Apple complicates things for developers with iPhone 5

[dropcap]T[/dropcap]here's usually a difference between rumor and reality, and Apple clearly defined it during today's event in San Francisco. Tim Cook began the iPhone 5 portion of the presentation with the actual product rising from the stage floor. He was proud to say that it was the thinnest smartphone in the world at 7.6 mm; the weight had been reduced by 20 percent bringing the device to 112 grams; and the iPhone finally had a 4-inch display to offer. Portability is great, but that 4-inch screen is going to make things a more difficult for developers.

A larger iPhone display has always meant one thing: a 16:9 aspect ratio, as opposed to the 4:3 that the iPhone 4S used. Apps will run perfectly fine on the new device, but they won't look right. Thankfully, the device will not stretch apps to fit the display; developers will just have to optimize their apps for yet another device. I understand this principle and people complained about the Retina iPad as well, yet it was made reality. I feel bad for developers having to optimize their entire app for a different ratio. There's a big difference between that and a different resolution: the former doesn't have black blocks at the top and bottom of the screen. This had to be done though because widescreen videos always had the black bars and nobody liked that. But still, users rarely think about how hard things are for developers. All they understand is what they want.

More on the iPhone 5

Apple's adding LTE, HSPA+, and DC-HSDPA communication abilities to the iPhone with a single chip for voice and data — no wonder it's so thin. It's also included 2.4 and 5 GHz 802.11n WiFi, an A6 processor for two times faster graphics and general performance, and most surprising of all, better battery life than the iPhone 4S. Everyone expected an LTE iPhone to have a significant decrease in usage time, but Apple has managed to give users a solid 8 hours of average use with the device; the iPhone 5 can last 225 hours on standby.

Those weren't the best parts of Tim Cook's presentation though. Once he reached the part about the device's camera, it was apparent that Apple cares a lot about photography. In fact, the CEO spent more time talking about the camera and photos than he did the battery, What warranted such time? Apple improved the iPhone's camera to be 25 percent smaller, tout a hybrid IR filter, and shoot photos 40 percent faster than before with the power of the new processor and better sensor. Oh yes, and iPhone 5 has panorama capturing capability. There's also improved video stabilization, face detection, a 720p front-facing camera for FaceTime, and three microphones with a noise-canceling earpiece.

"Just once I'd like an Apple exec to say, 'These aren't the best we've done. They're pretty good. But the ones before were better.'" - Farhad Manjoo

Everything so far may sound impressive, but Tim Cook wasn't finished. He went on to introduce a new dock connector that's been rumored to make its way to iOS devices for months. The original "iPod cable" was presented in 2003 and the design hasn't changed much since then. Now, Apple has introduced an all-digital cable titled the Lightning connector. There will be an adapter if you wish to use your old cable, but Apple Tim Cook made no mention of the device being anything other than smaller. With the corporation's move to solid state drives and speed, this cable should have used Thunderbolt. The technology must not be ready, however. As important as this element was, Cook only spent a few moments talking about it and moved on to iOS 6 running on the iPhone, which brought Scott Forstall on stage. A plethora of demos followed, then Cook returned and video demos commenced.

In summation, this is what you need to know about the iPhone 5:

It's currently the thinnest smartphone in the world.
It has an A6 processor and will perform twice as fast as the iPhone 4S.
The display is 4-inches at 1136 by 640 and the only optimized apps are Apple's; third-party ones will require graphics work to remove the black bars at top and bottom. There's room for a fifth row of icons on the home screen.
There is LTE onboard and North American carriers include AT&T, Bell, Rogers, Sprint, Verizon, and more.
In addition to LTE, iPhone 5 has HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA for global capabilities.
The device's WiFi can receive data at up to 150 Mbps and supports 802.11a.
The camera is important to Apple and has been greatly improved to capture photos 40 percent faster than before. It also includes panorama mode and will remain at 8 MP.
Video mode has facial recognition, is 1080p, and has better stabilization than the iPhone 4S.
The front-facing camera is no longer VGA: it's 720p for close-to-HD video chat.
There are three microphones with support for HD voice. There's also a noise-canceling earpiece.
Battery life is 8 hours on average with 225 hours of standby.
There's a new "Lightning connector" to replace the classic iPod cable and an adapter is available for older cables. It's USB 2.0.
Pricing is the same as before, but there's a 64 GB model for $399 on contract.
Available for pre-order on September 14th.
Releases September 24th in nine countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
Comes with iOS 6.
Will be available in 100 countries by December 2012.

Other interesting facts from the iPhone portion of today's event:

iOS 6 launches September 16th on iPod touch (4th generation), iPhone 3GS, iPad 2, and later.
iPhone 4 is now free on contract and iPhone 4S has a starting price of $99.
iPhone 3GS is no longer available.
The new App Store will be more social with Facebook Likes integrated into each app page.
Redesigned App Store will be available September 19th.

Sources: Apple Press Release