After a long build-up, the iPhone 4S has now been released and the consensus is that it has been a little underwhelming. The iPhone 4S price is reasonable and that will probably mean that despite being underwhelming, it will surely be a hit, especially considering the pre-order numbers we have seen reported from AT&T.
The upgrades that have seen are mostly internal upgrades. The camera has been given a boost from 5 megapixel to 8 megapixel and allow for full HD video recording. The iPhone 4S will now be using the same dual-core A5 processor as the iPad 2.
One thing missing that we were hoping for in this release was 4G capability. It looks like this will be slated for release with the iPhone 5.
A nice feature that may impress many is the inclusion of Siri, the voice activated personal assistant as they call it. This feature will allow you schedule appointments, write notes and other things using your natural voice. How well it works remains to be seen once we are able to test it.
The iPhone 4S has the exact same physical design to the iPhone 4. There were rumours floating around prior to the launch that we would see a thinner phone and bigger display, but unfortunately this has not been the case.
Apple claim that the camera in the iPhone 4S is the best 8 megapixel camera available because it has a backside-illuminated (BIS) CMOS sensor. This is a type of sensor allows it to gather more light and therefore performs better in low-light photography situations without the need for a flash. They also claim the iPhone 4S has 30 percent more sharpness due to the use of a lens which has five elements. It also has a F2.4 lens which is a wider aperture than most other phones.
Some nice little improvements but nothing major. It’s now a waiting game to see what the iPhone 4S plans are from each of the carriers to make your decision to upgrade.