iPhone 5 Release Date: When You Can Buy the iPhone and How Much it Will Cost

Culture

The new iPhone 5 has been announced, and now you can have your very own … if you have the cash.

The prices for the new iPhone 5 models range like this: 16GB for $199, 32GB for $299, $399 for 64GB for a two-year contract. You can start to pre-order this Friday, Sept 14.We're shipping one week later, September 21.

"To make room for its latest iPhone, Apple has just announced new prices for the rest of the line — and it appears the iPhone 3GS isn't part of the mix. Apple followed the same strategy it used last year, with the 16GB iPhone 4S dropping to $99 with a two-year contract, and the 8GB iPhone 4 now available for free when subsidized by a mobile carrier," reports The Verge.

No mention was made of the iPhone 3GS, however, leading to the conclusion that the phone has been discontinued. The venerable 3GS was originally introduced way back on June 8th of 2009, making it the iPhone model to have spend the longest time in Apple's product line.

The Verge further states:

"As a result, Apple's entire range of iPhones are now able to run on both GSM and CDMA carriers (the iPhone 3GS was GSM-only). With the likes of Verizon and Sprint now able to offer a free iPhone 4, Apple may see a significant bump in adoption from those customers who haven't wanted to switch carriers or spend $99 to satiate their iPhone curiosity."

As PolicyMic tech expery Wyn Hou reports: The iPhone 5, measuring 7.6mm in thickness and weighing 20% less at 112 grams in weight, is the thinnest and lightest iPhone that Apple has ever made.

The iPhone 5 is constructed entirely out of aluminum and glass, much more sturdy materials than plastics used by competitor smartphones. The device shown by Phill Shiller on stage is comparable to all the leaks and rumored photos, nearly identical in some cases. Looks like "doubling down on security" definitely didn't work out for Apple after all.

Also new is the 4-inch display. The new screen resolution is stated at 1136 x 640, simply a 16:9 version of the iPhone 4 screen. Apple has updated its own software to fit the new height of the screen detailing a 5 row of icons and extra email and calendar space.

There is also LTE connetivity, with a single chip and radio. Apple also describes it antenna technology to be "dynamic", which remains to be seen what that really means. Sprint, Verizon and AT&T are on the board for LTE support, while in Canada, Rogers, Bell, Koodo and Telus.

The A6 Processor in the new iPhone 5 has double the speed and double the graphics power of the iPhone 4. Certainly enabling more graphically intensive games and faster productivity.

The company has also unveiled the iPhone 5's brand new TKTK iSight camera. According to The Verge, "The iPhone 4S' camera was considered to be the best in class when it launched last year, and the new camera on the iPhone 5 is no different. Where the iPhone 4S camera featured a f/2.4 aperture, five-element lens and backside illuminated sensor, the camera on the iPhone 5 has a smaller, but similar camera."

Editor's Note: This story has been updated to properly cite language that was originally used without attribution to The Verge. We apologize to our readers for this violation of our basic editorial standards. Mic has put in place new mechanisms, including plagiarism detection software, to ensure that this does not happen in the future.