So the moment we’ve all been waiting for (see dreading) just went down. Apple announced the sequel to iPhone 4 with the iPhone 4s. Aesthetically speaking, it’s the same as the iPhone 4, but just beneath the surface you find all new innards designed to really speed things up and allow for some new software enhancements.
It starts off with a new Dual Core A5 Arm Based processor, built by Apple, and rumor has it this thing screams. Numbers are being thrown in our faces such as graphics performance 7x faster than that of the iPhone 4. iPhone gaming is set to really start getting serious now, so be on the lookout for great new games, likely to be available only on the iPhone 4s.
Apple also set out to unify the cellular technologies used across the iPhone so that it is a true World Phone. So if you are a GSM or CDMA customer, you can roam using GSM in over 200 countries! The iPhone 4s also adopts HSDPA technology which doubles the phone’s throughput to 14.4 MBPS
Another change affecting the call experience on the iPhone is the new smart Antenna system. This revamped design helps fix some of the issues people have been reporting with signal strength. This is a welcome fix by anyone who has dropped a call due to the infamous Antennagate fiasco.
Moving on, the camera of the iPhone 4s gets a massive overhaul. Adopting an 8 Megapixel sensor and the ability to record 1080P video. You are going to start leaving your point and shoot at home more and more often as the new features of iOS5 are paired with the iPhone’s new speed optimizations. The new handset touts a 1.1 second first picture snap and 0.5 second shutter recovery thereafter. Features such as image stabilization and noise reduction also aid in the uselessness of your every day point and shoot.
Apple also announced the availability of Airplay Mirroring, which is currently available on the iPad 2 and allows users to view their iDevice’s screen in full resolution on your TV via an Apple TV.
The big feature will be the Siri voice assistant, which we highlighted in a previous post. The Siri voice assistant allows users to talk in plain language to their iPhone 4s and perform pretty advanced tasks.
Pricing of the iPhone 4s stays consistant with previous two iPhone releases and is as follows:
- 16 GB $199
- 32 GB $299
- 64 GB $399
If you’re chomping at the bit to get your hands on this new iDevice, Apple will let you start preordering the iPhone 4s on October 7th, with a ship and official release date of October 14th, so long as you reside in the US, UK, France, Germany, Japan, Australia and Canada. Everyone else will need to wait until October 28th.
