In a much anticipated media event, Apple unveiled its newest addition to the iPhone family - the iPhone 5.

The iPhone 5 features a 4-inch display and aluminum and glass body. It is the thinnest and lightest phone that Apple has ever made at 7.6 mm thin - 18 percent thinner and 20 percent lighter than the 4S. The iPhone 5 has a resolution of 1,136 x 640 or 326 pixels per inch. The larger screen has a widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio and has lengthened the phone overall. It allows for a total of six rows of apps on the screen - five rows on the "pages" along with the permanent single row along the bottom.

"iPhone 5 is the most beautiful consumer device that we've ever created," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "We've packed an amazing amount of innovation and advanced technology into a thin and light, jewel-like device with a stunning 4-inch Retina display, blazing fast A6 chip, ultrafast wireless, even longer battery life; and we think customers are going to love it."

The iPhone 5 is the company's first 4G LTE phone and will work in the U.S. with AT&T, Verizon, Sprint; Bell, Virgin et al in Canada; Singtel and Telstra in Australasia; Deutsche Telecom and EE in the UK. Still no iPhone for T-Mobile.

Apple also unveiled a new processor, the Apple A6, for the new iPhone. Apple said A6 is twice as fast as A5, 22 percent smaller and more power efficient - increasing performance while using less battery life.

The new iPhone will have an enhanced battery life: 8 hours of 3G or LTE talk time or browsing, 225 hours on standby and 10 hours on WiFi browsing.

The iPhone 5 will have the same iSight camera aspects as the 4S but will be 40 percent faster with better low-light performance for those club nights. The lens cover is sapphire lens crystal to be more durable and clear. The camera will have the ability to take 28-megapixel panorama pictures. Apple also improved the front-facing camera and FaceTime can be operated over regular network and not just Wi-Fi.

The iPhone 5 also has improved microphones and noise cancelation for clearer calls.

The iPhone 5 will feature a new connector called "Lightening." Apple did away with its traditional 30-pin power connector for Lightening's 19-pin, which is 80 percent smaller.

Pre-orders start on Friday, Sept. 14 with shipping on Sept. 21 in the U.S., Canada, UK, Germany, France, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore. The new iPhone will cost the same price as the 4S: $199 for 16GB; $299 for 32GB; $399 for 64GB.

It is expected that Apple will sell around 8 million iPhone 5s in the United States in the fourth quarter, and sales of previous generation iPhones will continue to sell at a solid pace.

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