Apple iPhone 5 officially launched

Apple has finally and officially launched the much-awaited iPhone 5 at the press event in San Francisco on Wednesday, September 12, 2012.

Most of the details we posted previously were legitimate—the 4-inch Retina display, 4G LTE internet connectivity, the A6 processor, the September 21 release date, and it being taller and having a smaller dock connector—except that it has no NFC.

Here are the basic, salient, and highlight features of the iPhone 5 posted by tech blog Tech Crunch, who’s among the thousands attending the event, which we’re sharing to you.

• 20% lighter than the iPhone 4S, 18% thinner, made of glass and aluminum;
• Two toned design - colors are Black and Slate, and White and Silver;
• Available in 16GB model for $199, 32GB for $299, and 64GB for $399 with a two-year contract from AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint;
• 4-inch Retina display at 16:9 display that runs at 1136 x 640, with 5 rows of icons and embedded touch sensors;
• It has a brand new chipset, the A6 which, Apple claims, is twice as fast as the iPhone 4S’ A5 chip;
• Compatible with a Nano-SIM;
• Better battery life - 8 hours of 3G talk time (8 hours of 3G and LTE web browsing);
• A smaller, improved audio speaker;
• Three microphones - front, back, and bottom.
• An all-digital, eight-pin Dock Connector called “Lightning;”
• Supports 4G LTE and the 2.4GHz and 5GHz 802.11n Wi-Fi;
• An 8-megapixel camera with a smaller sensor that features better low-light performance;
• The iPhone 5’s camera, which supports 1080p video capture, has built-in panorama mode and lets users snap photos while recording video at the same time;
• It as integrated Facebook;
• iPhone 5 pre-orders begins Friday, September 14, and the device starts shipping September 21st.

You can watch the video here.