The new iPhone 5 was unveiled in a press conference in the US while we all slept and pretty much all the rumours were correct, the back is made of metal, it is longer, has more grunt.

Main difference?  It’s got a longer screen.

The new resolution is 1136 x 640, with a new 4 inch screen, so that’s 176 pixels taller then every singly iPhone screen since they started making them in 2007.  The width of the phone is the same, but is 18% thinner and 20% lighter, so it’s going to feel really, really skinny.

What does this get me?

Pretty much a bit more space.  Apps will make the most use of this, as soon as app developers get onto making them for the new display.  For now the apps will have two black ribbons on either side, so the display will look the same as the old phone. 

Watching movies on your phone will be better, especially if you watch in letterbox.  You will notice the screen feels lot bigger.  The screen is the sharpness, but with better colour and the touch sensitivity has been upgraded heaps.

It's also got much faster Internet

The iPhone 5 is the first to incorporate proper 4G, the same 4G all your mates with Android phones have been enjoying for ages.  All the 4S owners who reckon they have 4G now?  You’ve been taken for one, the graph above shows iPad technology, but it’s pretty much the same hardware and technologies as the phones.  There is no clear upgrade for the 4S, while the 5 will be streets ahead in speeds.

This will make your iPhone 5 feel like it’s on WIFI all the time and if you use it as a hotspot, well it will feel like you lappy is on WIFI :)

4G is one of the main reasons the new iPhone is taller.

This is one of the big dirty secrets of the iPhone 5 release.  Bigger screen is nice and makes you stand out among all your other fanboi friends, that have not upgraded yet!  But the real reason is,  4G eats up your battery really quickly and the old design didnt have the space to incorporate a large enough battery.  Apple may say it’s for the larger screen, the greater app. possibilities, or even that it fits ‘better’ in your hand… This is all a bit of spin.  Well done spin. But spin nonetheless.

The dock connector has shrunken, which is actually good?

Alright so downside?  This new 8 pin dock connector will not work with old speaker docks or chargers.  The good news?  You can buy an adapter for all these for $30! 

Other good points are that you cannot plug it in the wrong way anymore, since both ways work!  It will now be on every other devise out there, so it’s going to more likely that older iPhone owners are going to be buying double adapters then new owners.

But yes the one thing that was cool about the iPod, iPhone train was compatibility.  And now that’s gone.

The back is made out of metal

This is a real upgrade for more reasons then one.  First, the back is no longer glass, which was slippery and very oh-so-smashable.  the second is it acts like a massive arial thing, making Wi-Fi and GPS heaps better.  Also the whole construction, back and all uses a unibody-style construction so it's more sturdy — just like Apple's MacBooks Air and Pro.

New Operating system iOS 6 is bettera

The new iPhone comes with a new operating system iOS 6, a whole new version of iPhone and iPod software.  But your old phone will get it too, unfortunately it will slow down your phone a heap, so you will probably throw it at a wall, multiple times.  There is no escape.  iPhone 5 is beckoning.

A few cool new features: You wont need to quit apps while your updating them, we’ll have Suri again and podcasts have their own app.  The Apple Wallet feature where you could pay for stuff and store movie tickets etc. will be kinda there.  PassBook will store your airline tickets, concert tickets, movie tickets and more tickets.

Google Maps is gone

It’s no secret that Google and Apple do not get along (google being Andriod and Apple being complete d*#ches ).

It’s been pretty amazing that they’ve worked together so far, but now Apple has their own map App, and it’s got 3D!  This sounds like a great update, but it’s not. There is no public transport directions at all (which doesn't matter to much for us on the south coast because that feature never worked anyway) and it uses Yelp for cafes and shops etc. which seems to be very incomplete.

And other changes you won’t notice

[Taken from – buzzfeed – Pictures – buzzfeed and gizmodo]