In a relatively scaled-down setting housed in a more intimate auditorium than most large-scale Apple keynotes, the Cupertino company today unveiled its latest iPhone: the iPhone 4S.
There was no sign of the pie-in-the-sky 'iPhone 5' rumored to feature a new curved glass or teardrop-shaped casing. Rather, with the iPhone 4S, Apple presented an evolutionary (and widely anticipated) upgrade to its top-of-the-line iPhone 4 smartphone hardware.
There was no sign of the pie-in-the-sky 'iPhone 5' rumored to feature a new curved glass or teardrop-shaped casing. Rather, with the iPhone 4S, Apple presented an evolutionary (and widely anticipated) upgrade to its top-of-the-line iPhone 4 smartphone hardware.
There was also no sign of the hoped-for new 'low-end' budget model iPhone, but Apple is catering to that market by making the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4 still available at lower pricepoints than the 4S.
But that's not to say today's keynote didn't have its "wow" moments. Despite inevitably underwhelming those hoping for a trademark Steve-Jobs-esque "one more thing" iPhone 5 reveal (and rampant media speculation in the last few months had certainly gone into overdrive on this, creating potentially impossible-to-satisfy expectations), new Apple CEO Tim Cook oversaw a confident team presentation that was at its most impressive when the company introduced the iPhone 4S's new voice control feature, Siri (more on which below).
But that's not to say today's keynote didn't have its "wow" moments. Despite inevitably underwhelming those hoping for a trademark Steve-Jobs-esque "one more thing" iPhone 5 reveal (and rampant media speculation in the last few months had certainly gone into overdrive on this, creating potentially impossible-to-satisfy expectations), new Apple CEO Tim Cook oversaw a confident team presentation that was at its most impressive when the company introduced the iPhone 4S's new voice control feature, Siri (more on which below).
The iPhone 4S: key specs compared with iPhone 4
The key hardware specification upgrades for the iPhone 4S are located around the new device's processor, camera, battery life and storage capacities.Powering the iPhone 4S is Apple's dual-core A5 processor, as featured in the iPad. It replaces the A4 CPU featured in the iPhone 4. Apple claims the A5 delivers up to twice the power of the A4 with up to seven times the graphics performance.
The iPhone 4S's camera has also been upgraded, now sporting an 8MP sensor (to the iPhone 4's 5MP unit), larger f/2.4 aperture, generally improved optics and new face detection features. In concert with the A5 processor the camera is said to be faster, with considerably less shutter lag than the iPhone 4.
The 4S's front-facing camera remains unchanged (with a disappointing VGA resolution unit) and the rest of the camera feature set is generally unchanged from last year's model: autofocus; tap to focus; LED flash; backside illumination sensor and five-element lens.
Video recording with the iPhone 4S now captures 1080p (contrasted with the iPhone 4's 720p -- both at 30fps) and features new video stabilisation. Apple's 960 x 640 Retina display is unchanged on the iPhone 4S.
Battery life has changed slightly compared with last year's model. 3G talk time is rated at 8 hours (compared to 7 on the iPhone 4) but according to Apple's web site, standby time has dropped from 300 hours with the iPhone 4 to 200 hours with the iPhone 4S. 2G talktime is unchanged at 14 hours.
The 4S's front-facing camera remains unchanged (with a disappointing VGA resolution unit) and the rest of the camera feature set is generally unchanged from last year's model: autofocus; tap to focus; LED flash; backside illumination sensor and five-element lens.
Video recording with the iPhone 4S now captures 1080p (contrasted with the iPhone 4's 720p -- both at 30fps) and features new video stabilisation. Apple's 960 x 640 Retina display is unchanged on the iPhone 4S.
Battery life has changed slightly compared with last year's model. 3G talk time is rated at 8 hours (compared to 7 on the iPhone 4) but according to Apple's web site, standby time has dropped from 300 hours with the iPhone 4 to 200 hours with the iPhone 4S. 2G talktime is unchanged at 14 hours.
The iPhone 4S's dimensions remain unchanged from last year's model.
Storage-wise, the iPhone 4S now provides three capacity configurations as compared against last year's iPhone 4 16/32GB options. The 4S is available with 16, 32 and 64GB storage (see pricing details below).
The iPhone 4S utilises an antenna-switching feature which Apple claims doubles the maximum HSDPA data download speeds of the iPhone 4 (to 14.4Mbps now). The new model also supports CDMA and GSM, leading Apple to dub it "a world phone".
Physically, the dimensions of the new iPhone 4S are unchanged from last year's iPhone 4, which isn't altogether surprising given that it's really just an overall upgrade to the hardware rather than an outright new design. The 4S measures 115.2mm by 58.6mm by 9.3mm, which is the same as the iPhone 4, but the weight is now 3 grams heavier at 140g (reflecting changes to the internal components).
The iPhone 4S new features: Siri, iOS 5 and iCloud
If today's Apple keynote was perhaps a somewhat underwhelming affair, it's probably fair to say that expectations had been set unreasonably high by pre-release speculation fuelled largely by the tech media -- and in any case, you'd imagine the 4S's rollout will likely benefit from being free of any antenna-gate level errors on Apple's part, like that which compromised the iPhone 4's launch (although didn't hurt the device's success in the long term it should be noted).
Meet Siri: Apple's potentially game-changing personal assistant.
But if there was one killer game-changing feature unveiled with the iPhone 4S today, it's Siri. Dubbed an "intelligent assistant that helps you get things done", Siri is a voice-controlled organiser that can respond to questions, understanding varying permutations of speech and learning to understand you better as it goes along. In addition to answering questions about the weather, it can search the internet for you, place calls, respond to messages, set up meetings and even tell you about itself.
In the absence of Apple's patented "one more thing" for today's iPhone 4S launch, Siri stood in as a remarkable indication of the hybrid arrival of voice-control-meets-AI in a personal consumer device. How well it works in real life is yet to be determined, but the presenters on stage seemed to have little difficulty interacting with the feature. The iPhone 4S also features new dictation functionalities.
In addition to the above, a comprehensive feature upgrade comes to iOS devices on October 12 in the form of iOS 5, which will ship with the iPhone 4S but will also be available on the iPhone 4 & 3GS, iPad 1 & 2, plus iPod touch (3rd and 4th gen models).
In the absence of Apple's patented "one more thing" for today's iPhone 4S launch, Siri stood in as a remarkable indication of the hybrid arrival of voice-control-meets-AI in a personal consumer device. How well it works in real life is yet to be determined, but the presenters on stage seemed to have little difficulty interacting with the feature. The iPhone 4S also features new dictation functionalities.
In addition to the above, a comprehensive feature upgrade comes to iOS devices on October 12 in the form of iOS 5, which will ship with the iPhone 4S but will also be available on the iPhone 4 & 3GS, iPad 1 & 2, plus iPod touch (3rd and 4th gen models).
The iPhone 4S ships with iOS 5, which brings a number of new tweaks to Apple's mobile OS.
iOS 5 includes new notification features, Apple's iOS-only take on BBM and SMS with iMessage, built-in Twitter integration and new media app Newsstand among more than 200 tweaks to iOS 4.
The iPhone 4S will also support iCloud, which will additionally be available on October 12. The controversial iTunes Match feature remains unconfirmed for Australian users (and anywhere outside the US), although Apple claims it is trying to make the service available internationally.
The iPhone 4S will also support iCloud, which will additionally be available on October 12. The controversial iTunes Match feature remains unconfirmed for Australian users (and anywhere outside the US), although Apple claims it is trying to make the service available internationally.
The iPhone 4S: pricing compared with latest iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS RRPs
Due to hit Australia on October 14 (with pre-orders starting this Friday October 7), the iPhone 4S is available in two colours (black or white) and three capacities: 16GB ($799), 32GB ($899) and 64GB ($999).
Previously the iPhone 4 set you back $859 for the 16GB model and $999 for the 32GB model, so the pricing has improved at the top-end (and that's even before you consider the iPhone 4S's new specs).
If you don't need all the new features of the iPhone 4S, the very popular iPhone 4 is still available for purchase in black or white but only in one size: 8GB. It now costs $679. (Nearly $200 less than its former entry-level model, but that was with double the storage at 16GB.)
Also still available, somewhat bizarrely (given Apple's oft-demonstrated tendency to cut and run sooner rather than later): the venerable iPhone 3GS, which is now well over two years old (virtually eons in the smartphone industry), having been released initially in June 2009.
The 2011-era 3GS is available in black only and retails for $449, setting a new affordability record for the iPhone (admittedly, an ancient iPhone). This time yesterday, the same model would have set you back $719 (a whopping $270 more), so it's a great deal if you don't mind toting around some older hardware.
Keeping the 3GS on sale at this end of the market is presumably a tact to compete with the horde of low-end Android handsets available (from as little as $99).
Previously the iPhone 4 set you back $859 for the 16GB model and $999 for the 32GB model, so the pricing has improved at the top-end (and that's even before you consider the iPhone 4S's new specs).
If you don't need all the new features of the iPhone 4S, the very popular iPhone 4 is still available for purchase in black or white but only in one size: 8GB. It now costs $679. (Nearly $200 less than its former entry-level model, but that was with double the storage at 16GB.)
Also still available, somewhat bizarrely (given Apple's oft-demonstrated tendency to cut and run sooner rather than later): the venerable iPhone 3GS, which is now well over two years old (virtually eons in the smartphone industry), having been released initially in June 2009.
The 2011-era 3GS is available in black only and retails for $449, setting a new affordability record for the iPhone (admittedly, an ancient iPhone). This time yesterday, the same model would have set you back $719 (a whopping $270 more), so it's a great deal if you don't mind toting around some older hardware.
Keeping the 3GS on sale at this end of the market is presumably a tact to compete with the horde of low-end Android handsets available (from as little as $99).
