Apple on Tuesday announced its next-generation smartphone, the iPhone 4S. Was it worth the wait?
The phone will hit stores October 14 and will come in both black and white. Apple will offer the phone with 16GB, 32GB, and for the first time, 64GB. Externally, it’s retained the same design as the iPhone 4, but inside Apple has packed in an “A5 processor, with dual-core graphics, and 7x faster performance,” Apple’s Phil Schiller said at the iPhone unveiling. The iPhone 4S will have the same retina display, but Apple did not upgrade the resolution.
Apple has also ramped up the phone’s camera, claiming it will be superior to an everyday point-and-shoot device. The iPhone 4S will feature an 8-megapixel camera, a hybrid infrared filter for better quality images, a five-element lens, F2.4 aperture for better performance in low-light, advanced face-detection algorithms, and 1080p video recording.
One of the other items Apple has added to the 4S is Siri voice recognition. The fully integrated software lets you talk to the iPhone. For example, in showing off the program, Apple’s Scott Forstall asked the phone for the weather report, and it told him the forecast. It will provide other basic information like the time in a different city, the status of the stock market, and restaurant recommendations through Yelp.
Siri will also read text messages so you don’t have to look at your phone, and it supports voice-activated search. Forstall said Siri will let you do just about anything with your phone, including manage your iCal.
The iPhone 4S will work on both CDMA and GSM configurations. One feature that is noticeably absent from the iPhone 4S is 4G support, however.
Now that Apple has taken the lid off its newest phone, are you excited? Are you planning to upgrade? Were you hoping for a more significant update? Or are you holding out for the iPhone 5? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section and answer the poll below.