With Apple having finally taken the wraps of its much-anticipated and highly-awaited next-generation iPhone - the iPhone 5 - at a September 12 event, this week has been an excellent one for the Apple aficionados, who now await the official launch of the handset on September 21.

According to Apple's claims, the newest iPhone is not only notably faster and thinner than its predecessors, but is also evidently the thinnest smartphone in the world; and much bigger than the previous-generation iPhones.

It is for the first time since the introduction of the iPhone that Apple has increased the size of the smartphone's screen to a 4-inch display diagonally for the iPhone 5, as against its earlier iPhone-standard 3.5-inch screen.

As a result of the bigger display of the iPhone 5, the tagline which Apple has come up with for the new handset goes thus: "The biggest thing to happen to iPhone since iPhone."

Powered by Apple's home-bred A6 processor, which is speedier as well as more energy-efficient that the A5 chip, the iPhone 5 runs the company's new iOS 6 operating system, which brings along 200 new features to the handset, including a much improved Siri, integration with Facebook social network, and turn-by-turn navigation.

With Apple also having included Long-Term Evolution (LTE) technology in the iPhone 5 - the pre-orders for which opened on September 14 -, the handset will be available from Verizon Wireless, AT&T and Sprint on September
21.