iPhone 5S – first impressions
Apple's new flagship smartphone has some fresh features but you might be
pushed to tell the difference from the iPhone 5 at first glance
Apple has unveiled its latest flagship smartphone, the iPhone 5S. Sporting a fingerprint sensor and an improved camera, while being
up to twice as fast as the previous generation, the iPhone 5S looks to
be another stellar smartphone entry.
Price
The iPhone 5S
starts at £549 ($649) for a model with 16GB of storage, with prices
going up from there, through £629 ($749) for 32GB, and hitting a hefty
£709 ($849) for 64GB of storage. Compared with last year's iPhone 5, the
starting price is £20 higher, and makes it more expensive than
competition from the likes of HTC, Samsung and Sony.
Prices
on-contract, directly from mobile phone operators, will be slightly
lower, of course, when taken out with relatively expensive monthly
plans. Whichever way you look at it, the iPhone 5S is a pricey
proposition.
Camera
For the iPhone 5S, Apple's improved
the camera compared to previous iPhones by physically increasing the
size of the image sensor. That means, at least on paper, significantly
higher low-light performance, which should result in better pictures
captured in the often-poor lighting conditions users find themselves in.
Party photos from bars, pubs and dimly-lit homes should be clearer,
sharper, and with better colours compared to pictures captured the
iPhone 5 and 4S.
Features
The iPhone 5S marks Apple's
first introduction of a fingerprint reader called "Touch ID". The sensor
sits under the traditional home button, allowing users to ditch
passwords and unlock their iPhones just by swiping their finger across
the home button. It's a major leap forward in both phone security and
usability because users will no longer have to remember PINs or
passwords, as the Touch ID will also allow the user to purchase music,
apps and videos through the phone.
Five fingerprints can be stored
on the device to unlock the iPhone but only one can be associated with
your iTunes account so your kids will be able to unlock your phone, but
will be prevented from buying apps, videos and music, which could save
you from some very expensive bills. Your fingerprint data is only stored
on your phone and it isn't sent over the internet or stored on Apple's
servers, which should help keep prying eyes away from it and your data
secure.
While Apple has barely changed the design of the iPhone 5S
compared with last year's iPhone 5 – maintaining its pin-sharp 4-inch
retina screen and thin and light body – it is available in a new colour:
gold. The traditional black (rebranded as "space grey") and white
("silver") colours are still available, however.
iOS 7, a complete
redesign of Apple's mobile operating system, is also launching with the
iPhone 5S. It looks to revitalise the rather unchanged iOS, and has
taken the approach of "flat" yet colourful design. Improvements are
available across the board for all of Apple's built-in apps such as
Mail, iMessages, Calendar and Photos. It's worth noting that the iOS 7
update will also be available for existing iPhones, including the iPhone
4, iPhone 4S and iPhone 5.
Speed
Apple has kitted out the
iPhone 5S with its latest processor. The Apple A7 combines a new 64-bit
architecture with improved processing capabilities, which should result
in a doubling of the speed of the phone compared with the iPhone 5S.
Coupled
to the new A7 processor is a new co-processor called the M7. Its job is
to collect data from the various sensors the iPhone 5S has, including
the GPS, processing the information without waking the main A7 chip. In
doing so, it should allow various apps and services to continually pull
data from the phone's hardware while still delivering an iPhone 5-level
of battery life or a good day's worth of use.
Battery life
The iPhone 5S should be able to achieve, at least on paper, a longer useful
battery life than the iPhone 5 and iPhones that came before it. Apple
has stated that its new flagship will be capable of 10 hours talk time,
10 hours LTE browsing, and 250 hours standby. That's an improvement over
the iPhone 5's times of eight hours of talk, eight hours of LTE
browsing, and 225 hours of standby. Real-life battery usage will, of
course, vary.
Conclusions
The iPhone 5S certainly looks
good on paper. With its revolutionary inclusion of a fingerprint sensor
in a mass-market phone, which could potentially remove the need for
passwords and truly enhance the user experience, Apple could be on to a
winner.
However, the rest of the phone is just as it was for the
iPhone 5, and you would be pushed to tell the difference between them
from a quick visual inspection. Of course, the internal parts have been
upgraded, and the new camera system could make a real difference to your
photos.
Smartphones
aren't all about internal specifications, and are much more about
experiences, which is something Apple is very good at delivering.
Combined with the new iOS 7, the iPhone 5S should be very good indeed.
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