Apple Announces iPhone 4S

[CigarNut]

Same size as iPhone 4
New Home button
8 Megapixel Camera (3264x2448)

w/5 element lens
face detection
1.1 seconds to first photo
.5 seconds to second photo

HD Video recording w/image stabilization, noise reduction
Better battery life
New antenna design w/two separate antennas
2x Faster downloads
Intelligent assistant (Siri)

voice recognition
voice response
app linkage (start, operate apps)
text-to-speech

Natural Language Dictation
learns your voice
Two year contract prices:

16GB: $199
32GB: $299
64GB: $399

Pre-Orders start on October 7
Available October 14

[J0eybb]

New Home Button?....OMG must have, NEED WANT...oh wait.... n/m

[WittyUserName]

The biggest announcement was the iOS5 software update. BBM style messaging WOOT WOOT

[pektel]

New Home Button?....OMG must have, NEED WANT...oh wait.... n/m

You wouldn't be saying that sarcastically if your home button only worked half the time (like mine) lol.

[Blak Smyth]

You wouldn't be saying that sarcastically if your home button only worked half the time (like mine) lol.

My friends home button stopped working completely.
I've never had an issue.
I love my Iphone because of the OS!
It blows android away. I have both.

[irratebass]

I thought the Iphone5 was coming out?

[kickerb]

:td

Apple just took 2 giant steps back in the phone market. SMH.

And yes, I am an iPhone user. But not after tonight, Galaxy S II here I come.

[Blak Smyth]

I thought the Iphone5 was coming out?

They will, this is just a filler phone to get people to upgrade and then when the IP5 is released you have to pay more to upgrade again:D

Same thing they did with the IP3GS

[loki]

:td

Apple just took 2 giant steps back in the phone market. SMH.

And yes, I am an iPhone user. But not after tonight, Galaxy S II here I come.

in what way

[irratebass]

Hmmmm, well the reason I said that is because I thought it was being released this month or Nov.

[Blak Smyth]

Hmmmm, well the reason I said that is because I thought it was being released this month or Nov.

They have been pushing it back for some time, my Brother in Law keeps holding his breath!

[emopunker2004]

So this instead of the Iphone 5 eh?

[kickerb]

in what way
Apple just barely got caught up with hardware specs (8mp camera? wow, what an improvement. dual-core? its about time. 2x Faster data? really? when u have folks like Verizion with exceptional 4G LTE network?). Which means they are still behind. We have to wait a whole year for the next spec bump. Buy then the other phone makers will have devices that will make the iPhone look like a jitterbug. Not to mention the size of the phone. If they really want people to make this a device that does it all, give me a bigger screen dammit!

The only thing the keeps the iPhone going is the reliable software.

of course, this is all my opinion, everyone has one :) I have been an iPhone user for all iterations of the phone. Heck I still have my original iPhone. But this phone does nothing to keep me on the bandwagon.

[Blak Smyth]

Apple just barely got caught up with hardware specs (8mp camera? wow, what an improvement. dual-core? its about time. 2x Faster data? really? when u have folks like Verizion with exceptional 4G LTE network?). Which means they are still behind. We have to wait a whole year for the next spec bump. Buy then the other phone makers will have devices that will make the iPhone look like a jitterbug. Not to mention the size of the phone. If they really want people to make this a device that does it all, give me a bigger screen dammit!

The only thing the keeps the iPhone going is the reliable software.

of course, this is all my opinion, everyone has one :) I have been an iPhone user for all iterations of the phone. Heck I still have my original iPhone. But this phone does nothing to keep me on the bandwagon.

I thought the same thing until I got a HTC inspire 4G. I considered not using my Iphone 4 anymore but after a few weeks I went back. The OS on the iphone is that much better it is worth using. The Inspire is faster I do admit and has a better camera, but it sucks to text with and to use the internet control and touch functions.

[CigarNut]

New Home button
They said a new home button but in the pictures it looks the same as the iPhone 4...

[sikk50]

Luckily my contract isn't up till next year, it's not even worth taking my moms upgrade like I had planned.

[The Poet]

Pre-engineered obsolencense jobs us again.

[WittyUserName]

I am not buying phone until I come back to America.....the iPhone 10 will be out :)

[BigCat]

I'm buying one - I don't have an Iphone at the moment and think the 4 is pretty cool. I might as well get the amped up version. I figure if they called this thing a 5 everyone would be raving about it. It's probably bad marketing on apple's part, but it won't stop me.

[CigarSquid]

I still love my droid! Iphone, Never. I have heard different. I guess all depends on what you want/need in the phone.

[jledou]

If it gets me away from my Blackberry ....... I am game.

[MrClean]

I've been an Android user for almost 2 years. The Apple apps, as a whole are more polished and can be more user friendly. But I like the idea of open source programming, even though it leads to a lot of sub-par apps on the Android Market. I like the comparison I heard the other day, iPhone is a polished product for the masses, Android is for techie types who like to have some control over their device. :2

[Smokin Gator]

I guess my son isn't getting my iPhone 4 like he thought!!!

[Boz]

Apple just barely got caught up with hardware specs (8mp camera? wow, what an improvement. dual-core? its about time. 2x Faster data? really? when u have folks like Verizion with exceptional 4G LTE network?). Which means they are still behind. We have to wait a whole year for the next spec bump. Buy then the other phone makers will have devices that will make the iPhone look like a jitterbug. Not to mention the size of the phone. If they really want people to make this a device that does it all, give me a bigger screen dammit!

The only thing the keeps the iPhone going is the reliable software.

of course, this is all my opinion, everyone has one :) I have been an iPhone user for all iterations of the phone. Heck I still have my original iPhone. But this phone does nothing to keep me on the bandwagon.


Its a phone, 8mp is more than enough. I dont need a cannon or nikon on my phone. My 3gs has been plenty fast for me, if the new one is faster, hooray. I agree with the 4g network, they really need to step up this. I dont need a bigger screen. Again, its a phone. These are all my opinions obviously and I'm not trying to be a dick but the phones are exceptional for most people including myself.

I have several friends with Android phones and the only reason is because they have sprint. If they were with Verizon or ATT they would have iPhones, as they arent overly thrilled with their androids.

[Kreth]

Pre-engineered obsolencense jobs us again.
I see what you did there... :tu
Posted via Mobile Device

[T.G]

They said a new home button but in the pictures it looks the same as the iPhone 4...


You need to click it 3 times in a row. That's when the magic happens.

[Dukeuni]

I've been an Android user for almost 2 years. The Apple apps, as a whole are more polished and can be more user friendly. But I like the idea of open source programming, even though it leads to a lot of sub-par apps on the Android Market. I like the comparison I heard the other day, iPhone is a polished product for the masses, Android is for techie types who like to have some control over their device. :2

I agree with this.

My wife has a Iphone, and I am just not as much of a fan. Is it a good phone? Yes. Does it run perfectly, yes. Does it give me the options I want? No way.

I like messing around with my phone I guess. I like adding custom ROMS, messing around with my phone, etc. I currently have a Motorola Droid Bionic and love it. While it may not be as polished as the iphone, I am having a blast making it "my" phone with customization.

[RightAJ]

Apple's phones are definitely smoother, I'll give them that, but are basically 'child-proofed' with Apple's strict app market and OS.

Droids are where it's at :D

Honestly though, I'm surprised they wouldn't just go straight to the 5, even name wise! They seem to be falling a behind and this doesn't seem much different from the 4.

aj

[CigarNut]

I most definitely would have purchased an iPhone 5** but I am not sure I will purchase the 4S. Even so, I am not sure that I see this as Apple falling behind. Maybe they did not release all the features I wanted but that's not what it is about. It's about maximizing their profits to further their business.

They also have to make sure that their new product pipeline is healthy and they need to regain mind-share as their vision changes with a new CEO.

This new iPhone has a lot of good features. Some are similar to the Android and other competitors, some are better and some aren't. That's the way it is with all the vendors.

Maybe their are more people like me. They have not lost my business, just pushed it out a bit.

Just my :2

** I want the larger screen that the iPhone 5 is supposed to have

[floydpink]

I'm waiting for the5 because of the pop up electric razor it's rumored to be adding.

[loki]

i'm not getting another phone till it has a built in coffee maker, humidor, torch lighter, can split atoms, and has a dslr attached.....

[shilala]

From my reading prior to this release, it seems this is a stop-gap measure brought on by production issues. The iPad is supposed to go from the 2 to an "iPad plus" before hitting version 3.
The big holdup is in the A6 quad core chip. They decided on a different architecture (for the good) too late and needed to drop a product to meet the demand. I think they did good, although I won't be changing.
I will be changing to the iPad 3 when it rolls out, and may switch to the iPhone 5.
The hardware isn't nearly as exciting to me as ios5. I'm very much looking forward to the release and it should be very soon now. It'll make my 4 a better phone, and I'm hoping against hope that it'll support iPad 1, because I love this thing. I'd hate to give her up, even if the iPad 3 has laser cannons, a four slice toaster, and flip-out French Maid.

[MrClean]

I like messing around with my phone I guess. I like adding custom ROMS, messing around with my phone, etc. I currently have a Motorola Droid Bionic and love it. While it may not be as polished as the iphone, I am having a blast making it "my" phone with customization.

:dr Bionic. I have the OG Droid and it's been rock solid for almost 2 years. We recently got my wife the Droid 3, she wanted a keyboard because her nails are too long to type accurately on a virtual keyboard, I was scoping out the Bionic and that phone ROCKS!!
True DDR2 RAM...MMMMM.

[deadrise]

flip-out French Maid. man I hate it when they flip-out all I wanted was a little slap and tickle :r

[shilala]

I read about the ios5 update a month or two ago and have been totally stoked since I first heard about the features. I re-read this morning, and it is absolutely amazing how many more features and how much versatility this OS will add to my ipad and iphone.
Even stuff as simple as location-based-notifications. If I make a note to get milk on the way home, my phone will notify me when I get near the grocery store.
All my music, movies, and books in a cloud. I use Kindle on my phone and ipad, and can't even express how awesome it is to go from one device to the other and start reading right where I left off. Now I can do this with every feature on every device.
This platform just gets better and better and better. It's just because it's all so intuitive, kindergarten easy and user-friendly. This OS update will make the devices even a greater tool for everyday living.
My only fear is that it'll all make me even stupider than I already am. I only know 2 phone numbers. If I ever get lost, or need to call someone in an emergency, I'm in HUGE trouble. That's the one negative that scares me about this stuff.
What's good is that the icloud feature will fix that. Now I can access that stuff from anywhere. While it may not be instant, it's a far cry from being out in the cold because of my technology induced mental paralysis. :D

[floydpink]

When my contract came up for renewal, I looked at a few Droids and came close to the Matrix. After playing with it for an hour in the store, I decided to stay with Apple.

One of the main things for me was the Itunes player.

Probably better and more customizeable players out there, but I like I tunes.

Then again, Honda makes much more efficient motorcycles than Harley Davidson, but I wouldn't dream of switching brands.

[Resipsa]

like Verizion with exceptional 4G LTE network?). .

Not a knock on you, but 1) Verizon most certainly does NOT have an exceptional 4g network, and

2) Why are people even worrying about that, or thinking about it? Data caps are already in place, are getting more totalitarian by the minute, and people worry about network speed..

Why? You won't ever be able to take advantage of the speed, so why worry about it?

[Lonely Raven]

I've been an Android user for almost 2 years. The Apple apps, as a whole are more polished and can be more user friendly. But I like the idea of open source programming, even though it leads to a lot of sub-par apps on the Android Market. I like the comparison I heard the other day, iPhone is a polished product for the masses, Android is for techie types who like to have some control over their device. :2

I concur. It's basically PC vs Apple, except on phones.

I love my EVO. I just wish it didn't suck down battery juice so badly. I can't make it through a 3 day camping weekend without a solar panel and charger.

[Devanmc]

:dr Bionic. I have the OG Droid and it's been rock solid for almost 2 years. We recently got my wife the Droid 3, she wanted a keyboard because her nails are too long to type accurately on a virtual keyboard, I was scoping out the Bionic and that phone ROCKS!!
True DDR2 RAM...MMMMM.

just wait.. google is supposed to be announcing a Samsung/Google nexus prime(October 11th at some event). Which will have more development support, new android system and higher hardware specs. It should also support google wallet. Which might be a cool feature.

I have a moto bionic. Although its pretty cool. I liked the droid charge for user friendliness, development friendliness(custom ROMS) and it was lighter. MOTO blur is crap, its locked down like a vault and the phone is built pretty cheaply. IE lots of soft plastic.


As for the topic of the I4S. i think the biggest thing bar none that apple needs to do with the IOS firmware is get flash support. Sure i dont use it ofter but its great not to see broken webpages when i need to.

[Devanmc]

Not a knock on you, but 1) Verizon most certainly does NOT have an exceptional 4g network, and

2) Why are people even worrying about that, or thinking about it? Data caps are already in place, are getting more totalitarian by the minute, and people worry about network speed..

Why? You won't ever be able to take advantage of the speed, so why worry about it?

on the contrary. The LTE network is exceptional if you are in an area with it. I have an unlimited data plan as im grandfathered in. I use to for my downloads on campus as not to get into trouble. Even with a USB phone tether my phone is 10x faster then my dorms internet. Verizon also hasnt been able to throttle LTE yet. So even if i go threw 10gb in a week(just an example), they cant slow me down other then to kick me off which they wont do.

[irratebass]

This is a good site to see what new phones are coming out on the horizon:

http://www.phonearena.com/

[CigarNut]

...As for the topic of the I4S. i think the biggest thing bar none that apple needs to do with the IOS firmware is get flash support...I don't think that will ever happen. Apple is looking for HTML 5 to solve this problem for them.

[MikeyC]

just wait.. google is supposed to be announcing a Samsung/Google nexus prime(October 11th at some event). Which will have more development support, new android system and higher hardware specs. It should also support google wallet. Which might be a cool feature.

I have a moto bionic. Although its pretty cool. I liked the droid charge for user friendliness, development friendliness(custom ROMS) and it was lighter. MOTO blur is crap, its locked down like a vault and the phone is built pretty cheaply. IE lots of soft plastic.


As for the topic of the I4S. i think the biggest thing bar none that apple needs to do with the IOS firmware is get flash support. Sure i dont use it ofter but its great not to see broken webpages when i need to.

on the contrary. The LTE network is exceptional if you are in an area with it. I have an unlimited data plan as im grandfathered in. I use to for my downloads on campus as not to get into trouble. Even with a USB phone tether my phone is 10x faster then my dorms internet. Verizon also hasnt been able to throttle LTE yet. So even if i go threw 10gb in a week(just an example), they cant slow me down other then to kick me off which they wont do.

I have a Charge and my wife just got the Bionic. I couldn't agree with you more . . . two GREAT phones. I don't jailbreak my phones ever so the fact that the Bionic is locked down is not an issue for me. I do find though that the Bionic is a little smoother likely due to the faster processor. So for me, I wish I had the Bionic. As far as data network, there's no comparison between 3G and LTE. The data is so much faster and I actually don't mind surfing the internet on my Charge and the apps work so much faster. The bigger screen is an improvement as well. It's easy to see web pages and reading emails is not a problem at all.

As a former iPhone user, I can honestly say I STRONGLY prefer the Droid platform. I was thinking the new iPhone would make me regret the switch but I'm happy to say . . . the 4S catches Apple up to what Google phones have been doing for quite some time now and not even all the way. Maybe when the 5 comes out it'll be a closer contest.

[Resipsa]

on the contrary. The LTE network is exceptional if you are in an area with it. I have an unlimited data plan as im grandfathered in. I use to for my downloads on campus as not to get into trouble. Even with a USB phone tether my phone is 10x faster then my dorms internet. Verizon also hasnt been able to throttle LTE yet. So even if i go threw 10gb in a week(just an example), they cant slow me down other then to kick me off which they wont do.
With the weightlessness and all I've heard playing basketball on the moon is great too

The network doesn't do most people much good since it's not in a lot of areas yet

And they don't need to throttle you, youre misunderstanding either the issue or the technology


Throttling refers to the speed of the network, like a governor on a car engine

Data caps limit how much data you can download, regardless of network speed.

Verizon has a 2 gb cap for most people. Streaming. A hd movie would blow through that cap in mere minutes on a lte network

[MiamiE]

I left my iPhone in NYC so ill be upgrading.

[Devanmc]

With the weightlessness and all I've heard playing basketball on the moon is great too

The network doesn't do most people much good since it's not in a lot of areas yet

And they don't need to throttle you, youre misunderstanding either the issue or the technology


Throttling refers to the speed of the network, like a governor on a car engine

Data caps limit how much data you can download, regardless of network speed.

Verizon has a 2 gb cap for most people. Streaming. A hd movie would blow through that cap in mere minutes on a lte network

On that side of the coin i agree. If you are upgrading to a smart phone and have a data cap or are not living in a LTE are. Its a moot point because either to dont have it or will use so much data so quickly. :tu

as for the throttling, yes i understand what it means.What i was refering to is that. If you are grandfathers into unlimited data. Verizon starts throttling your network data speed above 5gb on the 3g network. If i remember correctly. But they are unable to do this on LTE as of yet.

[shilala]

Verizon has a 2 gb cap for most people. Streaming. A hd movie would blow through that cap in mere minutes on a lte network
...Which makes LTE moot, and only further announces Verizon's senselessness.
They have the Reverse Midas touch. Everything they lay their hands on turns to sh1t.

[Devanmc]

...Which makes LTE moot, and only further announces Verizon's senselessness.
They have the Reverse Midas touch. Everything they lay their hands on turns to sh1t.

its a tiered systemwith 2, 5 and 8gb options. Att is doing the same to new smart phone customers. so im not sure why it makes only Verizon senseless.

[shilala]

its a tiered systemwith 2, 5 and 8gb options. Att is doing the same to new smart phone customers. so im not sure why it makes only Verizon senseless.
Use math. Compare the throughput, data options that it serves, and figure out what it will cost to actually use it an any manner that would take advantage of it's (theoretical) speed and throughput.
It's like filling a quart jar with a firehouse and charging 10 bucks every time you get a drink.

[Devanmc]

Use math. Compare the throughput, data options that it serves, and figure out what it will cost to actually use it an any manner that would take advantage of it's (theoretical) speed and throughput.
It's like filling a quart jar with a firehouse and charging 10 bucks every time you get a drink.

fair enough, it was really a silly idea.

[DPD6030]

I guess my son isn't getting my iPhone 4 like he thought!!!

oh come on dad you promised me!

[floydpink]

all this NFC and LTE talk. I remember actually having this model and thinking I was cutting edge and my parent's house had a rotary;

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc266/rastapete69/celphone.jpg

[Devanmc]

all this NFC and LTE talk. I remember actually having this model and thinking I was cutting edge and my parent's house had a rotary;

http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/cc266/rastapete69/celphone.jpg

this was my first
http://www.dr-fix-it.com/graphics/freephone01.gif
I now have
http://www.computerworld.com/common/images/site/features/2011/01/droid_bionic_338.jpg

I hate the bionic so much right now. I might actually get the nexus prime after its been out a month or so...

nexus prime will be both LTE and NFC. :r

[MurphysLaw]

So back on topic, I'll be buying the 4s for my wife to replace her 3GS. She's overdue for an upgrade and she probably won't notice when I swap my iPhone 4 with her 4s after a few days :r