Apple announced two models of the iconic iPhone Tuesday, the 5S and the lower-cost, plastic encased 5C (does "C" stand for "cheap"?). The amazing thing is that virtually every significant detail of the release has been in the blogs for days, and in some cases for weeks. What's happened to Apple's legendary focus on secrecy?
Maybe it's the fact that all the details were known in advance, but the 5S and 5C feature incremental improvements on the hardware side. The 5S features the faster A7 processor, and an improved ARM instruction set that Phil Schiller, Apple's SVP of Worldwide Marketing, claims will make it twice as fast as its predecessor. The 5C uses the A6 processor used in the original iPhone 5. The 5S will be available in 16 G, 32 G, and 64 Gbyte models, but the 5C is 16 G or 32 Gbyte only. Both models support LTE in 13 different frequency bands, as well as 801.11a/b/g and n (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands).
They've gone from an f2.0 to f2.2 camera lens and a slightly larger image sensor, which should improve picture quality, especially in low-light conditions. They've also added a 120 frame-per-second mode allowing for slow motion. While most iPhone owners don't seem to know how to use it, the panorama mode for still photography is also pretty awesome.
Probably the biggest hardware feature is the built-in fingerprint scanner in the 5S that is positioned beneath the home button, serving as a more convenient mechanism for securing the phone. The biggest security complaint I've seen with smartphones is when you hand yours to someone to look at a picture and they unilaterally interpret that to mean they can look at every picture in your photo collection. Too bad there's no technology fix for "rude"!
What blows my mind is the ruckus about the 5C being offered in five colors: white, pink, yellow, blue, and green. The first two things virtually every smartphone buyer gets are a screen protector and a protective case that covers about 90% of the colored surface. Possibly the polycarbonate plastic will eliminate the need for the protective case, but in the meantime, Apple is offering six different cases for it. However, there doesn't appear to be any significant improvement in the glass, whose propensity for cracking has created an entire industry of iPhone repair shops.
Probably the biggest change will be the new operating system, iOS 7. I'd written about it back in June when I got to try it out on a friend's phone, and it does give the device an upgraded feel. There are a bunch of nice features and a freshened-up look for many of the native apps. They've also incorporated multi-tasking, allowing you to swipe through all open apps.
A control center is accessible by swiping up on any screen, allowing access to the most commonly used features like turning on/off Airplane mode, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and Do Not Disturb. iOS 7 will be available as a free upgrade for any iPhone 4, 4S, or 5 starting September 18. The Air Drop function allows you to wirelessly share content to nearby contacts. Siri will now have male as well as female voices, and will be able to do things like changing the settings on your iPhone with voice commands. They have also incorporated a Pandora-like iTunes radio.
With the release date set for September 20 in the US and several other countries, I'm sure the lawn chairs are already showing up in front of Apple stores around the world. All in all, this is a solid step for Apple, something that we haven't seem much of over the past couple of years. What we didn't see was the rumored Apple smart watch, and of course there was no talk of the 6-inch-screen Apple phablet.
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