Almost a year after it delivered the iPhone 4S, Apple is back on stage with its next generation iPhone, the iPhone 5 and the question that many have is not how good will it be but rather how fast will it sell.

That aside there are a lot of interesting features in the new phone and now we can finally separate the facts from the rumors, which have been bouncing around the Internet almost since they finished the iPhone 4S press conference.

Phil Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, vowed that the new phone would once again change phones forever, something that Time Magazine said about the first iPhone. From what he showed on stage it does appear that the company has once again raised the bar for rivals to match.

The new iPhone 5 is an all glass and aluminum device that features a 4-inch display and yet is 18% thinner than an iPhone 4S and 20% lighter and is powered by a new Apple A6 processor that is 2x faster than the previous chip and runs graphics at twice the rate as the older processor.

Phil Schiller

The display features has integrated touch technology with sensors built into the screen for faster response and the 4-inch screen has the same 326 ppi as the old one with an 1136 x 640 4-inch retina display. It now sports five rows of icons on-screen.

A number of features show that Apple has developed the knack of tightly integrating features in its components. It has a single chip radio that supports HSPA+, DC-HSDPA and LTE as well as new Wi-Fi with 2.4GHz, and 5GHz 802.11n.

As has long been rumored it has a new connector, called Lightning, that is an all digital, 8-signal design, adaptive interface that has improved durability and just as good for people that attach them in the dark, it is reversible. The company is developing an adapter for the older 30 pin accessories.

The camera, called iSight, was also a major rebuild. With an 8 mp sensor the camera has a range of new features including dynamic low light settings, precision lens adjustments, 40% faster photo taking, a panorama feature and the ability to use 720p HD video in FaceTime.

Siri, its voice command technology has been updated and made faster and now has the ability to post to Facebook directly from Siri. With all of the new features Apple has also extended the battery life in many usage models.

The iPhone 5 will be available in a black or white model with the same price for the iPhone 4S. Prices are $199 for a 16GB model, $299 for a 32GB model and $399 for a 64GB model while on a 2-year contract. Sept. 14 can preorder and they will start shipping on Sept. 21 in 9 countries including the U.S., with expanded availability a week later. In the U.S. the phone will be availabe from AT&T, Verizon and Sprint. The new lineup is iPhone 4, 4S, 5 with Apple eliminating the 3GS. The company also upgraded iTunes and the iPod and iOS 6 is expected to be available within a week.

Apple started the show by highlighting some of the successes its other products are currently enjoying. The recently introduced MacBook Air is tops in U.S. market the last three months, according to CEO Tim Cook, with a 27% share in July.

There were 17 million iPads sold in last quarter, which was more than any other PC manufacturer sold in its entire lineup, Cook said, adding that the company has now sold 84 million in just two and a half years and owns a 68% worldwide market share. There are now 700,000 apps in the app store with 250,000 designed for iPad. 90% of all apps downloaded at least once a month average customer has over 100 apps.

Google, which has recently released its own tablet, seems to be one of the losers with the new iPhone 5 as Apple has replaced Google Maps with its own technology, one that will be open to third party developers who can add transit and other information to the program, according to Apple Insider.

Apple will be using vector graphics in an attempt to provide a superior viewing experience and will be including a 3D Flyover feature that will be its alternative to Google’s Streetview.

In the past iPhone rollouts each successive generation has greatly outsold the previous one, even with the relatively minor updates that were included in the iPhone 4S. However not everyone is predicting a massive outpouring of the Apple faithful to buy the phones.

Steve Baker at The NPD Group said earlier this week in a blog post that the market the latest phone is being introduced into is greatly different that the market of just one year ago. He points out that the market is maturing and so demand, no matter how great the product is, could be lessened by the slowing overall growth of the market. According to NPD in the second quarter of 2012 the smartphone space in the IS grew 9% with the bulk of the sales being in pre-paid devices.

One group watching the potential sales of the new iPhone will be app developers. Over the past year almost every major app that we have looked at came out first for the iPhone, and strong initial sales will ensure that will continue.

The ability to have the app developers’ focus first on Apple’s iOS and the iPhone is a big advantage in keeping sports fans interesting. MLB’s apps come out first on the iPhone and often second on the iPad tablet. Apple is facing increasingly stiff competition in the smartphone business from the Android platform, with Microsoft starting to try and heat things up with its operating system via partner Nokia and others.

According to Google, there are currently 1.3 million Android devices added every day, up from 700,00 daily at the end of last year. Android sales surpassed Apple’s iOS in 2010 and could with products like Samsung’s Galaxy S III selling 20 million in two weeks the pressure is not likely to abate any time soon.

However from the initial look at the iPhone 5 Apple has delivered a product that will keep the pressure on its rivals to innovate and continue advancing their own platforms and do so in a manner that is unique to them, and not imitative of Apple.