Ten Exciting Features of iPhone 5 worth waiting for

Although Apple is sure to have an unexpected “one more thing” up Tim Cook’s sleeve for the iPhone 5, what are the things we already know will make the iPhone 5 go bada-bing, bada-“boom!”?

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of iPhones, it was no longer the age of Windows Mobile, it was the epoch of iTunes, it was the epoch of increZunity, it was the season of iLife, it was the season of Windows Movie Maker, it was the spring of iOS 6.0, it was the winter of Windows Vista, we had Mac OS X 10.8 before us, we had Windows 8 before us, we were all going direct to the iPhone 5, we were all going direct the to Windows Phone 8 - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of Amazon.com pricing comparison only.

Yes, it’s that time again, the twilight era before a new iPhone arrives, a time when the Samsung Galaxy SIII model reigns supreme while unsure how long before the iPhone 5 replaces it in the Game of Phones…

A time of when Verizon’s Shammo can whammo us with a rendition of a juicy rumours that there may be “a new phone coming out in the fourth quarter”, which could be one reason why “people may be waiting" before leaping in to purchase a new smartphone – at least, from Verizon.

While other sites only seem to be able to come up with only five things to excite you about the iPhone 5, here’s a much beefier ten reasons – unless, of course, you’ve decided to dance along the Fandroid side of the Force.

Indeed, with iPhone 5 rumours seemingly moving faster than a tachyon, this is one ride that sure has been wild, and promises to only get wilder still yet!

So, here we go:

1 – Connectivity. Here, we fully expect to see the long awaited 4G LTE technology make an appearance in the iPhone 5, ready to work on worldwide 4G bands – as well as including the full spread of 3G connectivity from WCDMA to DC-HSDPA+. There’s also the high expectation of a NFC chip to make the iOS 6 and iPhone 5 passbook complete.

2 – Storage. While no-one is expecting Apple to suddenly include a microSD slot, and while Apple finally offered a 64GB version with the iPhone 4S, it may well be time for Apple to up the ante even further by biting the triple digit storage bullet and making a 128GB iPhone 5 available for the first time – although 1GB of RAM is so massively expected that it’s expected to be a given.

3 – Design. From rumours of a 7.99mm thickness to the potential of a liquidmetal or metallic alloy back, with iPhone design is expected to be slimmer and thinner, and while the same width in the palm is expected, the iPhone 5 is supposed to be taller to incorporate that 4-inch screen with 16:9 aspect ratio and Retina class pixel invisibleness.

4 – Display. The display, alluded to above, is said to be the thinnest possible yet, thanks to WSJ’s leaking of “in-cell” technology which eliminates a separate touch layer, thus helping the all-important iPhone display to remain the design feature you look at most.

5 – Camera. A Sony 10 or 12 megapixel multi-lens camera is expected, as is a higher resolution front camera for high definition Facetime calls.

6 – Quad-core processor. While there is talk that Apple will be modifying Samsung’s “Exynos” quad-core processor, Apple holds its own ARM-license and surely does not need Samsung’s help to design and develop its own world-class quad-core A6 chip, along with a multi-core graphics processor to blow every other smartphone out of the water – although we definitely do recommend that you keep your smartphone away from water at all times.

7 – Battery life. Apple famously designs everything about its iDevices, including particular attention to the batteries – and the battery chemistries – that iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches offer. With a bigger screen and beefier processor, Apple is expected to somehow still magically maintain – or even improve – upon the existing battery life that people both wish was longer – and yet take for granted anyway.

8 – Smarter Siri. This one’s coming in iOS 6 for iPhone 4S and the new iPad, and who knows, potentially the next iPod Touch too, but we definitely know its also coming with the iPhone 5 – and will probably have some special iPhone 5-only feature that will make iPhone 4S and new iPad owners Siri-ously jealous.

9 – The fullest Facebook integration ever. Again, this one’s coming in iOS 6, but what special iPhone 5 feature will this integration truly take advantage of? The fastest uploading of photos and videos to Facebook via 4G, or the highest quality photos and videos ever thanks to the iPhone 5’s best ever camera? There’s also Apple’s new maps app in iOS 6, which is obviously coming to the iPhone 5, too.

10 – An early release date? The massively rumoured August 7 launch or simply announcement date is little over two weeks away, but if that day comes and goes with no iAnnouncement in sight the world will wait through the end of August, through to the end of September, and then will get even more agitated as October arrives with no sign of the iPhone 5 being alive. After all - August isn't in the fourth quarter as Verizon's Shammo stated, so...

Whenever the iLaunch occures, hopes are nevertheless high that Apple will iDeliver long before October rolls around, and may well show off new iPod Touch models or even new 13-inch Retina-class MacBook Pro models, too.

That’s it for now, but the iAction continues with next week’s expected introduction of Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, which blends more of iOS into Mac OS X than ever before, and while a new OS cannot replace the excitement for a new iPhone, it’ll certainly be a great way to enhance your Mac in preparation for the nearly-here-but-still-not-yet iPhone 5!