Apple has today introduced the iPhone 4S, a new iPhone with completely retooled innards, featuring Apple’s A5 processor. The new iPhone also features 1080p video recording, an 8MP camera and iOS 5’s new Siri assistant feature.
The new iPhone will be available for pre-order on October 7th and arrive on October 14th at the following prices:
- iPhone 4S 16GB $199
- iPhone 4S 32GB $299
- iPhone 4S 64GB $399
The announcement was made at Apple’s “Let’s Talk iPhone” event held at the company’s Cupertino headquarters. Apple invited Mike Capps from Epic games up to show off the Unreal Engine working on the new iPhone.
The iPhone 4S will will offer eight hours of 3G talk time. Six hours of browsing, nine on WiFi. 10 hours of video, and 40 hours of music. “Fantastic battery life.”
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The new iPhone 4S will also feature HSDPA+, which will push its maximum speeds to 14.4mBps and will pack two antennas that it will automatically switch between to send and receive calls.
The new iPhone will also pack an 8MP back illuminated sensor that will gather 73% more light than the previous iPhone’s sensor. It is also 1/3 faster and features a hybrid IR filter. The camera’s lens has five lens elements and an f2.4 aperture. This, says Apple’s Phil Schiller, allows for “better accuracy and color uniformity.”
The custom Apple image processor allows for Face Detection and automatic white balance, much like high-end point-and-shoots. The camera talkes just 1.1 seconds to shoot the first photo and .5 seconds to shoot the next one. “I don’t know what Droid Bionic customers have to do between taking pictures… like, go get coffee,” said Schiller.
The Macro capability is now upgraded as well.
The iPhone 4S is also capable of 1080p HD video recording with stabilization and real-time noise reduction.
The iPhone 4S also gains the iPad 2’s Wireless Mirroring feature using AirPlay and an Apple TV.
So to recap, the iPhone 4S features:
- Apple’s A5 Chip with 7x faster graphics
- A radio capable of both CDMA and GSM with two antennas
- An improved 8MP camera with better low light recording and super fast shot time
- 1080p video recording
- Bluetooth 4.0
- 3 grams heavier than iPhone 4
- AirPlay mirroring
- iCloud integration
- iOS 5
- Siri assistant feature
This iPhone is completely compatible with Apple’s new iOS 5 software. iOS 5 is the next major revision to Apple’s software for iPhone, iPod, Apple TV and iPad devices. You can see our complete rundown of the iOS announcements back at WWDC here. We’ve also got a closer look at some of the features of iOS like iMessages, Twitter, Setup and Notification Center, iCloud and alerts.
We will continue to bring you the latest news on the features of iOS 5 in our Apple coverage today, so stay tuned here.
Apple’s official specs:
Official tech specs from Apple’s website:
Wireless
- World phone
- UMTS/HSDPA/HSUPA (850, 900, 1900, 2100 MHz);
- GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz)
- CDMA EV-DO Rev. A (800, 1900 MHz)4
- 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi (802.11n 2.4GHz only)
- Bluetooth 4.0 wireless technology
Camera
- 8-megapixel camera
- Autofocus
- Tap to focus
- Face detection in still images
- LED flash
- Video recording, HD (1080p) up to 30 frames per second with audio
- Video stabilization
- Front camera with VGA-quality photos and video at up to 30 frames per second
- Photo and video geotagging
Battery
- Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery
- Charging via USB to computer system or power adapter
- Talk time: Up to 8 hours on 3G, up to 14 hours on 2G (GSM)
- Standby time: Up to 200 hours
- Internet use: Up to 6 hours on 3G, up to 9 hours on Wi-Fi
- Video playback: Up to 10 hours
- Audio playback: Up to 40 hours
TV and Video
- AirPlay Mirroring to Apple TV support at 720p
- Video mirroring and video out support: Up to 1080p with Apple Digital AV Adapter or Apple VGA Adapter (adapters sold separately)
- Video out support at 576p and 480p with Apple Component AV Cable; 576i and 480i with Apple Composite AV Cable (cables sold separately)
- Video formats supported: H.264 video up to 1080p, 30 frames per second, High Profile level 4.1 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; Motion JPEG (M-JPEG) up to 35 Mbps, 1280 by 720 pixels, 30 frames per second, audio in ulaw, PCM stereo audio in .avi file format
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