Since iPhone 5 is finally official, tech rumours sites can finally take a short rest before starting to scrape iPhone 6 rumours from each other. Surprisingly, some of the rumours and leaked pictures seemed to be actually legit. The new iPhone actually looks like some of the leaks. Also rumours about renewed connector cable really were true and highly accurate.

I have extracted some interesting  bits (for me anyway) from this day’s event. I haven’t seen actual event video yet, these bits were collected from the Verge live stream, and Apple website:

“It’s made entirely of glass and aluminum.”

This is a welcome update after over 2 years. iPhone 4 and 4S always felt like a sandwich buttered on both sides; there was no “good side” if you happened to drop it.

 “It’s the thinnest phone we’ve ever made, and the lightest.” “This is the monumental challenge we had — can you make a phone with more features that is smaller and lighter. Anyone can make a bigger phone.”

The iPhone 5 is actually physically smaller than iPhone 4S: 55,1 cm² vs. 62,8 cm². But it’s almost whole 1cm taller, so will it feel actually smaller?

16:9 1136 x 640 pixel screen.

I’d choose it any time over the old one, even if the phone itself would feel slightly larger.

“This is the most accurate display in the industry. The touch sensors are integrated right into the display itself. We removed a layer and made it sharper. This is the world’s most advanced display, and I couldn’t be prouder of it.”

Likely one of the reasons the whole phone is thinner. Supposedly also better vibrance. Contrast ratio and max brightness are same as what iPhone 4S has.

About iPhone 5 4G connections Phil Schiller says:

“In Europe there’s something else going on. A lot of adoption of this dual carrier network.”

iPhone 5 specs show that GSM LTE Bands 4 and 17 are supported. Put those to google and you will find that these mean about 700 MHz and 1900 MHz, which means iPhone 5 won’t support European 4G frequencies: 1800 MHz /2600 MHz / 800 MHz. Bummer. HDSPA Dual Carrier is supported, which should help somewhat for download speeds, but not for delay.

“Compared to the A5, it’s two times faster.”

Nothing new here, every new iPhone has doubled the speed. Although they sure seem to hype the speed with multiple slides. At least when you compare how fast they handled the battery life:

“So, you can imagine the challenge on the battery life. But we’ve not only matched it… we’ve exceeded that of the iPhone 4S.”

Claimed to slightly better than iPhone 4s. On the other hand, Apple claimed the Iphone 4S battery life was also an increase from iPhone 4, which was not really true.

Camera is pretty much the same 8-megapixel as in Iphone 4S, albeit with some post processing optimizations, which sounds nice. It also has built-in panorama mode. If it’s decent maybe I will delete those half dozen panorama apps which I almost never use. Also photos can be snapped while recording a video, which I find more interesting than the panorama mode.

The new connector. This is probably the most controversial update in the new iPhone 5. The new Lightning usb cable looks really nice and good quality, and it’s reversible.  The catch: 30$ adapter. I have several iPod/iPhone docking stations and a dozen 30 pin connector cables. They will all become obsolete in the near future.

Included standard headphones got also updated, finally. I have never used the included headphones more than a few minute; they are too painful for me to wear, apparently I have very small ears. These new rounded ones sure look a lot more comfortable.

Delivery date to Finland is still a big question mark, as is the price too.

As a current iPhone 4S user, would I upgrade? Yep.