Yesterday, Apple announced the 5S, 5C and affirmed the 4S would be the current line up of iPhones for the next 12 months.
The Keynote speech was very slick, making the 5S seem state of the art. Faster processor and graphics, lead in turn to a much better camera and a fingerprint scanner that actually is useful instead of gimmicky. Combine this new hardware, plus a new colour gold, with iOS 7 and you have one very slick phone.
In a rather clever move, the current 5 was dropped and replaced by a polycarbonate plastic colour phone. This looks rather funky. It is amazing how Apple has seemingly made plastic cool! The old 4S provides a cheap way to jump on to the iPhone bandwagon.
Personally, I think the 5C will be the biggest seller by miles. I also believe the 5S is a notable upgrade on the hardware front and iOS 7 will make it a really beautiful phone. But it is expensive.
But, look carefully at the technical specs. The battery life on 3G networks and standby time really needs improving. Some people may squeal at the 4 inch screen and comment it is too small, but really what other phone provides such tight integration of hardware and software.
What surprised me about the keynote yesterday is the lack of detail on iOS 7. It features 96 new SKUs. New third party accessory support is significant. But hardly anything was mentioned. There are 200 new features on iOS 7 but only a sample were discussed. As they say, the devil is in the detail and I think only over time we will see what other new options appear.
Unlike previous times, I won’t be pre ordering the new iPhone or standing in a queue for hours. I accept the fingerprint scanner is a great idea, but I want real life proof of the camera quality. If the camera is significantly enhanced then I might consider the 5S.
But I am also going to check out the Note 3, Sony Z1 and Nokia Lumia 1020.
Now will you be buying a 5S or 5C? If the 5C, what colour and why? Or if you are not buying this, why?
