Apple continues with its international rollout of the latest iPhone version

Dec 14, 2012 12:19 GMT  ·  By

At the beginning of this month Apple confirmed that its iPhone 5 would be released in China and 50 additional countries throughout December. Today marks the Chinese launch along with 30 other territories receiving shipments of the elusive handset.

In accordance with its December 3 announcement, Apple today released the iPhone 5 in China, Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Ecuador, Grenada, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Kuwait, Macedonia Malaysia, Moldova, Montenegro, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.

The handset sells for a lot more in countries like China (the equivalent of $850 / €650) due to local electronics import taxes.

iPhone 5 ships with iOS 6 featuring Shared Photo Streams, Facebook integration, Apple’s beleaguered Maps application, Passbook, more Siri functionality and new language support, just to name a few software-centric benefits.

The handset itself boasts an improved camera, a blazing fast processor, and a 4-inch Retina display, all encased in a unibody aluminum enclosure that comes in Black & Slate and White & Silver.