So I have just tried out an iPhone 5 and I can confirm that it is indeed taller, thinner and lighter. There is also new design detailing. Its new anodised back made it feel plasticky to hold partly, I think, because I was expecting to feel that cold, smooth feeling you normally get with metal. Something else that I wasn’t expecting was just how light it felt compared to the iPhone 4S, so much so that it felt insubstantial, almost toy like.
One real surprise was just how readily available it was. Every carrier and the Apple store itself all had stock which is impressive given how many are said to have been pre-ordered.
I have to say that all this was based on a five minute play in the Apple store and my judgement may be coloured by the fact that I had already committed to myself that I wasn’t going to upgrade. I could upgrade as I bought the 4S outright and so am not tied to a contract but a taller screen makes absolutely no sense to me at all and I use the maps app often enough for me to be put off upgrading to iOS 6.