The lowdown
Apple yesterday gave iPhone fanboys plenty to geek out about. The most noticeable change on the iPhone 4S is the bigger screen, which has switched to a 16:9 ratio, the same as widescreen TVs, designed to improve the experience of watching movies on the go. This will also add an extra “row” of icons to the homepage, taking the total to 20, plus the dock. The basic design of the unit shares a lot in common with the 4S, constructed entirely from glass and aluminium, with familiar physical volume, mute, home and lock buttons.
The firm says the new device, which comes packed with an A6 chip, will run twice as fast as the previous version. Apple has squeezed the extras into a thinner chassis – just 7.6mm – and it is also 20 per cent lighter than the iPhone 4S. The battery life is similar to the previous generation, with 240 hours of standby, 10 hours of calls and eight hours of mobile internet.
As expected, Apple has ditched the 30-pin cable from previous generations of iPhone and iPad, opting for a new Lightning cable (to go with its Thunderbolt cable). The camera uses the same basic hardware as the (very good) iPhone 4S, but new software means low-light photography will be improved. It’s an upgrade on the previous version, but will it be enough to keep the fans happy?
The iPhone 5 is available to pre-order on 14 September and will ship in the UK on 21 September.