The device features a taller screen than its predecessor allowing it to display an extra row of app icons on its home screen.
The firm said it was 18% thinner and 20% lighter than the iPhone 4S. The screen measures 4in (10.2cm) which is still smaller than rival devices from Samsung, Nokia, Motorola and HTC.
It said it would be available on 4G via Everything Everywhere in the UK.
The news is likely to give the network operator - which runs the local Orange and T-Mobile services - an advantage against its rivals which will not launch the higher-speed data service until 2013.
The latest iPhone's performance will prove critical to Apple's fortunes.
According to the firm's most recent earnings report the iPhone and related services and accessories accounted for 52% of $120bn (£74bn) total net sales over the nine months running up to July. 98 million handsets were sold over the period.
That has helped boost its share price to new heights. At the end of last week the firm was worth $637.85bn based on its share price. That was the highest such valuation to date if you do not adjust Microsoft's 1998 figure for inflation.
However, competition is intensifying. While Apple's margins may be wider, Samsung's handset sales are growing at a faster pace.
According to data from IDC the South Korean firm accounted for 43.6% of the Western European smartphone market between April and June compared to Apple's 19%.
The figures will have been skewed by the fact that Samsung offers more models and the Galaxy S3 was a newer device than the equivalent iPhone, but one industry watcher said the rivalry could intensify over coming months.
"Samsung has been very efficient pushing and promoting their devices offering the biggest commissions to sales people," Francisco Jeronimo, research manager at IDC, told the BBC.
"The momentum they are gaining with consumers is very high and people see it as a very innovative brand - and customers are clearly looking for innovation rather than just refinements. Samsung will also be likely to make further gains by making price cuts before Christmas."
Samsung Galaxy S3
• Released: May 2012
• Screen size: 4.8"
• Operating system: Android
• Camera: 8MP
• Cost: £450 for 16GB edition on pay-and-go via O2
"While neither the display nor the construction materials on the Galaxy S3 are the best possible, both represent acceptable compromises that help Samsung balance out the rest of its class-leading spec sheet."
HTC One X
• Released: April 2012
• Screen size: 4.7"
• Camera: 8MP
• Operating system: Android
• Cost: £420 for 16GB edition on pay-as-you-go via Vodafone
"This handset looks and feels stunning...[but] battery life is by far our biggest concern... Buying a One X is a lot like getting a unicorn - it's wild, fast, white, beautiful, expensive and fickle."
Motorola Droid RazrMaxx HD
(not available in UK)
• Release: "Before the [winter] holidays"
• Screen size: 4.7"
• Camera: 8MP
• Operating system: Android
• Cost: To be confirmed
"Talk time is outlandishly long at 32 hours... If you want a phone that's deadly serious about staying charged all day, this is a great contender."
Nokia Lumia 920
• Release: To be confirmed
• Screen size: 4.5"
• Camera: 8.7MP
• Operating system: Windows Phone 8
• Cost: To be confirmed
"The Nokia Lumia 920 is a good phone from the outset, although it didn't really give us much to feel wowed by... we can't help but feel that this may not be enough of an evolution to really take Windows Phone to the next level."
LG Optimus G
• Release: September 2012 in S Korea
• Screen size: 4.7"
• Camera: 13MP
• Operating system: Android
• Cost: To be confirmed
"Judging by its specs and LG's recent devices, it has plenty of superphone potential... [but] it won't be able to fit in front or back jean pockets, nor will it be easy to use with one hand."
Sony Xperia T
• Release: "Coming soon"
• Screen size: 4.6"
• Camera: 13MP
• Operating system: Android
• Cost: To be confirmed
"The 13-megapixel camera... is as close to a compact as a smartphone has come. Couple this with a responsive enough performance and you have a phone that can take on the likes of the One X and the Samsung Galaxy S3."
Blackberry Bold 9900
• Release: August 2011
• Screen size: 2.8"
• Camera: 5MP
• Operating system: Blackberry 7
• Cost: £380 pay-as-you-go on Orange
"The Bold 9900 is a great phone IF your live gravitates around communication, but there's better choices out there for gaming and entertainment."
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