Apple today announced iPhone 5 will be available in South Korea on Friday, December 7, with more than 50 additional countries being added in December, including Brazil, Russia and Taiwan. iPhone 5 is the thinnest and lightest iPhone ever, completely redesigned to feature a stunning new 4-inch Retina display; an Apple-designed A6 chip for blazing fast performance; and ultrafast wireless – all while delivering even better battery life.

iPhone 5 is currently available in 47 countries around the world including the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan and the UK. iPhone 5 comes with iOS 6, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system with over 200 new features including: Shared Photo Streams, Facebook integration, all-new Maps app, Passbook organization and even more Siri features and languages.

iPhone 5 comes in either black & slate or white & silver for a suggested retail price of $199 (US) for the 16GB model, $299 (US) for the 32GB model and $399 (US) for the 64GB model. iPhone 5 will be available through the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers.

iPhone 4S is available for just $99 (US) and iPhone 4 is available for free with a two-year contract from participating carriers.

iPhone 5 will be available in South Korea on Friday, December 7 and on Friday, December 14 in Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, 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. iPhone 5 will also be available on Friday, December 21 in Barbados, Botswana, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Egypt, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St.Vincent & the Grenadines, Tunisia, Uganda and Vietnam.

Source: Apple Inc.

MacDailyNews Take: An aside: We’ve had our iPhone 5′s for over two months now and yesterday used someone’s iPhone 4S. Wow! The difference is even more striking now than on the first day. The iPhone 5 is only the second iPhone model, after the original, where we are still amazed it even exists, much less that we have working models in our hands! The iPhone 5 is so thin and light, it’s really a marvel and its ability to delight the user doesn’t wane. Every time we use iPhone 5 is a treat. Apple really did a magnificent job on iPhone 5; it’s one of their very best products ever.