The big tech news last week was the long-awaited opening of sales of the iPhone 5. You heard right: nobody has one in hand yet but the beginning of preorders has set off a flurry of discussions about the pros and cons of the new device and what its release means for the state of the universe.

The release was so strongly anticipated that unless you put in your order within the first hour after orders opened, you’ve probably missed the chance to get your phone on the day the model is launched.

Even more impressive, is the claim that the release of the iPhone 5 will have a bigger effect on the state of the U.S. economy that stimulus package, QE3, which was recently announced by the Federal Reserve. The government body has said that they’re willing to buy up to $40 billion worth of bonds and securities a month. But according to a report from JP Morgan, the sales of iPhone 5 will increase the United State’s GDP by 0.3% in one year. That is a colossal amount for one single product.

Since nobody at Apple was kind enough to send us a preview model, we’ve had to rely on other analysts to give us hints as to the important things to look out for. Here’s the list we came up with:

The Pros:

-Screen is nicer to look at and easier to hold

-Ear buds are much improved

-New custom core processor

-Great camera specs

-Improved, more helpful, Siri

-4G

The Cons:

-New dock connector incompatible with old apple accessories

-Incapable of simultaneous calls and data activity with some carriers

-No NFC (Near Field Communications)

Whether or not these improvements are enough to make you want to upgrade is a personal decision, of course. The online tech world seems to think the iPhone 4s was pretty good anyway, so even though some of the innovations are pretty cool, we’re divided on whether an upgrade is worth it.