Apple Uncorks iPhone 4S, Same Exterior with Better Hardware
Apple Uncorks iPhone 4S, Same Exterior with Better Hardware
Posted 10/04/2011 at 11:48am
| by Paul Lilly
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Apple's much anticipated "Let's Talk iPhone" press event is underway, and after lots of chest thumping over iOS, Mac sales, iTunes, and everything else, the Cupertino company has finally and officially unveiled its iPhone 4S smartphone. It looks just like the regular iPhone 4, including the same retina display, but there's plenty new underneath the hood, including a dual-core processor.
We're wrangling details from various live blogs around the Web so expect some of the finer points to be left out, at least until Apple tosses up press release. Until then, here are the main things you should know about the iPhone 4S:
- It's equipped with an A5 processor, the same one found in the iPad 2. This is a powerful processor that purportedly makes the iPhone 4S twice as fast as the regular iPhone 4. It also sports an improved graphics core that Apple claims is seven times faster.
- The iPhone 4S has an updated camera with an 8MP sensor. It's capable of snapping pictures at up to 3264x2448 and has improved backlight illumination resulting in 73 percent more light. Other features include a hybrid IR filter, better color accuracy, more color uniformity, 30 percent sharper images due to to the five element lens, a new Image Signal Processor enabling face detection, 26 percent better auto white balance, and faster capture speeds. Apple says it takes 1.1 seconds to snap the first photo, and 0.5 seconds to snap the second. For the sake of comparison, it takes the Motorola Droid Bionic 3.7 seconds and 1.6 seconds to snap the first and second photos, respectively.
- 1080p HD video recording with video image stabilization and temporal noise reduction.
- The iPhone 4S has dual antennas to transmit and receive (up to 5.8Mbps upload and 14.4Mbps download). Being able to switch between dual antennas for improved call quality is a first, according to Apple.
- Battery life: 8 hours of talk time on 3G; 14 hours of talk time on 2G; 6 hours of Web browsing on 3G; 9 hours of Web browsing on Wi-Fi; 10 hours of video playback; 40 hours of music playback.
- Includes "Siri," a new voice assistant that lets you use your voice to make calls, send messages, set reminders, schedule meetings, and more. You can see how this works here.
The iPhone 4 will be available for pre-order on October 7th and ship October 14th. AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon will carry the iPhone 4S with two-year contract pricing set at $199 (16GB), $299 (32GB), and $399 (64GB). Like the iPhone 4, it will be available in both black and white.
Live blog coverage: USA Today, Engadget, Technobuffalo
Image Credit: Apple
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aknolidge
October 05, 2011 at 5:39am
I'm due for an upgrade soon and this is what they give us? I was excited to see something NEW from the iPhone rather than seeing "A5 processor, Dual antennas, and Battery Life". Wow this just made my decision much tougher should I stay an iPhone fanboy or switch over to a Samsung Galaxy S II *sarcastically*
kixofmyg0t
October 04, 2011 at 9:26pm
"For the sake of comparison, it takes the Motorola Droid Bionic 3.7 seconds and 1.6 seconds to snap the first and second photos, respectively."
ACCORDING TO APPLE.
That's really funny cuz I've counted myself and it doesn't take nowhere NEAR THAT LONG on my Bionic.
All Apple propaganda.
Paul_Lilly
October 04, 2011 at 9:44pm
Apple's figure includes the time it takes to load the camera app and snap a picture. I timed my Droid X2 at 3.72 seconds from homescreen to a snapped photo.
kixofmyg0t
October 05, 2011 at 9:12am
Well my method didn't involve a stopwatch measuring to hundredths of a second.....it was much less scientific. From the home screen, tap camera......one thousand one, one th....OH its ready to take a pic. :/
So really from home screen to first photo snapped is 1.1 second for the iPhone 4S.....Apple REALLY expects us to believe that? BULLCRAP.
Apple really must have ran out of "features" to show off. Since "camera first photo speed" is now a benchmark.
Can it run Crysis?
Caboose
October 05, 2011 at 9:29am
I did the same test you did. I got to 7s. From the time it took to tap the camera app, to it loading, then auto focusing, then capturing the image. This is on my rooted Samsung Galaxy S.
JCGPZ9
October 04, 2011 at 5:58pm
And the alternative is available on WP7.5 and Android. Let's see if it'll be more advanced than the competition.
Ther are also stories of it being pulled from the app store.
bminor13
October 04, 2011 at 5:35pm
Boy, there's a lot of negativity here about the new iPhone. You can put down your torches and pitchforks - it's not a war or a competition for the best phone.
Personally, I don't have a smartphone. I can't afford the plans. However, if I were to buy one, I would probably appreciate the faster processor, GPU, better camera, and dual antennas of this new model. I don't live in a 4G area (it is likely that many users do not, and maybe that is why Apple did not bother with 4G radios this time around) so the lack of 4G would not be a big deal to me.
It will be interesting to see how this phone compares to others when reviews finally start to come out.
Caboose
October 05, 2011 at 8:00am
For being toted as a "world phone" and not including 4G (which is spreading more and more around the globe) is a rather stupid idea. And when you look at the raw specs of the "new" iPhone, and compare it to what is available now, they're ALMOST a year behind the competition, and yet are acting like its the new magical device.
JCGPZ9
October 04, 2011 at 6:01pm
Actually, VZW is rolling out LTE quite rapidly and is available in several cities and townships (not going to look it up... lazy...) and AT&T is planning their own rollout. Sprint is said to be jumping on board with LTE.
HSPA+ is 4G but for the moment I think T-Mobile is the only one deploying such speeds.
bminor13
October 04, 2011 at 6:20pm
While LTE is being rolled out, it doesn't really seem pervasive right now. Here is a map of Verizon's LTE network:
http://network4g.verizonwireless.com/#/coverage
Verizon would be the only one to have definite numbers on what proportion of iPhone users live in an LTE area, but I bet the lack of LTE radios in the Verizon iPhone 4S reflects Apple's perception that LTE is not a feature in demand at this time. This also allows them more time to design the (inevitable) future phone that does have LTE, and avoid battery problems, etc. that some of the first LTE phones had when they were released. I think this is a calculated decision on Apple's part.
DoubleR
October 04, 2011 at 7:04pm
...It's a long commitment to use this device. Over the next two years the coverage will only increase. Also this site is called Maximum... 3G aint
thetechchild
October 04, 2011 at 4:24pm
Oh Apple... The iPhone 5 better come out soon, and it better kick ass, because this 4S upgrade is just a postponement of obsolescence. There are already phones that are better and faster, and more are still on the way.
Unless they pull something amazing in record speed, other phones will quickly outpace the iPhone's capabilities.
JCGPZ9
October 04, 2011 at 6:06pm
You have to hand it to Apple though. The battery life on iPhones are rivaling that of Blackberry devices.
The camera is upgraded, hopefully with a new sensor, and the phone does pack in a dual core processor with and upgraded GPU. I think I've missed the RAM count but it's on par with what's majorly available today.
This release was kind of disappointing (and I'm not a fan of any mobile OS, they're all good) and was expecting a slightly larger screen and maybe a high resolution like the HTC Vigor. I was hoping they would get rid of the glass casing and use something else while retaining the shape and weight of the phone.
Caboose
October 05, 2011 at 7:58am
A few news outlets are suspecting that it has 512MB of RAM like existing iPhone models. Paltry compared to what the competition is offering. HTC offers 768MB, Samsung 1GB.
JohnP
October 04, 2011 at 3:54pm
"WTF? NOTHING? The labs got me NOTHING new this year AT ALL except for THIS CRAP UPGRADE? I'm OUTTA HERE!" <Steve Jobs writes a little goodbye note and goes home>
AETAaAS
October 04, 2011 at 2:26pm
A distinct lack of 'innovation'... no NFC, LTE and using recycled parts; looks like Apple built the 4S to compete with phones that came out a while ago. This window in Apple's release schedule gives other makers like Samsung and HTC time to kick the iPhone's head off.
Caboose
October 04, 2011 at 3:17pm
Apple saw how the competition was surpassing them and their magical device, and with fewer issues too, so the 4s was released. Finally with a dual-core CPU, and voice commands. Whoop-de-do. I've been able to do voice commands on blackberries for the past little while, and I can give my phone (and my car) voice commands too. Not to mention they're what, 6-8mo behind everyone else in terms of CPU power?
AETAaAS
October 04, 2011 at 3:43pm
Maybe thats why they've been litigious as of late... they can't win straight up so they fight dirty. Hopefully Samsung's Prime will make a debut at Samsung Unpacked around next week and show Apple how to do things right.
big_montana
October 04, 2011 at 1:18pm
The Samsung Galaxy S 2 is looking pretty darn good compared to this POS. Has better specs, and mostly free apps to boot, and you do not need that cruddy iTunes to activate, synch, update, or backup your device
Supall
October 04, 2011 at 12:40pm
So, let me get this straight - It can do everything the latest phones can...except 4G? Let's tack on the ability for you to talk to your phone (this is going to be good and noisy at Starbucks) and dual antennas to improve quality (cause we all know about the Death Grip). How does their processor compare to those on other phones?
Sigh, you can't change the minds of Apple's followers. They already think that this is a Godly phone.
tomrippity
October 04, 2011 at 12:16pm
A quick search of smartphones with dual antennas brought me to Xiaomi. Android manufacturers, also made by Foxconn.
jgrimoldy
October 04, 2011 at 12:34pm
Sure seems to be much ado about nothing.
I wasn't aware that the slower processor in the iPhone 4 was the source of poor performance or much bitching.
I don't know what I was really expecting, but this seems to be rather meh...
Dual antennae? So now there's TWO ways that you can hold it wrong and fuck up the reception?
/ho hum, pass the potatoes
/really happy that the announcement of the Amazon tab significantly eclipses this!
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