The iPhone 5 on display after its introduction during Apple Inc.'s iPhone media event in San Francisco, California September 12, 2012.[Photo/Agencies]

One popular enhancement was improved battery endurance -- the iPhone 5's power core can support eight hours of 4G Web browsing.

"It has always been a major drawback on Android phones," said Yoshikami. "To have a thinner phone with a bigger screen with more battery life is a pretty impressive technology advancement."

Apple's annual events usually adhere to a set framework, but Chief Executive Tim Cook and his management team diverged from that script somewhat on Wednesday. Cook began the event by saying the company's notebooks now rank tops in U.S. sales, leading in market share in the past three months.

Then executives quickly introduced the iPhone 5 and its features, before moving on to a new line-up of iPods and ending the event with a rousing performance by rock band Foo Fighters.

Apple telegraphed many of the software changes to expect in iPhone 5 when it debuted iOS 6, its latest mobile operating system, in June.

The new iPhone will improve on the search capabilities of its Siri voice assistant and will use Apple's own mobile mapping service instead of Google's software. Other additions include turn-by-turn voice directions for navigation, and a new in-house app called "Passbook" that organizes a user's electronic airline tickets, movie tickets and restaurant loyalty cards.  

Earlier, Cook told the audience that its apps store now has more than 700,000 on tap -- the industry's largest library.

Apple also is making headway in a corporate market that has been dominated by struggling Canadian smartphone maker Research in Motion. Cook said almost every Fortune 500 companies was testing or using its iPhones and iPads.