Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Christmas comes early in the form of the new Apple iPhone 5S, 5C, and the iOS 7

Yes, you probably have heard by now, and it is true! At long last, the much rumored iPhone 5C and 5S are finally going to hit the shelves.  The CNET Review gave us a good breakdown of the specs for each phone.

 





So, what can the new iPhones do that my out-dated 4S can't do? 

Let's start with the camera on the 5S.  Sure, my 4S also had a 8 megapixel camera and it has nothing on the 41 megapixel Nokia Lumia 1020 or the 13 megapixel Samsung Galaxy S4, but there's more to it than megapixels.  The iPhone 5S will have a dual-element flash, able to automatically adjust its color based on available lighting.  The front facing camera will be at 1080p, up from 720p in the 5C and iPhone 5.

The 5C, the new iPhone for budget conscious consumers, will do one important thing my 4S couldn't do, and that is go easy on my wallet.  Starting at just $99 with a two year plan, the 5C is a bargain.  Still, that won't be likely to convert some Android loyalists, as many non-Apple smartphones are similar in base price.

The 5C also comes in pretty colors.  So there's that.

The 5S will have a fingerprint scanner, likely saving me from typing in a 4 digit password every time I want to look at my messages or make a call.  That will be one of the most exciting features for me, as I am just about as impatient as anyone else in the millennial generation.

My 4S will be left in the dust with the Proprietary A7 CPU (64-bit) processor of the 5S, which is up two models from the A5 for my 4S and up from the A6 for the 5C and 5S.  The 5S will be at least twice as fast as my 4S and is also twice as fast as the 5C and iPhone 5.

Still, for those of us that do not have upgrades until next year, CHRISTMAS IS STILL HERE It is coming in the form of the next new mobile operating system, the iOS 7, which will be available as a free download on Sept 18. Craig Federighi, head of software at Apple Inc., said "downloading iOS 7 is like getting an all new device."  Thank you, Apple!

As you may have noticed, I'm not really expounding upon what an Android can do that an iPhone can't.  I know there are a (small) list of features that Android phones have that iPhones simply do not have.  Still, the millions of us loyal to Apple believe that they have always provided a great product and cutting edge technology that we didn't know we needed until they created it for us.  In this competitive age of smartphone sales, Apple will have to continue to do just that to survive; Apple will have to look for things to provide the consumer with that their competitors do not have and their consumers didn't know they were living without.