Journey of Apple iPhone

Apple had started the buzz about touchscreen smartphones way back in January 2007. The company follows annual product refresh cycle and has introduced six generations of smartphones branded as iPhone till now. With great software packaging and dedicated resources to introduce only one but compelling device, Apple continues to reap the benefits of its smart strategy.

Apple has kept the nomenclature of its all the iPhone models as simple as numbering. Three hardware refreshes and two major design refreshes have been implemented in the iPhone line-up till date.

Here is a quick and comprehensive look at the iPhone lineage to catch up with the story so far.

iPhone 5

Apple announced the sixth generation smartphone branding it as the iPhone 5. It features a fresh industrial design and new styling. Apple has used anodized aluminium back panel along with the glass panel components to build the basic shell. The iPhone 5 measures mere 7.6 inch thick and weighs just 112 grams.

Apple has finally adopted 4-inch touchscreen display in the high-end smartphones. It features Retina IPS panel technology and support 1136x640 pixel resolution. Even with increased resolution, Apple has ensured the same 326 ppi pixel density for the display. Apple has used new dual-core A6 mobile processor based on the latest ARM Cortex-A15 MPCore to power such a massive display and also stay abreast with the competition.

Apple has also used new 8 megapixel iSight camera which is 25 times smaller than the one use in iPhone 4S. This camera is touted to offer great imaging quality, especially in the low light environment. Sporting the lens made from five elements which now includes Sapphire Crystal to give it strength and make it scratch proof. Along with the add-ons like the hybrid IR filter, the new 8 MP iSight camera is said to be 40 per cent faster than the iPhone 4S camera.

It can record 1080p HD videos at 30 frames per second with improved video stablitisation and now one can click still images while the video recording is in progress.

Besides that, the camera can now detect up to ten faces while recording a video. For the HD quality FaceTime video chat experience, Apple has added a 1.2 megapixel camera in the front panel just above the earpiece grill.

For better music output, Apple has offered precision drilled speaker mesh at the bottom of the phone which also accommodates the new 9-pin connection port, Lightning port, in the centre.

To offer support for Long Term Evolution networks in several markets Apple has used a new modem chip from Qualcomm. The iPhone 5 also supports HSPA+">HSPA+ and DC-HSPA networks to offer high speed data connectivity. Apparently, Apple iPhone 5 will support the new Nano-SIM and will not be compatible with the existing Micro-SIM modules.

For better connectivity over WiFi, Apple has used a new dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi support for superfast speeds of up to 150 mbps. This works only when you are using a wireless router that supports 802.11n specifications. Location based services will have the same A-GPS and GLONASS network support found in the iPhone 4S. However, this time the mapping experience will be different for Apple as it will be using in-house designed cartography on the new Maps app. It will also offer new realistic looking 3D view.

Virtual assistant Siri will now comprehend more queries and will offer support for more languages. The new iOS 6 will be pre-loaded and will feature system-wide Facebook support after the system-wide Twitter support in iOS 5.

Apple iPhone 5 will be offered in two tone colour combinations - black and slate; and white and silver. The factory unlocked version of iPhone will be sold at $649 for 16GB, $749 for 32GB and $849 for 64 GB.