The Technology Inventory

The iPhone 5 features an improved system on chip (SOC), an integrated circuit (“IC”) that integrates all components of a computer or other electronic system into a single chip. It is dubbed the Apple A6, designed by Apple Inc., introduced on September 12, 2012. Apple says it will achieve twice the performance of the “Apple A5,” and “A5X,” systems-on-a-chip (SoCs) designed by Apple Inc. and manufactured by Samsung to replace the Apple A4.

The cameras improved low light performance, and is 40% faster than its predecessors. The front camera—FaceTime, a video calling (video telephone) software and related protocol developed by Apple Inc. for supported mobile devices running iOS, in addition to Macintosh computers running MacOS X 10.6.6 and higher—has a higher resolution at 1.2 megapixels.

The built-in rechargeable “lithium-ion polymer”/”polymer lithium ion,” or more commonly “lithium polymer” (secondary cell) battery is rated at 225 hours of standby time and 8 hours of talk time. The display is 1,136 x 640 pixels with an aspect ratio of a display (the proportional relationship between the width of a display and its height) of approximately 16:9.

The iPhone 5’s operating memory (“Mobile DDR”, a type of double data rate synchronous DRAM for mobile computers—LPDDR2-1066 eDram “embedded DRAM,” a capacitor-based dynamic random-access memory integrated on the same die as an ASIC or processor) was doubled, from 512 MB to 1 GB. Storage capacities remain at 16, 32 or 64 GB (gigababyte, a multiple of the unit byte for digital information storage), as the 4S before it. The two color options are black (with black glass and slate-colored metal trim), and white (with white glass and silver-colored metal trim); again the same color options (though differently implemented) as its predecessor the 4S had.

The SIM, or “subscriber identity/identification module,” an integrated circuit that securely stores the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) and the related key used to identify and authenticate subscribers on mobile telephony devices (such as mobile phones and computers), is a nano-SIM, which is 44% smaller than the micro-SIM fitted to the iPhone 4 and 4S.

See: Military Organization: Military Performance Assessment