Apple has unveiled the iPhone 5 at an event in San Francisco, calling it the thinnest and lightest phone it has ever produced.

It is made entirely of glass and aluminum and has a larger screen than the 4S model.

It will also come with the capability to connect to the fastest new wireless data networks, both in the U.S. and overseas -- some competing phones in the U.S. have had this ability for a year and an half.

Apple marketing head Phil Schiller says the new phone is 7.6 millimetres thick and weighs 122 grams.

It's 18 per cent thinner than the iPhone 4S and 20 per cent lighter. It also has a bigger screen, measuring 4 inches diagonally.

The larger screen makes room for another row of icons.

Apple Inc. also plans to update its phone software this fall and will ditch Google Inc.'s mapping service for its own, as a rivalry between the two companies intensifies.

Sales of Apple's iPhones are still strong, though the company lost the lead in smartphones to Samsung this year.

Samsung Electronics Co. benefited from having its Galaxy S III out in the U.S. in June, while Apple was still selling an iPhone model it released last October.

The new iPhone will allow Apple to recapture the attention and the revenue.

The iPhone 5 is also a formidable threat to Research In Motion.

The Waterloo, Ont.-based company -- once known as Canada's high-tech heavyweight -- has been working to turn around its operations as consumers switched to the iPhone and other smartphones running Google's Android operating system.

The company's future success rides on the unveiling of its BlackBerry 10 operating system, which has suffered two major delays that have pushed its debut into early 2013 -- past the holiday shopping season that Apple has squarely in its sights.