An unlocked iPhone 5 will eventually be available for purchase, just not right away. The unlocked version briefly made an appearance on Apple’s online store, revealing pricing details, but was quickly removed, according to TechCrunch, who managed a screenshot (seen at bottom of this post). The prices will be as follows:
$649 for 16 GB
$749 for 32 GB
$849 for 32 GB
The unlocked iPhone 5 will not, however, be available for purchase on launch day. Apple says they will be available in the “next several weeks,” according to The Verge. Unlocked iPhones are typically used on services like T-Mobile and Walmart’s Straight Talk in the US.
It took all of one hour for Apple.com’s iPhone 5 launch-day delivery inventory to sell out. Shipping dates for Apple’s online store have now slipped to a delay of two weeks. If you still want to get an iPhone 5 delivered on launch day, the websites of AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint are still showing ship dates for September 21 (*Update: The carriers ship dates have also slipped, too).
Customers can also line up outside of an Apple Store or the stores of one of the 3 big carriers next Friday to attempt to get their hands on an iPhone 5, but by initial reports, at least, it appears the demand for the iPhone 5 is at never-seen-before levels, so expect unprecedentedly long lines.
Apple’s iPhone Eligibility Tool is a handy all-in-one place to check if you’re eligible for subsidized “upgrade” pricing for the iPhone 5 from all of the big 3 carriers: Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint. It’s fast and easy.
Just select your current carrier, then enter your number, zip code, last 4 digits of your social security number, and billing password (if you have one). It will show what the price of each iPhone iPhone 5.
My last iPhone was the iPhone 4, bought at launch, so I’m good to go. $399 64GB Black AT&T iPhone 5, here I come. Wahhh!
Eclipsed by the iPhone 5 intro yesterday was another huge announcement, Apple’s new, radically shaped Earpods ($29). Apple says the new design of the EarPods is “engineered to minimize sound loss and maximize sound output.” Not only will they sound better, the new shape of the earphones will also fit more people comfortably.
These new EarPods will be Apple’s default earphones moving forward, and because they ship with all its mobile products, they will be the most-used earphones on the planet. It will have a huge impact on the industry.
This, of course, should make premium-earphone manufacturers sweat. These companies use Apple’s default earphones as a baseline to design and sell their products around. As long as your earphones sound and/or fit better than Apple’s cheapos, you can make money.
Initial anecdotal evidence suggests that Apple has indeed raised the bar. Some members of the media got their hands on EarPods a little early, and their initial reports so far are positive. The Chicago Sun Times’ Andy Ihnatko on Twitter yesterday had this to say about the new EarPods:
Holy cats…the new earbuds aren’t at all a subtle upgrade. Bass is rich and resonant. Funk is funkier, classical is classier.
Apple’s own official description says the EarPods’ “audio quality is so superior, they rival high-end headphones that cost hundreds of dollars more.” If true, we could see Apple lay waste to another industry, one long ripe for the plucking. Apple even says the EarPods offer “greater protection from sweat and water,” which means, combined with their improved fit, they chould even challenge companies who make athlethic sweat-resistant earphones.
If you were looking for a disruptive revolutionary product yesterday, it may have slipped beneath your notice. It’s the EarPods.
You can watch Apple’s Jony Ives describe the new EarPods in the video below.
The above video is available at Apple’s website, but enterprising souls have converted it to YouTube for all to enjoy. Watch as the charismatic Jony Ive and cherubic Bob Mansfield walk you through the iPhone 5’s new features and design process. Sapphire camera glass? Diamond polished metal? Measurement variances down to microns? Yep.
Apple today announced the iPhone 5 with a larger 4-inch screen, support for 4G LTE, a faster A6 chip, an 18% thinner body, and 20% less weight. Preorders will start in two days on Friday, September 14, with customers being able to get their hands on the device a week later on September 21.
Pricing will remain the same with 2-year contract: $199 for 16GB, $299 32GB, $399 64GB.
Also introduced is a new smaller cord for syncing and charging—Apple is calling the cord Lightning—and newly designed earphones called Earpods ($29).
Thanks to previous rumors and leaks, there were few surprises with the announcement today other than perhaps its finalized look. In the black version, almost all silver chrome has been removed and replaced with black painted sides. The white version maintains some silver, but its appears painted on and not shiny metallic chrome like the sides on the iPhone 4S.
If you’re planning on buying an iPhone 5 for its expected superfast 4G LTE compatibility, your choice of carrier will be important for taking advantage of those 4G speeds. Below are the 4G LTE maps for Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint, pulled from the carrier’s official websites at the time of this writing (September 10, 2012). Of course, the process of choosing a carrier should include weighing other factors, but if you’re hardcore into 4G LTE and speed, speed, speed, the maps below should help.
Verizon LTE Map
Green dots = 4G LTE.
Verizon: Verizon has the biggest LTE footprint by far of the big 3 carriers. It is available in 371 cities across the US with around 30 more coming by the end of 2012. Click here for Verizon’s official page for its LTE map. On Verizon’s LTE map page, you can enter in specific addresses or zip codes to find if you’re covered by LTE.
AT&T LTE Map
Orange dots = 4G LTE. Yellow = coming soon.
AT&T Wireless: AT&T comes in a distant second with only 53 markets with LTE coverage. It plans to to add on 40 more markets by the end of 2012, bringing the total to around 90. Compare this to Verizon’s 400 total planned markets by the same time, and it’s not very impressive, but keep in mind AT&T does have that HSPA+ 3G network, which is faster than Verizon’s 3G. AT&T’s official LTE map is a bit harder to find. You’ll need to go to their Network page and click on the Coverage tab toward the bottom. A list of cities can be found here.
Sprint LTE Map
Orange dots = 4G LTE.
Sprint: Sprint has a mere 19 markets that offer 4G LTE. Sprint bet on another 4G technology called WiMAX, which is available in around 70 markets but will not be compatible with the iPhone 5. Sprint’s network map can be found here, just make sure to select 4G LTE and not 4G WiMAX. Sprint just announced that they plan on adding 100 more markets by the end of 2013.
There’s a stage at which iPhone rumors pass from unconfirmed to very likely true, and in the past few days, the date for the announcement of the next iPhone has reached that stage. The rumored date for an Apple media event to announce the next iPhone, as “verified” by several news outlets, is Wednesday, September 12, 2012.
Of those news outlets, only iMore is supplying a ship date for the hardware: Friday, September 21, which is 9 days after the announcement. Last year, the iPhone 4S shipped on Friday, October 14, 2011, 10 days after its own media-event announcement on October 4.
Taiwan Economic News is reporting today that Apple and Taiwanese chip manufacturer TSMC have begun a trial production run of Apple’s next-gen A6 processor. The new processor is scheduled for testing during the first quarter of 2012 and could be unveiled as early as the second quarter of 2012 for use in future Apple devices like the iPhone 6.
According to the report, Apple’s A6 new processor will use several cutting-edge manufacturing technologies, including TSMC’s new 28-nanometer process (Apple’s current-gen A5 chip is built using a 45 nm process). The manufacturing of the A6 will also utilize a new methodology known as silicon interposer, which removes the need for active transistors, allowing the A6 to use less power and produce less heat. The new chip will also be much cheaper to produce thanks to a CuBOL (bump on trace) production technology that requires the use of less substrate material for each chip, lowering costs.
With the iPhone 5 and iPad 3 rumored to be released sometime this fall, it’s likely the A6 chip will not see action in the real world until the release of the following generation of those devices.
Apple’s current A5 chip powers the iPad 2, but rumors of overheating problems for the chip inside Apple’s upcoming iPhone 5 could mean the A5 will be shelved in favor of a dual-core version of Apple’s A4 chip. A single-core version of the A4 powers the current iPhone 4.
Taiwan Economic News notes that Apple’s A6 chip will bring much-needed new business to TSMC, who failed to win business from the iPhone maker in the past due to full bookings of its production lines by companies like NVIDIA and Qualcomm. But the recent economic downturn has left the company scrambling for business.
The Wall Street Journal has updated yesterday’s report on the impending iPhone 5 to add additional info on what Apple is working on for the iPhone 6. While WSJ’s sources expect the iPhone 5 to be a minor update similar in form to the iPhone 4, Apple has much bigger plans for the iPhone 6, including a major refresh that could include wireless charging:
Investors expect a bigger boost to Apple’s phone business next year. People briefed on Apple’s plans said the company is planning a major iPhone revamp then, with one person saying the company has been experimenting with features such as a new way of charging the phone.
Wireless charging is not a new technology. The Palm Pre, released in 2009, had the feature built in and could charge wirelessly via an electromagnetic induction charging dock, the Touchstone Charger. Even current iPhone’s can be charged wirelessly via third-party hardware like the Powermat.
Cutting the cord could be a new theme for Apple. Its upcoming iOS 5 software update will allow iPhones to be updated wirelessly over WiFi—in other words, software updates and backups can be done without plugging them into computers. iPhones will still require a wall plug and USB cord to charge. Wireless charging could be the next step. Knowing Apple CEO Steve Job’s love for simplicity, the idea of not having to mess around with a cord to charge your iPhone seems like a likely upcoming feature.
