Steve Jobs may be gone, but at Apple, the hype lives on. And on Tuesday, the tech world again paused as the company launched two new iPhones, and announced an update to its flagship to its cross device operating system, with the coming release of ioS 7.
Let’s take a closer look at Apple’s new offerings.
The iPhone 5S is Apple’s new high-end handset. It’s powered by a new A7 chip with 64-bit desktop-class architecture. It has a new 8 megapixel iSight camera with True Tone flash. A new M7 motion coprocessor takes some of the pressure off the processor by handling accelerometer, gyroscope and compass data for improved performance. It includes dual-band 802.11abgn Wi-Fi, and 10 hours of talk time on 3G networks.
A new security feature on the Apple iPhone 5s is Touch ID. Built into the home button, it recognizes your fingerprint to give you access to your device and can also be used to securely approve online purchases though Apple stores. The fingerprint data is stored in the Secure Enclave inside the A7 chip, stresses Apple, and not in the cloud or any Apple servers.
The Apple iPhone 5S will come in your choice of gold, silver or space grey. Pricing for the U.S. market has been suggested at $299 for the 32GB model and $399 for the 64GB model, with a carrier contract. The pricing may vary in Canada, where availability is expected on Friday, Sept. 20. Apple is also selling $39 cases in beige, black, blue, brown, yellow and red.
The slightly more affordable Apple iPhone 5C comes in blue, green, pink, yellow and white. It has a 4-inch Retina display, is powered by an A6 chip, and features an 8 megapixel iSight camera. It has a new design crafted from a single, hard-coated polycarbonate body with a steel reinforced frame. Suggested U.S. pricing is $99 for the 16GB model and $199 for the 32GB model on a carrier contract, with Canadian availability on Sept. 20.
Apple also announced iOS 7 will be available to iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users as a free software update beginning Sept. 18. Among its new features, in addition to a redesigned user interface, are Control Center, Notification Center, improved Multitasking, AirDrop, enhanced Photos, Safari and Siri.
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