Apple's announcement Sept. 17 that it had sold two million iPhone 5 smartphones in the first 24 hours of availability, doubling the record set by the iPhone 4S in 2011, was the tech news equivalent of face-palm. "Well, duh," uttered everyone with a pulse.  

Sure, the numbers are astounding. But, can anyone really say they're that surprised by the public's enthusiasm for Apple's new iPhone 5? Even for all the criticism surrounding the phone's supposedly "boring" update on itself, everyone knew there was plenty reason to be excited for the iPhone 5.

The iPhone 5 is Apple's lightest, largest and fastest smartphone to date. And that's just the bold type.

Apple has sold 5 million of the new iPhones in the first three days of orders, Baird Equity Research analyst William Power estimated Monday morning. Estimates continued to increase Monday, with Canaccord Genuity tech analyst Michael Walkley saying Monday morning that he expects Apple to ship up to 10 million iPhones between launch day Friday and Sept. 29.

We've outlined the iPhone 5's impressive new features below. Is Apple's new baby really this worthy of all the excitement? Read along and decide for yourself.

New Apps

Apple is clearly making some changes to services on the iPhone 5. With the new iOS 6 version of its mobile operating system, Apple is replacing Google Maps in favor of its own "Apple Maps," with spoken turn-by-turn directions. Restaurants pop up in "Apple Maps" and works in partnership with Yelp. A new app called "Passbook" can tie together all your airline boarding passes, loyalty programs, game tickets, and coupons together, and puts them in one place.

Enhancements to mail: You can mark VIPs in mail. You can flag things in email that are important.

Some great enhancements in the phone app. Facetime calls can happen on cell network now, not just on Wi-Fi. Says there are over 200 new features in all added to iOS6.

Siri

Siri now knows about sports and movies and has improved integration with OpenTable. You can now ask questions like "How did the 49ers do?" and the iPhone 5 will bring up the Niners win against the Packers. Launch Yahoo Fantasy Football and it automatically brings up the app. Or ask about a film, and the phone will bring up ratings on Rotten Tomatos.

Specs

The new iPhone 5 is made entirely of glass and aluminum, and will be the thinnest and lightest iPhone yet at 7.6 mm thick, and 20 percent lighter than 4S. Includes GPRS, EDGE, Ev-DO, HSPA, HPSA+, DC-HSDPA, LTE: single chip, single radi, dynamic antenna.

LTE reportedly allows really fast downloads over the cell network and can be faster than the average Wi-Fi network.

There is a brand new A6 chip that's two times faster at CPU and chip graphics, as well as 22 percent smaller. There's up to 150Mbps on Wi-Fi.

Eight hours of 3G talk time. 40 hours of music playback.

Three microphones that Schiller says will be good for Siri. Noise-canceling earpiece is mentioned. Improvements in how the voice sounds are discussed. A lot has changed since 2003 for the connector Schiller says. New connector is called "Lightning." and works with "Thunderbolt" connection. Show off partners, such as Boss, JBL and Bang. There's an adapter for the old connections.

Phones come in black and white aluminum. He's going over all the features touting LTE, A6 chip, etc. ... "It's the be best phone we've ever made," says Schiller.

Bigger display, better battery life

The new iPhone's screen is the same width, but taller, measuring 4-inches diagonally. "It should be easy ... More apps on every screen," said Apple exec Phill Schiller. "The world's most advanced display."

"New 4-inch retina display allows developers to do more," said Schiller. It makes a "better application."

"It actually makes the game easier to play," says Rob Murray, Executive Producer, EA Studios, showing off car racing game using new graphics. "Now this is something we have never seen before. ... On a powerful new iPhone"

Scott Forstall in video: "You feel you can do more" with the amazing display.

A6 chip increases performance and battery life.

Carriers

The iPhone 5 will only be available on Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon in U.S., although, we now know

T-Mobile has set itself up as an unlocked iPhone 5 alternative carrier for users in the USA that do not want to work with one of the top three, as it is stocking nano SIM cards.

New Camera

iSight, eight megapixel sensor. f/2.4 aperature. Dynamic low light mode.

Faster photo capture of the new A6 chip. Better low light performance. Schiller showed "untouched" photos. The "ocean looks bluer" and "kids look happier" and the world is a "more beautiful place," he says while showing photos of ocean, kids and a flower.

It's "truly a breakthrough software" for panorama shots, said Schiller.

Shared photo streams: You can like a photo and your friends will be notified.

Video

1080p HD video. Improved video stabilazion. 720p on the front-facing camera.

Pricing

The iPhone 5 will be released in three versions: $199 for 16GB, $299 for 32GB, $399 for 64GB. The iPhone 4 is now free and iPhone 4s is now $99. iPhone 5 ships September 21 in US and other locations.

Apple shares broke the $700 price level for the first time Monday.