Yes, the iPhone 5 does vibrate differently

If you’re the proud owner of an iPhone 5, you may have noticed something different about the way that it vibrates. Well, you’re not imagining it, because there is something different about it: the vibrating motor.

Back when the iPhone 4 was introduced, it was still using the same vibration motor that all earlier iPhones had used. This was a rotational vibrator that basically consists of a cylinder with a wedge cut out of it that spins on a motor. The vibration is created by the imbalance of that counterweight.

http://thenextweb.com/apple/2012/09/28/yes-iphone-5-vibrate-differently/