When Apple unveiled the iPhone 5 yesterday, the Cupertino company’s officials didn’t neglect to confirm the previous rumors of a September 21 release date and price points identical to the iPhone 4S when it was first released.

According to Apple, the iPhone 5 will indeed be released on September 21, with pre-orders starting on September 14, this Friday. Pricing will again start at $199 on a two-year agreement; this price applies to the iPhone 5 with 16 GB internal storage.

As usual, the United States will be the first country to release the iPhone 5, but other markets will also be shipping the iPhone starting on September 21. These countries include Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Hong Kong, France and Germany. More countries will follow on September 28; these are mostly European countries such as Italy, Spain, Norway and the Netherlands.

The new iPhone 5 comes with majority of the features and specs pundits have been expecting for some time already. For the first time in iPhone history, the device’s screen will measure 4 inches instead of the usual 3.5.

The new A6 chip will be debuting under the hood, same with iOS 6; the new OS will be released on September 19 and compatible with a few older iPhones and the last two iPads. 4G LTE connectivity is also confirmed for the iPhone, marking a long-overdue adaptation of the high-end wireless Internet standard.

Also debuting is the new “Lightning” dock connector, which replaces the tenured 30-pin version which has been on Apple devices since 2003. However, the iPhone 5 will not come with NFC support, as previously rumored.