Apple Announces The iPhone 4S, Pre-Order It This Friday, No iPhone 5 Yet

published: 2011-10-04 13:08:28

The good news is, the new iPhone has been announced! There’s also good news for Sprint subscribers who have been hoping for an iPhone. The less than exciting news is that, rather than an iPhone 5, Apple is releasing the iPhone 4S, which has some upgraded features to the previously released iPhone 4, including a better camera.

What and When
The new iPhone 4S will be available for pre-order on Friday, October 7th and out on October 14th! It comes in both black and white.

Upgrades
Engadget was there to hear Tim Cook’s presentation about the much anticipated new phone. They live-blogged the whole thing, posting numerous pictures and updates as the presentation went on. The iPhone 4S boasts a “a dual-core A5 CPU inside alongside a new dual-core GPU that supposedly boosts graphics performance by up to 7x.” The front has a 3.5-inch Retina display. There’s an 8-megapixel camera with improved visuals and a better lens (5-elemt assembly with a hybrid IR filter and apertures as low as f/2.4). Videos are also said to be better with the new phone. Engadget breaks down the upgrades in further detail here.

The new iPhone also comes with a Siri virtual assistant, which is voice-controlled. According to the live-blog, the demonstration for this showed a man running while setting up meetings. “Dude didn’t even have to lose his stride.” So, if you’ve been forgoing the gym because you can’t get away from work, it sounds like this could remedy that issue.

The Price.
On the subject of the older iPhone’s cost, Engadget says the iPhone 3GS will be free (with contract), while the iPhone 4 will drop down to $99 for the 8GB phone. The cost of thew new iPhone is $199 for the 16GB ($299/32GB, $399/64GB) with a contract. So, if the new iPhone 4S just isn’t doing it for you, you have the option to save some money by going with the iPhone 4, or the free iPhone 3GS.

Sprint
As Engadget reports, you’ll no longer have just Verizon or AT&T to choose from if you want an iPhone. Sprint subscribers will be able to pre-order the iPhone 4S on October 7th (with the phone becoming available on October 14th).

Will you get an iPhone 4S?

Here's the link to the Apple Store. Pre-Ordering doesn't begin until October 7th. In the meantime, the site does offer a way to show you if you're due for an upgrade through Verizon or AT&T.