Apple unveiled two new iPhones today: the 5S and the 5C. The 5S is the successor to the iPhone 5, and the 5C is a lower-cost version that offers many of the same features found in the iPhone 5, and comes with Apple’s new iOS 7 operating system.
Apple gave gadget lovers 64 great reasons to want to iPhone 5S, announcing that it has put the first-ever 64-bit processor into a commercially available mobile phone processor. The A7 processor packs more than a billion transistors, making it closer in performance and speed to a top-of-the-line PC processor than to existing mobile phone processors. Apple says it’s twice as fast as the A6 chip that powers the iPhone 5.
The 5S will include a fingerprint sensor on the home button. Apple says the user’s fingerprint will be recognized, and encrypted, but will not be sent to Apple, stored in iCloud, or shared with any other software. It will be used by iTunes, however. iPhone 5S owners will be able to use their fingerprints to make iTunes purchases.
Analyst John Feland of Argus Insights says that the fingerprint sensor is a brilliant mobile payments solution. Phones that use NFC technology to enable mobile payments could potentially be used by thieves if lost or stolen, but a phone that requires a fingerprint to unlock it or to enable mobile payments is more secure.
The 5S does come in gold, as expected, as well as in silver and gray. The 16GB model will be $199 with a contract, the 32GB version will be $299, and the 64GB version will be $399. In the U.S., AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless and Sprint will carry the 5S. Other countries getting the 5S include Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore and the United Kingdom. The phone will be available for pre-order September 20.
Apple has stepped up its camera technology considerably with the 5S. Instead of more pixels, the company focused on bigger pixels when describing the 5S camera. This is the same approach to camera technology used by HTC in its HTC One. The 5S camera can also be used in burst mode, meaning that when a user clicks to take a photo, the camera takes multiple photos and then creates the best one.
As part of today’s announcement, Apple said it will no longer make the iPhone 5. It wants customers looking for a less expensive iPhone to choose its new iPhone 5C instead. The 5C also launches September 20. It comes in four bright colors, plus white, and packs an A6 chip, an 8MP iSight camera, a 4-inch retina display, and LTE support. In short, it has most of what the iPhone 5 has, plus iOS 7. In the U.S, Verizon Wireless, AT&T Mobility, and Sprint will sell the 5C for $99 (16 GB model), or $199 (32 GB model), with a two-year contract. T-Mobile U.S. will sell an unlocked 5C for $549 (16GB) or $649 (32GB), with no contract.
For more on these phones, watch RCR’s commentary with John Feland of Argus Insights, recorded live during Apple’s Tuesday announcement.
