After months of rumors and speculation, the iPhone 5 is finally here, featuring a thinner, lighter design, a taller 4-inch display, LTE, the new Lightning connector, redesigned EarPods, and more. It’s the first major iPhone redesign in twenty-seven months, and the first iPhone ever to change the aspect ratio of the device, to have LTE, to use a new connector or to have new headphones, but despite this, many have criticized the iPhone 5 for being boring.

What’s the truth? Is the iPhone 5 dull, or is it a major leap forward for Apple’s most iconic device? We’ve spent the weekend reviewing a 64GB white-and-silver iPhone 5 on Verizon’s LTE network, and put it through its paces. Here’s what we thought.

Apple has issued a press release this morning confirming that iPhone 5 pre-orders topped two million units during its first 24 hours of availability. That’s more than double the record held by the handset’s predecessor, the iPhone 4S, and Apple has warned that while the majority of pre-orders will be delivered on launch day, September 21, “many” are scheduled to be delivered in October.

Phil Schiller has again taken the stage, and now he wants to make some points about the iPhone 5’s battery life.

“We’re really proud that the iPhone 5 battery life exceeds the iPhone 4S.”

Following the announcement that the iPhone 5 features LTE networking, Apple’s Phil Schiller unveiled the phone’s new A6 processor. According to Schiller, the A6 chip is 2x faster than the previous A5 in both CPU and GPU computing.

“It’s a huge jump in performance, but 22% smaller,” noted Schiller.

Per tradition, Apple invited EA onstage to demo the upcoming Real Racing 3 game on the iPhone 5’s A6 chip. EA explained how the A6 allows for “”full console quality” gaming on a mobile device.

Image: The Verge

Apple just lifted the curtain on the iPhone 5, it’s most groundbreaking iPhone yet. The device features a 4-inch Retina display with 1136 x 640 screen resolution and 16:9 aspect ratio. To show off the new display, Apple’s Phil Schiller demonstrated what widescreen iOS apps look like on the device.

Not only will the iOS Home screen feature 5 rows of icons instead of the traditional 4, but all of Apple’s own apps will be updated to make use of the iPhone 5’s new screen real estate. Games and other kinds of apps also look great on the display, and the aspect ratio allows for truer widescreen video.

“We have some very exciting news to tell you about the iPhone,” Tim Cook says. And now Phil Schiller’s up.

“I think Time Magazine said it best ‘it is the phone that has changed phones forever’ and boy were they right,” says Schiller. Every year they raise the bar. Here comes a hole new bar.

“Today we’re introducing the iPhone 5.” The iPhone 5 rises from a pedestal in front of the audience. Holy crap.

Apple is going to unveil the iPhone 5 with LTE, the new iPod touch, new iPod nano, and a new version of iTunes today. How do we know, you ask? Because Apple’s own search engine just leaked all of it.

Jury instructions are out of the way and the final phase of the trial begins with the closing arguments of each counsel.

The Judge has come into the courtroom and notes the jury will be delibearting tomorrow starting at 9AM and says they are not allowed to discuss the case with anyone outside of the jury.

Apple’s iPhone is so successful that the company’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, Phil Schiller, recently revealed that “each new generation sold approximately equal to all previous generations combined.” That’s pretty staggering when you think about it, and according to analyst firm Asymco, it could mean that Apple’s new iPhone will sell more than 263 million units.

Apple is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. No, wait. That was Stalinist Russia.

Whatever. The two are nearly identical in their abilities to keep secrets.

As an Apple observer myself, I’m keenly aware of the iron curtain of secrecy that prevents anyone from knowing what Apple is working on, what they’re planning and what their processes are for developing new technologies.

Rumors and speculation are always so easy to come by; unannounced facts are rare — even facts about the past.

That’s one of the great things about Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs. It gave rare insight into the inner workings of Apple, to some degree.

And that’s what’s so great about the current jury trial in Silicon Valley, where Apple is suing Samsung and Samsung is suing Apple. It’s forcing Apple to reveal countless facts and events that it doesn’t want to reveal.

The lawsuit appears to be far from over. But already, it’s clear that Samsung is “winning.” Why? Because it’s a contest between a company that cares deeply about its secrets — even small ones — and a company that doesn’t care as much. So the discovery and revelation is punishing Apple.

Here are the 8 secrets Apple has been forced to reveal in court in the past couple of weeks.