[stextbox id=”alert”]Some hardware specs are currently being confirmed.[/stextbox]
Well, we all saw this coming.
Apple has finally and officially launched the much anticipated 7th iteration to the iPhone line, the iPhone 5s. And surprisingly unsurprisingly, Apple also announced a cheaper variant, the iPhone 5c. The said 2 devices are set to capture the upper and middle class market, thereby widening their market share.
According to Tim Cook, Apple sold 700 million iDevices; and with the availability of these new iPhones, it would definitely skyrocket their sales to 1B in no time.
Prior to the launch of the new iPhones, Apple executives took the audience through the iTunes Festival, iOS7, iWork, iPhoto, iMovie.
iPhone 5c
The iPhone 5c is the complete plastic makeover of the existing iPhone 5 in a hard polycarbonate shell cover. According to the video shown during the event, the iPhone 5c is beautifully and unapologetically plastic! It’s available in 5 colors: Green, White, Blue, Red and Yellow.
It will be available in the US for $99 for 16GB, $199 for 32GB on contract. Cases with a plethora of color choices will also be available for $29 each. Available for pre-order starting September 13.
iPhone 5S
Meanwhile, the iPhone 5S is the premium version of the iPhone 5 with beefed up specs, new colors and brand-spanking new Home button. New colors include Silver, Gold, and Space Gray.
The highlight of this new device is performance. It’s touted as the world’s first device with 64-bit chip. The A7 processor is now a badass processor. CPU-wise, the new processor has 40x CPU performance increase, while the GPU is faster by 56x. It also runs on OpenGL|ES 3.0 so the GPU should be able to process and show more details when playing games like Infinity Blade III.
Just to put it in a more realistic and non-too-technical perspective, the iPhone 5s is 5x faster the its predecessor. (They should have at least renamed it to iPhone 5x then).
The new iDevice also features a new M7 coprocessor, which basically measures motion data and enables a new generation of health and fitness apps. It also houses the accelerometer, gyroscope and compass.
The new iPhone will also have a better battery that adds 2 more hours to the existing talk time of the iPhone 5. With the new battery of the iPhone 5s, talk time (over 3G) is now 10 hours and browsing using LTE connection up to 8 hours.
And then you have the better camera with True Tone Flash. The new camera features 15% larger active sensor and f2.2 aperture. With this camera specs, you should be able to have good output even at low light environment. With the new dual-led flash (cool flash on top, warm flash at the bottom), the photos you’ll be taking with the flash on should look ‘natural’.
One of most revolutionary features of the iPhone 5s is Touch ID built into the Home button. Again, we all saw this from the leaked document posted on NowWhereElse.
It will be available in the US for $199 for 16gb, $299 for 32gb, and $399 for 64gb on contract. New cases will also be available for $39. Available for pre-order starting September 20. It’s very likely that we’ll see this on Globe and Smart by December 2013.
Specifications and Comparison Chart
Credits: Apple, The Verge, ibTimes
Giancarlo Viterbo is a Filipino Technology Journalist, blogger and Editor of gadgetpilipinas.net, He is also a Geek, Dad and a Husband. He knows a lot about washing the dishes, doing some errands and following instructions from his boss on his day job. Follow him on twitter: @gianviterbo and @gadgetpilipinas.
