Thinner, smarter, faster, sharper, better. The new iPhone 5 is expected to have all of the same bragging rights as the iPhone 4 only, of course, with newer, higher standards.
Apple is expected to unveil the new version on Tuesday in Cupertino.
Preliminary reports say the phone is thinner that it's predecessors. It should come with new IOS 5 software which will include things such as wireless device setup and content syncing, email and Web-browsing apps, and it is expected to include the iCloud service.
"I'm curious to see what it's about," says Michael Pardo, an Apple customer. "I would totally buy it."
One of the most notable hardware changes many industry watchers are predicting is the inclusion of a more powerful chip: Apple's dual-core A5 processor, which is the same chip it uses in its current iPad. The iPhone 4 runs on Apple's older A4 chip, and the move to a more capable chip should improve things such as multitasking, opening apps and gaming.
An improved rear camera is anticipated, too. The existing iPhone has a 5-megapixel camera on its rear. A number of recently released smartphones have moved to 8-megapixel cameras.
"I would love it," says Michael Tran, an Apple customer. "I wouldn't mind paying an extra $200 to $300 for it."
In addition to the technology, no small part of the unveiling will be the man making the announcement, Steve Jobs successor Jim Cook.
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Cook, formerly Apple's chief operating officer, has been running Apple since January. For years, he has been in charge of Apple's day-to-day operations, and he has long been seen as the natural successor. He also served as Apple's leader for two months in 2004 while Jobs battled cancer and again for five-and-a-half months in 2009 when Jobs received a liver transplant.
Analysts expect that the new phones should be available within a couple weeks of the announcement.
