iPhone 4S announced at Apple press conference
Update: Sprint confirmed as an iPhone 4S carrier. Details here.
Original story: During the Apple press conference just moments ago, Apple CEO Tim Cook took to the stage to announce the next smartphone from apple: the iPhone 4S.
It may not exactly be what we were looking for, but don’t let the ‘4’ fool you; despite sharing a number with its predecessor, the iPhone 4S is almost entirely new, at least on the inside.
As you no doubt noticed from the above image, the iPhone 4S looks more or less the same as the iPhone 4 – but again, it’s what’s on the inside that makes the iPhone 4S so different. For starters, Apple managed to cram in the same dual-core A5 CPU from the iPad 2 into the iPhone 4S, making it considerably faster on the processing side of things.
The iPhone 4S also includes a dual-core GPU for more faster, detailed 3D – it’s reportedly around 7 times as fast as the iPhone 4’s GPU configuration, so those of you who do a lot of gaming on your iPhone will see increased performance.
If you kept accidentally dropping your calls due to the iPhone 4’s awkwardly-placed antennas, you should see an improvement with the iPhone 4S. The new smartphone reportedly has two separate sets of atennas that will intelligently switch based on how you’re holding it.
The speed of the iPhone 4S has improved over the iPhone 4, too. It may not be a 4G-capable phone like many were hoping, but Apple claims that the iPhone 4S’ 3G speeds are as fast, if not faster, than 4G competitors in a “normal” operating environment. The iPhone 4S can reportedly download data at a rate of 14.4 mbps, which would be double the predecessor’s download rate.
Apple is also tacking on a new camera at the back of the iPhone 4S, with the sensor being 8 megapixels over the iPhone 4’s 5 megapixels. The camera will feature a backside illuminated CMOS which, translated, essentially means that the iPhone 4S will have better low light performance when snapping photos.
Lastly, there’s the battery life. Apple is claiming that the iPhone 4S will have eight hours worth of battery life when talking over 3G networks, and 14 hours if you switch the phone over to 2G. For browsing, you can expect around six hours of battery life on 3G, and nine hours on a Wi-Fi connection.
Pre-orders for the iPhone 4S will begin on October 7, with a release following one week later on October 14.
Are you interested in making the switch to the iPhone 4S?
[Image courtesy of Engadget]
