Apple unveils new iPhone 5S and 5C

As you’ve no doubt noticed, the internet has been going frantic this past week in anticipation of Apple’s latest and greatest iPhone announcement.  There have been rumors and leaks and complicated stock market analyses—all of it leading up to today.  So what exactly was announced?

1. The iPhone 5S

As expected, the iPhone 5S is the newest addition to Apple’s product line.  It comes in slate, gold and silver, and has a little ring around the home button that everyone is currently very excited about.  This ring is none other than the rumored Touch ID sensor, which scans your fingerprint in order to unlock your phone.  This can also be used to access other apps without the use of a password.  The 5S uses a brand new A7 processor, which is the first ever 64-bit chip on a smartphone.  This means it will be over twice as fast in speed.  It also has an M7 coprocessor which can tell apps if you are stationary, walking or driving.  As far as battery life goes, it has up to 10 hours of 3G talk time and 250 hours of standby available, which is also a step up from the iPhone 5.

To give everyone yet another reason to be jealous of people taking pictures on an iPhone, the camera features several improvements as well.  For example, it sets white balance and exposure automatically.  When you take a photo, it has the ability to take multiple photos and choose from the best.  It has something called “true tone flash” which utilizes both the usual white flash and a warmer, amber flash that can be combined in over 1000 unique variations to get the perfect-looking flash.  It has auto image stabilization, a burst mode of 10 frames per second, and a 28-pixel panorama feature that adjusts exposure level automatically as it pans.   It takes HD Video at 120 fps and can take slow motion video.  So basically, it’s one of the most beautiful, most epic smartphone cameras in existence.

The 5S will be $199 for 16GB, $299 for 32GB, and $399 for 64 GB.  Preorders will begin this Friday, exactly one week before its official release.

2. iPhone 5C

Whenever Apple introduced a new iPhone in past years, the current, soon-to-be-outdated model would see a price cut while the new model quickly took over.  This time, rather than go that route, Apple decided to replace the iPhone 5 completely.  For those looking forward to getting their hands on a cheaper iPhone 5, don’t worry!  You’ll want to check out the new iPhone 5C.  If you’ve seen the leaked images of colorful, plastic-looking iPhones on the internet, you’ll know what I’m talking about.  The main idea with this model is affordability—hence the plastic.  A 16GB model will cost only $99, while the 32GB will be $199.  They come in green, white, blue, pink, and yellow, and will be very similar to the iPhone 5 with the exception of a better camera and more battery life.  As with the iPhone 5S, look for this to release on September 20th.

3. iOS 7

We’ve been patiently awaiting the release of Apple’s newest mobile operating system for a while now, and we officially have a date—September 18.  While many are still on the fence about the design aspects of iOS7, there’s no arguing that it brings some exciting new possibilities to the table.  With over 200 features (you read that right!) it is without a doubt the largest overhaul we’ve seen so far.  Among the many improvements are things such as a more convenient search, better multitasking abilities, a new lock screen/control center, improved camera features (which includes built-in filters), Air Drop capability (which allows you to share content instantly with people nearby), and something called iTunes Radio (which works almost identical to Pandora).  Be on the lookout for the free update—available for iPhone 4 and later, iPad 2 and later, the iPad Mini and the iPod Touch 5th generation—next Wednesday.

4. iWork + iPhoto + iMovie

With the launch of a new iCloud beta in late July, users were able to use productivity apps such as Pages, Keynote, and Numbers—collectively referred to as iWork—entirely free from their web browser.  Experts began to speculate that this suite would be included free with the new iOS, and what do you know—not only will iWork be available for free on any iOS device, but so will iPhoto and iMovie.  As of right now, you can head to the App Store and download all five without cost.

If you want to know more in-depth details about these announcements, check out the hour and a half keynote from this afternoon.