14 DAY TRIAL // Apple’s flagship product, the iPhone, just got a remarkable upgrade today, featuring new color options as well as breakthrough hardware and software.
During today’s special event in Cupertino, California, Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, said, “iPhone 5s is the most forward-thinking smartphone in the world, delivering desktop class architecture in the palm of your hand.”
“iPhone 5s sets a new standard for smartphones, packed into its beautiful and refined design are breakthrough features that really matter to people, like Touch ID, a simple and secure way to unlock your phone with just a touch of your finger,” added Schiller.
Without further ado, here are the technical specifications of the new iPhone, complete with other details, such as price and availability.
Color options
Apple’s flagship product now comes in three different colors, including Space Gray, Gold, and Silver.
Weight and Dimensions
The iPhone 5S is 4.87 inches (123.8 mm) high and 2.31 inches (58.6 mm) wide, with a depth (thickness) of just 0.30 inch (7.6 mm). The weight is 3.95 ounces (112 grams).
Chips
Housed inside the metal chassis are two powerful new chips, including the A7 with its desktop-class 64-bit architecture, and the M7 motion coprocessor.
Touch ID
Apple’s new phone sports a brand new security feature which also doubles as a faster payment system for application purchases. It’s called Touch ID and reads your fingerprint for authentication. Touch ID is the flagship feature of the iPhone 5S.
Camera
Apple upgraded the iPhone 5S’ rear-facing camera with the following specs: 8 megapixels with 1.5µ pixels; ƒ/2.2 aperture; sapphire crystal lens cover; True Tone flash; backside illumination sensor; five-element lens; hybrid IR filter.
The camera does autofocus, tap-to-focus, face detection, panorama, Burst Mode (new), and photo geotagging.
Video-wise, users get 1080p HD recording at 30 frames per second (FPS), slo-mo video (with an 120 FPS feature), and improved video stabilization.
The front-facing FaceTime cam offers 1.2MP photos (1280 by 960) with 720p HD video recording and sports a backside illumination sensor.
Battery
The iPhone 5S features a built-in (non-user-replaceable) rechargeable lithium-ion battery which charges via USB to a computer system or power adapter, and offers up to 10 hours talk time on 3G and up to 250 hours of standby time.
Internet use: Up to 8 hours on 3G, up to 10 hours on LTE, up to 10 hours on Wi-Fi Video playback: Up to 10 hours Audio playback: Up to 40 hours
Sensors
The new iPhone sports a three-axis gyro, an accelerometer, a proximity sensor, an ambient light sensor and, of course, the all-new fingerprint identity sensor.
Headphones
The phone ships with Apple’s relatively new EarPods with Remote and Mic, which come in a handy storage and travel case.
SIM card
Apple continues to design its iPhones to be used with the nano-SIM standard, and clarifies that “iPhone 5s is not compatible with existing micro-SIM cards.”
System Requirements
To activate and use the iPhone 5S, you’ll need an Apple ID (for some features), Internet access, Mac OS X v10.6.8 or later / Windows 8; Windows 7; Windows Vista; or Windows XP Home or Professional with Service Pack 3 or later; iTunes 11.1 or later.
Pricing and Availability
The iPhone 5S will be available on September 20 in the US, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, and the UK.
Pricing and storage capacities go as follows: 16GB - $199 (€150); 32GB - $299 (€225); 64GB - $399 (€300), with a two-year contract.