major issue with this new style is that the aluminum back and side section is definitely vulnerable to scratches. The first thing I did after I unboxed my iPhone 5 was to find scree protector which include front/back protection an as slim bumper case for it. The phone starts with the aluminum unibody (rear case), and every single component is then placed and layered into it. Replacing the rear case literally involves removing every component from the phone. Add that to the fact that an OEM quality rear case with a sapphire camera lens cover won’t be cheap, and you’ve got yourself a time-consuming, risky, and costly repair. Spend $15 or $30 on a good case if the scratches are going to bother you that much.

Screen Display

The iPhone 5 maintained its Retina Display and the increase in screen size to four(4) inches intended that Apple company had to bump up the image resolution as well. At 640×1136 pixels and pixel density of the new apple iphone is chosen at 326ppi. It’s an uncommon resolution I have not noticed in any other phone device but its the normal outcome of increasing the height of the display while maintaining the width.

The screen looks more clearer and detailed because of the bigger screen and pixel density, the colors and vividness are even, and the brightness of the screen looks pretty amazing. From experience with using range topping smartphones with screen sizes from 4.3 to 5.3 inches, the iPhone 5′s display does not seem to have that difference.

Multimedia & Camera

   The camera apps is very quick and I noticeably, there is a big difference in terms of speed from the iPhone 4S. Effective shots on the iPhone 5 attest to be more faster and the stills seemed more focused and precise. The 8-megapixel camera of the iPhone 5 came with a few enhancements. I observed that the camera shoots faster, has considerably better exposure and takes better focused images and videos. This is the first time that Apple has created major modifications on the earphones. The old one has substandard quality and the well-known white color is what stays with the new earphones. The old earphones that came with the earlier iPhones were so simple and often falls off the ears because of its simple design. The new set of earphone has improved that for the better. They are now more comfortable on the ears, has a better grip and the sound quality is way better than the earlier set. The speakers at the bottom of the cellphone is more notable} and the sound volume is more reliable and even not too loud

OS, Apps and UI

Nothing has visually changed on iOS 6 although Apple has promoted lots of new updates and features over iOS 5. In addition to the Twitter integration from the previous update, iOS 6 now comes with the same native integration with Facebook. This could prove useful if you’re a heavy FB user. Apple is slowly taking out of its Google dependancy and the latest casualty is Google Maps. Apple presented its own mapping system with turn-by-turn navigation.  On the other hand, the map is riddled with lack of detail and wrong info.

Long Term Evolution

One of the greatest announcements that came with the iPhone 5 is support for LTE. This has excited a lot of individuals since there’s been a lot of local news as to the launching of LTE networks both by Smart and Globe. Having said that, it seems that Apple company has not certified Globe or Smart in due time when it presented the supported global LTE networks on iOS 6.0. Fortunately, as Apple releases the iOS 6.1, it now works with several European, African, Asian and American carriers including the Philippines.

Battery and Call Quality

As for battery life, I did not notice any big developments over the previous device. I managed to last exactly 2 days(48 hours) on a single full charge when using only SMS and voice calls. On the other hand, once we run a few games and social apps, connect to the net via WiFi for web browsing and use the camera once in a while, battery life starts to degrade much faster (8 hours to be exact) . I’d be lucky to last one days but for good measure, average to heavy use is only good for a single day. Call qualityn is good and the sound is clear.

iPhone 5 Specification 

• 2G Network - GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 – GSM A1428 / CDMA 800 / 1900 / 2100 – CDMA A1429
• 3G Network - HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 – GSM A1428 / CDMA2000 1xEV-DO – CDMA A1429
• 4G Network - LTE 700 MHz Class 17 / 1700 / 2100 – GSM A1428 or LTE 850 / 1800 / 2100 – GSM A1429 / LTE 700 / 850 / 1800 / 1900 / 2100 – CDMA A1429
• Sim  Card - Nano Sim
• Display – 4.0-inch IPS LCD display @ 640×1136 pixels, 326ppi Corning Gorilla Glass, oleophobic coating
• Processor - Apple A6 1.2GHz dual-core processor
• GPU - PowerVR SGX543MP3 (triple-core)
• Memory – 16GB, 32GB, 64GB internal storage 1GB RAM
• Conectivity - DC-HSDPA 42Mbps, LTE 100Mbps WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, dual-band Bluetooth 4.0
• Camera - 8MP autofocus camera, LED flash 1080p video recording 1.2MP front-facing camera, 720p @ 30fps
• GPS - w/ aGPS support, GLONASS
• Operating system - iOS 6
• Body - 112 grams (weight) 123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 mm (dimensions)

Apple Computer is beginning a wrenching tectonic shift, taking its Macintosh computer line from IBM and Freescale Semiconductor’s PowerPC to the Intel Core Duo, two chip standards that have little in common — aside from a reliance on silicon and a vocabulary limited to 1s and 0s.

The change is so radical that existing Macintosh software could have become obsolete — if not for some near-wizardry. CEO Steve Jobs, always the showman, came to the Macworld Expo this week and unveiled two new Intel-based hardware products that have enthusiasts — and Wall Street — salivating. Analysts and rumormongers had been anticipating an Intel-based Mac since June, but it came as a surprise when Jobs announced not one, but two such products: a new iMac and the MacBook Pro laptop such as Apple A1175, Apple A1185 and Apple A1078, the latter already shipping.

This rapidity was key, says Nathan Brookward, principal analyst of industry research firm Insight 64.

“When Apple first announced the Intel switch in June, I was concerned sales of PowerPC Macs would slow and there would be severe software shortages for end users,” he says. However, now he believes the speedy hardware roll-out could “smooth the software transition.”

And there was more to Jobs’ announcement. The switch to Intel had raised serious questions about backward compatibility for Apple software that runs on the former PowerPC architecture.

So Jobs also unveiled an application called Rosetta, which offers interface-free emulation to translate PowerPC code into Intel code on the fly.

This application was vitally important, because the fundamental differences between Intel and PowerPC architectures mean no Mac user’s library of existing software would run on an Intel-based Mac. Apple’s solution, at least until developers reconfigure their applications into Intel-native versions — a process that could be little more than a recompile or, for massive projects like Adobe Photoshop or Microsoft Office, a mammoth undertakings — is to use Rosetta.

Rosetta is not a perfect solution, though. Even Jobs admitted in his keynote speech that the application is not an optimal solution for professional users — some pro-level software, such as Apple’s own Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro and Aperture won’t run under Rosetta. And running an application under Rosetta means a drop in performance. But for everyday users, the new Mac is, well, a Mac.

Michael Gartenberg, vice president and research director at Jupiter Research, says that Apple has taken extensive steps so that “for Apple customers, the transition is almost seamless — it almost doesn’t matter.”

Certainly, the new Intel iMac looks identical to the previous model — Jobs stressed that it had “the same design, the same features and the same prices” as its PowerPC predecessor. Similarly, the new MacBook Pro looks almost indistinguishable from the PowerBook model it supplants.

Although the present seems to be about Macs being Macs, research analyst Gartenberg points out that the future may bring a change, given the similar strategic goals of Apple and Intel. “We know that Intel has designs on the digital home, the digital living room, and Intel has found a good partner in Apple,” he says. “It’s not about convergence anymore, but how to integrate TV with the other digital content that lives in a computer.”

For Apple, the future is about seamlessly marrying the two mediums. And now there’s more entertainment to share: Apple has led the way, making a much-publicized deal last fall with ABC and Disney to sell downloadable video content through its iTunes Music Store. Yahoo and Google, among others, have since made similar moves.

Even without a computer-to-computer network, Apple has a potentially killer front-end for content playback — something Intel has never managed to create. Apple has also debuted Front Row, which replaces the Mac OS X interface with a screen that can be viewed from across the room, and which serves to navigate and play movies, music, and other digital content. Indeed, Front Row, which ships with the new iMacs and MacBook Pros, includes a remote control. Some have looked at Apple’s ability to stream and sell videos, extensive and extending content partnerships, Front Row, and QuickTime standard — and seen a computer that can replace the need for a TiVo-like device.

Intel, for its part, is promoting its Viiv brand (tag line: “Change the way you enjoy entertainment at home”). A Viiv-based PC is supposed to meet minimum standards for remote control of applications, on-demand digital content, DVR, and other functionality. Currently, this requires Windows Media Center Edition; but given the new partnership with Apple, there’s no reason the same technology can’t go toward a media center Mac — especially with Intel designing and manufacturing Apple’s computer motherboards. (On the other hand, Apple may feel that Front Row makes this unnecessary.)

“The role of the PC is evolving,” said Gartenberg. “They’re not giving up their current role, but adding high-definition TV, music and more.”

It’s not clear that any one company could do this alone. But Intel has had billions of dollars waiting for a good idea — and Apple has nothing if not ideas.

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A few details from tw.apple.pro was translated by AppleInsider claiming that the iPhone 5 has three prototypes.  A  iphone with a slide out keyboard is one of them and another one is very similar to the iphone 4 but with much better component.  I hope they have resolve the antenna issue which has been a major problem with the iPhone 4.  An improve camera and a longer battery life was also included in the prototypes.

The iPhone 5 is likely to include the Qualcomm baseband chip  that will allow multiple carriers on one device. Also the unconfirmed Apple “A5” 1.2 GHz dual-core and PowerVR SGX543 graphics will be included.   All this speculation are not confirmed yet so lets just wait and see.