Apple iPhone 5 unveiled with taller screen and 4G

Apple yesterday unveiled a taller, 4G-enabled iPhone at an event in San Francisco.

The device's new size allows it to display an extra row of app icons on its home screen.

The firm said it was 18% thinner and 20% lighter than the iPhone 4S. However, it does not feature an NFC (near field communication) chip to allow it to make touchless payments.

Apple said the handset would work on Everything Everywhere's (EE) 4G LTE network in the UK.

The news is likely to give EE - which runs the local Orange and T-Mobile services - an advantage against its rivals which will not launch the higher-speed data service until 2013.

"I think it's obviously what the other networks feared would happen," said Matthew Howett, a telecoms analyst at Ovum.

"The question will be how many non-EE customers make the switch."

Apple said the handset would ship on 21 September.

The new screen offers a 16:9 ratio, matching that of widescreen televisions.

But its 4in (10.2cm) size remains smaller than rival displays used by Samsung, Nokia, Motorola, LG, HTC and Sony's flagship models.

Phil Schiller - Apple's vice president of worldwide marketing, who unveiled the device -said existing apps would be shown with black borders until developers updated their products.

For Apple, the latest version of the phone which supplies the lion's share of its enormous profits was always going to be crucial to its financial future.

For the rest of the mobile phone industry, today's launch was something to worry about - how would it change this fast-shifting landscape?

With so many leaks there were few surprises about this bigger, thinner iPhone.

A better camera, more uses for the voice activation feature Siri, and its own mapping system with turn-by-turn navigation all add up to an impressive device.

But Android users, and in particular fans of Samsung's best-selling Galaxy S3 will say Apple is just playing catch-up. Features like the ability to shoot a panorama have been on their phones for years.

That won't stop the new phone being a big hit - with millions of existing users now likely to be nearing the end of their contracts.

Those who've got used to the iOS system will be keen to stay with it - while for newcomers to the smartphone, the iPhone will be the shiny new thing.

The impact that Apple's latest model has on the UK mobile phone market is particularly intriguing. When Apple announced that its 4G iPhone 5 would work on EE's new 4G network, you could hear the cheers from the headquarters of that company.

But Vodafone and O2 - still furious that their rival has been allowed a head-start on 4G, will be even crosser now.