What is New in iOS 8 release date, news and features

 

Update: There's reason to believe iOS 8 will be out on September 10 if Apple follows its usual pattern. We added this information under the release date section.
Apple spent a significant amount of its WWDC 2014 keynote focusing on iOS 8, which takes the flat iOS 7 design and only rounds it out with new features.
That means instead of a dramatic redesign, you can expect this year's mobile operating system update to tie everything together with the overarching theme of "convergence."
iOS 8 will feature tighter Mac integration while loosening the restrictions on Apple's Touch ID fingerprint sensor. New software kits are also bringing once fragmented security and health gadgets together.
No, there was no mention of an iPhone 6 at this year's WWDC, but there have been plenty of leaks that tell us the iOS 8-equipped smartphone is likely is around the corner.
Whether or not an iWatch arrives then too, Apple new operating system is at least setting the stage for a new wearable device announcement by the time iOS 8 is ready for public release.

Release date

There's a pretty good chance that iOS 8 will be on the company's servers on Wednesday, September 10.

Compatibility

When it comes to iOS 8 compatibility, Apple requires an iPhone 4S or newer and iPad 2 or newer to update to the latest software. Only the iPhone 4 is cut from the list.
Both the iPads mini and iPad mini 2 tablets and the forever alone iPod touch 5th generation are also going to work with the new iOS, just like they did with iOS 7. No one besides 2010's iPhone 4 gets left behind.
It's important to note that all of these iDevices use Bluetooth 4.0, a low-energy version of the antenna that many wearables require for constant syncing.
There's hardly a more obvious iWatch hint. iOS 8 gets rid of the only device without Bluetooth Low Energy and keeps one that's compatible with Fitbit Flex, Jawbone Up24 and Nike FuelBand SE and, likely, iWatch.

How to download iOS 8 beta

iOS 8 beta 5 is available to download right now, but it's locked behind Apple's iOS developer program that costs $99 a year (about £58, AU$105 a year).
That's a small price to pay for app developers who are making money, but it's not meant for curious Apple fans looking for an early upgrade to new features.

It costs money and it's best to wait

iOS 8 is buggy and unfinished right now and beta 5 isn't likely to introduce enough fixes to warrant a try. There's also a non-disclosure agreement attached to the program, so you can only brag so much.
Worst of all, not all features are enabled. It's best to wait until the more stable iOS 8 Gold Master version arrives one week before the predicted September 10 release date.

Touch ID for all

Apple's fingerprint scanner has been limited to bypassing the lockscreen and buying iTunes Store content, but iOS 8 changes all of that as app developers get access to the five-digit login tool.
All sorts of apps will be able to use the biometric scanning home button instead of pesky passcodes. So far this only applies to the iPhone 5S, but Touch ID is likely to come to the iPhone 6, iPad Air 2, and iPad mini 3 later this year.

Forgetting your password may be a thing of the past

At WWDC, banking service Mint.com illustrated how third-party Touch ID authentication will expand beyond its lockscreen and iTunes confines.
PayPal sent its developers to Apple's Touch ID session at the conference, meaning all of your eBay and e-commerce transactions may be complete with the touch of the home button when upgrading to iOS 8.
Imagine, "Forget password" becoming a thing of the past as the pores in your fingertips act as a much more unique method of protecting your valuable data.
This Touch ID convenience is on top of the fact that iOS 8 is slated to scan credit cards via an iPhone or iPad camera and automatically fill in the details to make online shopping easier.
Of course, Apple went out of its way to say that even though you trust many app developers with your bank account data, they won't have access to your biometric information. It's locked away in the A7 processor.

iOS 8 camera time-lapse mode

Believe it or not, the iPhone is consistently the most used camera in the world. It's in so many hands and so easy to use. In iOS 8, the camera app is going to get even better.
Apple added a time-lapse camera mode to iOS 8 beta 1 in order to help users capture extended moments and automatically speed up the video with a higher frame rate.

Condensing everything road trips to candles burning down to their wick to just a few seconds in demoed in the YouTube video above.
iOS 8's time lapse mode is basically the opposite of the slow motion video recording option at 120 frames per second that Apple added to iOS 7 last year.

SMS and phone calls on Mac

iMessages has been a wonderful cross-compatible tool for chatting on iOS devices and Macs - at least until you try to leave your iPhone behind for an Android.

iOS 8 SMS messages will finally appear on your iPad and Mac computer

Apple deserters, however, may be lured back to iOS 8 with SMS and voice calls being folded into iPads and Macs, just like blue iMessages currently pop up on Apple tablets and computers.
It's a pain to have to fetch your phone for a single SMS from an Android user, especially when you're sitting in front of a 13-inch MacBook Air screen that's fully capable of handling text messages and phone calls.

Incoming phone calls can be answered on the tablet or computer too

Of course, enabling text messages and phone calls to a Mac requires upgrading it to the newly announced OS X Yosemite, but that's a piece of cake since it'll be free and arrive around the same time as iOS 8.

Handoff and WiFi hotspot

iOS 8 and OS X Yosemite are going to be joined at the hip with the Handoff feature that lets you pick up where you left off between devices.
Starting a project or email on an iPad or iPhone will let you finish the task on a Mac with no annoying overlap. There's no need to reopen windows or rewrite text on the computer. And it goes the other way, too, from a Mac to a an iOS 8 device.

Finish that email on the computer or on the road seamlessly

What if you don't have access to the internet on your computer or iPad to get the job done? That's where the Instant HotSpot feature will come into play, easing the messy personal hotspot setup of iOS 7.
The one problem with this joint iOS 8-Yosemite feature is that it may require you to own a fairly new Mac. Handoff has been tipped to be not be compatible with Apple computers that pre-date Bluetooth 4.0.

Group messages with voice and video

Group messages is also being enhanced for iOS 8 thanks to new features. You'll be able to add and drop people from conversations and silence non-stop incoming message annoyances via a group-specific Do Not Disturb toggle.
Sharing your location for a set period of time is also going to be a part of iMessages, essentially forking over the concept from Apple's underused Friend My Friends app.

Sharing your location with friends is great for big, crowded outings. Never again say 'I'm my this big tent thing. Do you see me? No? It's big. And a tent.'

Location sharing, when it was part of the standalone app, was ideal for meeting up in a crowded location like a baseball stadium or concert, and now it'll get more use within iMessages.
Multimedia within iOS 8's iMessages app should be more useful too. Inline voice and video messages with Snapchat-like clips that self-destruct are coming to this mobile OS update.

Interactive notifications

For the times when you do actually respond to texts and calendar reminders on your phone instead of a Mac computer, iOS 8 adds convenient interactive notifications.

Respond with an 'On my way' lie, reply with an excuse to get out of dinner, snooze on picking up James - all from the lockscreen

Like OS X Mavericks, these notifications can be dealt with in a few simple taps thanks to inline responses. There's no need to mess with the lock screen in order to take action right away.
iOS notifications have come a long way from taking up the entire middle of our phone screens, and iOS 8 makes them feel like even less of a nuisance.

Quicktype keyboard

Apple claims its iOS 8 keyboard is its "smartest keyboard ever," and there's no reason to doubt that since its Quicktype feature adds highly-requested predictive texting that's akin to SwiftKey and Swype.
The candidate row appears above the keyboard with three word-finishing suggestions and then next-word best guesses. It even varies depending on the app that's open to match your tone for each, from casual iMessages to formal emails.

Apple's Quicktype (left) finally offers suggestions, while Swype (right) does all that and more

If someone asks you a question, Quicktype will also automatically offer choices like "Yes" and "No" and, optionally, learn your contacts to spell everyone's name correctly.
Better yet, Apple won't limit users to its pre-installed keyboard via developer "extensions."

iOS 8 extensions

Extensions open up iOS 8 to Android's best input methods: Swype appeared at WWDC and SwiftKey confirmed that it's breaking free of its SwiftKey Note standalone app confines.
Other third-party extensions let users tinker with the default sharing options, photo editing tools, custom actions and notification center widgets.

The 1Password extension makes it simple with Touch ID

The 1Password extension goes as far as opening up the company's powerful password manager to you without the need to exit the app to open its standalone app. It simply uses Touch ID to get the job done.
Before, you had to close the app that required a password you forgot, open up 1Password's standalone app, copy the password, go back into the original app and paste in the password.
There's always a lot of potential when a platform as large as Apple's opens up its ecosystem to outside developers. Look at what it did to the App Store.
Extensions by forward-thinking developers may be long overdue, but it'll finally be here in a few weeks thanks to iOS 8.

iCloud may actually be useful

Prior to today, there was very little reason to use the ridiculously small 5GB of free space Apple included with iCloud. It was always easier to use a more capable and less expensive Dropbox account.
That all changes when iOS 8 launches alongside iCloud Drive, Apple's new rival to Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, Microsoft OneDrive and the dozens of other file sharing services that have sprung up in recent years.

Files in your iPad. Just don't expect music. You go to iTunes for that! Bring money!

It still costs money over the 5GB limit, but at least more file types can be stored and synced. This includes documents, presentations, spreadsheets, PDFs and images.
What's really cool about the forthcoming iCloud-enabled iOS Photos app is that every picture and every edit is saved across all of your Apple devices automatically. Better yet, there are new tools and filters in iOS 8 and it'll work on the web.

iOS 8 Family Sharing

Maybe you'll be more willing to buy into iCloud Drive knowing that you're going to save money thanks to Apple's new Family Sharing feature that's part of iOS 8.
All iTunes, iBooks and App Store purchases on the same credit card can be shared among a total of six people in your family. That beats having to sneakily exchange passwords.

You share genes, so why not iTunes content?

New parental controls force kids to ask your permission before aimlessly downloading expensive apps. This "Ask to Buy" feature beams a message to your device, so you don't need to be the fun-depriving "bad guy" in person.
Other Family Sharing perks include collaborative photo albums, calendars and optional locating sharing. You can find your mom or dad and that iPhone they always misplace with this extension of Find My Friends and Find My iPhone.

'Send Last Location' for Find My iPhone

iOS 8 expands the geolocation capabilities of Find My iPhone with Family Sharing and Find My Friends by integrating it into iMessages, but in true Apple fashion, "that's not all."
A "Send Last Location" feature is being added so that your GPS coordinates are backed up to iCloud whenever your battery life is critical.

A new iOS 8 setting for when your iPhone or iPad battery is critical

Right before your iPhone or iPad battery shuts off, the last thing the device does is pinpoint where you left it, whether it's between the couch cushions or still in the car.
This handy iOS 8 beta 1 setting joins the real-time tracking, sonar-like ringing, message sending, device locking and, as a last resort, iPhone-wiping features of Find My iPhone.

Health app

Apple didn't announce an iWatch-tied Healthbook app at WWDC, but it did unveil a more plainly named Health app and the developer-focused HealthKit API.
It's intended to bring together all of the fragmented health and fitness gadgets into one secure location, whether the fitness device deals with your heart rate, calories burned, blood sugar and cholesterol.

Track calories burned, sleep, nutrition and more with the Health app

Even without a separate fitness device, Apple's iPhone 5S M7 co-processor calculates steps and distance traveled, and iPhone 6 may make room for new barometer and air pressure sensors, according to the latest beta.
Beta 3 also adds a caffeine intake tracking as a nutritional category, which is similar to the Jawbone Up Coffee iOS app. For extra protection, there's an emergency card accessible from the lock screen.
Nike and the MayoClinic are on board with HealthKit in order to deposit health stats into the centralized Health app, and Withings' Blood Pressure Monitor was a part of Apple's WWDC presentation.
The more that existing products like the Fitbit Force and Jawbone Up24 join this initiative, the more iOS 8 users will find this to be the health equivalent to Apple's coupon and ticket stub-collecting Passbook.

HomeKit

Apple also plans to tie together smart home electronics with its HomeKit framework for connected devices so that you control everything without getting up off the couch.

Everything but Nest was mentioned, of course

Locking doors, turning off lights, adjusting the thermostat and shutting the garage won't even require tapping your iPhone 5S touchscreen, it turns out.
Instead, these actions can be triggered with Siri voice commands as simple as saying "Siri, I'm going to bed" in order for the computerized assistant to put you into something of a human "safe mode."

Siri and Spotlight updates

Siri does more than look after the house and save you on your electricity bill. Apple's voice assistant is going to start responding to "Hey Siri" as soon as you update to iOS 8.
This safer, hands-free way of activating Siri is joined by the service's ability to identify songs using Shazam's recognition software, purchase iTunes content and recognize up to 22 languages.

Search, whether it's by voice or spotlight, is faster than ever

Siri is also going to become a better listener with iOS 8 thanks to streaming voice recognition. Now the wavy lines and words that appear on screen will match what you're saying in near-real-time.
When voice search isn't feasible in a loud environment, you can turn to the more reliable iOS 8 Spotlight. Like its OS X Yosemite counterpart, it searches Wikipedia, the news, nearby places, the App Store and more.
Finding things, whether it's via Siri or Spotlight, shouldn't be a problem in iOS 8, as Apple is finally taking on Google's handy voice search.

Location-based lock screen apps

If you're anything like us you have hundreds of apps, but finding the right one at the right time can sometimes mean sifting through folders and that's if you even remember it exists. But with iOS 8 certain apps will appear in the bottom left corner of the lock screen based on where you are at a particular time.

Early examples people have found include apps for the Apple Store, Starbucks and train stations, when near each of those things. You can then get quick access to those apps by simply swiping them upwards.
It seems that it can also make you aware of new apps as sometimes the icon will be for an app that you don't have and will instead take you to its page on the App Store. It's a minor feature perhaps, but one which could save time and help users make purchases and access location-specific information.

iOS 8 split-screen mode in the code

Apple didn't announce the rumored split-screen functionality when introducing iOS 8 in June, but it may be saving the unveiling as a "One more thing" for the software's final release.
iOS 8 beta 3 code points to true multitasking on an iPad, according to leaks from developers. Apps can run side-by-side in 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 sizes.

Oh snap mode! I'll be able to read TechRadar and GamesRadar at the same time!

There's no telling whether or not a split-screen mode will end up in future iOS 8 beta versions or the final software, but Apple certainly appears to be toying with the idea.
After all, its competitors have had the feature up-and-running for some time. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S has multi-window mode and Microsoft Surface 3 has snap mode. Like copy-and-paste a few years ago, iOS users are left envying others.

Features being saved for iOS 9?

There's a lot going on with iOS 8, but chief among the changes Apple failed to implement officially is true split-screen multitasking, which Samsung and LG have offered on their Android tablets and larger phones.
Public transit directions via Apple Maps is missing in action as well, and Google Maps is benefiting the most from this. Hopefully its implementation was delayed to iOS 8.1 instead of next year's iOS 9.
Apps for photo previews and a TextEdit application, also previously rumored for WWDC 2014, didn't make an appearance either, and the status of Game Center is still unknown. Apple hasn't killed it off just yet.
As the almost complete iOS 8 beta updates with new features, there are bound to be more surprises leading up to the Gold Master and official release date, likely September 10.
Coupled with iPhone 6 and an iWatch, it should be enough to keep Apple users from defecting to Android, even with the new Android Wear watches launched at Google IO 2014.

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HOW TO JAILBREAK 7.0.4 UNTETHERED IPHONE 5S, 5C, IPHONE 4S, IPAD AIR, MINI 2, IPOD TOUCH EVASI0N 7

Today arguably marks the most exciting day in Jailbreak history! The evad3rs have finally released the public version of evasi0n7: the first and only Untethered jailbreak utility for iOS 6, which not only supports Apple’s latest iOS 7.0.4 firmware, but also 7.0, 7.0.1, 7.0.2 and 7.0.3. Furthermore, all iOS 7-based devices are supported, including the iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C, iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPad Air, iPad mini, iPad mini 2, iPad 3, iPad 2.

First, before we proceed, you will need the following:

• One of the iOS-based devices listed above running either iOS 7, 7.0.1, 7.0.2, 7.0.4 or 7.0.4 that hasn’t been upgraded via Apple’s over the air (OTA) update feature. If you did perform an over the air update, simply back up your device via iTunes, restore to the latest iOS 7.0.4 firmware, complete this tutorial to Jailbreak and then restore from your iTunes backup to retrieve your data.
• Evasi0n 7 (available in the download section below)

Steps (for Mac and Windows users):

1. Open the evasi0n 7 utility after downloading it and place the Jailbreak in an easy-to-access location on your computer – I  recommend the desktop.

2. After running evasi0n 7, connect your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to your computer via a USB cable, unlock your device and click “Jailbreak”.

3. When prompted, unlock your iOS-based device, as shown in the video, and tap the evasi0n 7 icon once.

Untethered: Your iOS-based device is Untethered, which means you won’t be required to plug in via a USB cable and re-run a portion of the utility every time you wish to reboot – simply power youriPhone, iPod touch or iPad off and back on again.

Congratulations, you now have an Untethered Jailbreak on iOS 7, 7.0.1, 7.0.2, 7.0.3 or 7.0.4!

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iPhone 5S review: the same, yet different

iPhone 5S review: the same, yet Differentent

We got two iPhones this year. The lesser model, the 5C, is ideal for those who want an iPhone but want to save a Benjamin and have color choices beyond the typical black or white. The premium model, the 5S, is ideal for those who want the best iPhone. It’s the same as the outgoing iPhone 5, save for three areas: CPU, camera, and fingerprint security. Oh, and there’s a new gold color if you want to stand out a bit. Are such minor improvements enough to satisfy the increasingly demanding smartphone buyer? Read our full iPhone 5S review to find out!

Specs & Hardware

In terms of specs, the iPhone 5S has the same display as the 5C and the 5, though in fact we’ve found the screen brightness to be slightly, slightly less for some reason on the 5S compared to the other two devices. It’s not enough to impact usability, but it deserves a mention. The panel is a 1136×640 326PPI LCD component at 4.0″. The phone’s powered by a 1.3GHz Apple A7 64-bit CPU with a PowerVR G6430 GPU and features 1GB of RAM. There’s a separate processing element called the M7 coprocessor that effectively takes a burden off of the main CPU when it comes to measuring movement. The camera on the rear is capable of 8MP shots and 1080p video, and the camera on the front takes 1.2MP photos and 720p video. It has Bluetooth 4.0, 802.11 b/g/n, aGPS, plus an accelerometer and gyroscope. Powering everything is a battery of size 5.92 watt-hours or 1560mAh, which is 10% larger than the iPhone 5.

The only way you know it’s an iPhone 5S from the front and not a 5 is by the ring around the home button, which contains the fingerprint sensor. More on that later.

If you get the Space Gray iPhone 5S, the home button is surrounded by a black metal ring, so it doesn’t stand out as much as the gold and silver versions which have a gold and silver metal ring, respectively.

As a nice surprise, the speaker of the 5S is significantly louder and more clear than that of the iPhone 5. We’d place it second in terms of loudness only to the HTC One.

The beveled edges, one of the hallmarks of the iPhone 5/5S’s beautiful design, are still here. We hope that Apple has made changes to the aluminum on the 5S to make it more durable against scratches and nicks. Our Durability Report for the iPhone 5 was not favorable.

Index

Software & Touch ID

You know iOS 7 by now, so we’re not going to cover it in detail. There’s no difference between the software on the iPhone 5/5C and the iPhone 5S except two things: the camera app, which now has slow-motion and burst capture (shown in more detail below), and Touch ID, which we’ll cover now.

Touch ID is a great example of Apple taking a feature that has existed before in relatively poor execution (think Motorola Atrix) and doing it right. We say “right” because Touch ID works so quickly in recognizing your print that it’s almost faster than sliding to unlock your phone. When you’re unlocking your phone, for example, you press the home button to wake the phone, rest your finger on the home button for about 3/4 of a second, and your icons fly in. That’s it.

You set it up through Settings>General>Passcode & Fingerprint. You cannot use Touch ID without a PIN. Once you set that up, the phone asks you to touch the fingerprint sensor multiple times. Setting up a finger takes a minute, and you can have up to five fingers stored on the phone, whether your own or your spouses, etc. Because the Touch ID data is stored on the phone and not the cloud, if you get a new phone you’ll have to set up your fingerprints again.

The problem with Touch ID is that its use is limited to 1) unlocking your phone and 2) buying apps from the app store. It doesn’t work in the Apple store app, Find my Friends (again, an Apple-made app), or any third party apps. It would be terrific to use Touch ID instead of entering a password for banking apps, website passwords, and more.

Ultimately, Touch ID is going to be a godsend for people that use a PIN on their phone or are required to do so for work. It saves seconds and also feels pretty futuristic in use.

Index

Camera

We’ve been impressed by the iPhone’s camera with each passing generation. Resulting photos are often well balanced, free of noise, and just really nice whether viewed from a phone display or zoomed in to reveal detail on a high resolution PC monitor. But there was always one area where the iPhone’s camera was trumped, especially this year: low light performance. So in response, Apple has increase the sensor size and given the 5S’s lens an aperture of f/2.2. Along with that, it added a second amber flash in an attempt to reduce instances of bright-white photos taken with an overzealous flash. The claim is that this dual-tone flash (or, True Tone, as Apple has branded it), can fire in 1000 different combinations depending on ambient light conditions to help match the color temperature and make the flash look more natural. Below we’ll look at whether this makes a difference in practice.

Also new to the camera are some software features. The iPhone 5S has 120fps slow-motion mode, as well as a burst-shot mode that can help you get a perfect picture in high action shooting situations. Both burst shot and slow-motion mode are not new to smartphones in general, we should add, so this is a bit of playing catch up.

But in typical Apple style, the implementation of these features are particularly well-done and fun to use. Like with slow-motion video (which only records in 720p), you can specify which part of the video is in slow-motion by sliding the bars, as seen above.

And here’s some sample video taken with the 5S with the slow-motion feature. Getting the slow-motion video off your camera is odd. You can iMessage it, transfer it to iMovie on a mac, email it, or upload it to YouTube. Using file manager won’t maintain the 120FPS.

And with burst shooting, you can enter this Favorites picker where the phone can (rather poorly) try to determine the best photo, or you can pick the ones you like and discard the rest. This is great for action shots.

Above you’ll find some sample daylight shots taken with the iPhone 5S. Overall the photos came out spectacularly with proper color saturation, minimal noise, and excellent contrast.

And here are a bunch of low-light photos snapped with the iPhone 5S. Images on the left within each set was snapped with flash, and the one on the right with no flash. While the camera does indeed do pretty well with low light, it’s not as good compared to the HTC One or Nokia Lumia 1020. Also, the True Tone flash didn’t make a huge difference in avoiding bright white shots, but it did help a bit.

Performance

Apple claims that the 5S, with its 64-bit (capable) A7 CPU is twice as fast as its predecessor. Apple also claims that it’s 40x faster than the original iPhone, but we find it a bit ridiculous to compare any piece of technology to one that existed six years ago. The 5S also support OpenGL ES 3.0 (like Android 4.3) which gives game developers a better shot at making a console-quality game in terms of graphics. The A7 is a 28nm chip (versus 32nm on the iPhone 5′s A6) which means that it’s more power efficient. It’s a dual-core 1.2GHz CPU that comes with 1GB DDR3 RAM, versus 1GB DDR2 RAM from the iPhone 5.

By our count, just two apps have been updated to work with the 64-bit architecture: Infinity Blade III and djay 2. Both offer incredible graphics and super smooth performance. We can’t imagine a world in which apps like Facebook and Instagram are upgraded for the A7 CPU and the resulting improvement in performance is huge, but it’ll be interesting to see more game developers upgrade their apps, because that’s where the real  improvements happen.

Day to day performance is exactly one beat faster (can you quantify a beat?) than the iPhone 5. You can really see this in our iPhone 5S vs iPhone 5 comparison. That means that generally apps will open slightly faster, games load a bit faster, and web pages appear with less hesitation. Does this really contribute to the experience? Not really. It’s indeed better, but marginally.

In terms of network performance, we got typical LTE speeds over AT&T’s network with download speeds averaging in the 20-30Mbps range with bursts to near 50Mbps, while upload speeds averaged 8-12Mbps with bursts into the high teens. WiFi performance was also good, though we wish the iPhone 5S supported the latest 802.11ac standard.

Battery Life

The 5.92 watt-hours/1560mAh embedded battery is small by today’s standards, but for a device of this size with the power-savings of the M7 coprocessor and 28nm A7 CPU, that amount of juice goes a long way. With moderate usage, including many email checks, several calls, a FaceTime call or two, and some gaming and web browsing, expect to go 13-14 hours before needing a charge. And to go from 0-100% charge, you’ll be looking at about two hours. This is still above average in the world of smartphones, so that even if you’re running low on juice, a 10 minute charge will give you about 10% of battery.

Pros

+ Hardware is still fantastic: thin, light, and very high quality
+ Excellent performance
+ Still one of the best cameras
+ Camera software enhancements–burst shot and slow-motion–are fun
+ Speaker, now better, is still one of the loudest
+ All-day battery life
+ Touch ID scanner works very well, is convenient

Cons

- Feels outdated in the face of competition
- Touch ID usage is limited
- Dual-tone flash doesn’t help much
- No 802.11ac support

Index

Pricing and Availability

You can buy an iPhone 5S on all major carriers in the US and most major carriers around the world. And of course, you can buy direct from Apple. The on-contract price starts at $199 for 16GB of storage, then goes to $299 for 32GB, and $399 for 64GB. The off-contract prices are up there at $649, $749, and $849, respectively.

Index

Conclusion

The iPhone 5S looks and feels a bit dated compared to other flagship devices on the market: we now have 1080p displays as standard, generous screen sizes that make viewing video and gaming more immersive, and even device with pen-input that take productivity to a whole new level. But with these tradeoffs, the iPhone 5S gives you a highly pocketable device that offers terrific one-handed usability. The iPhone is for a different type of user, and “that” user is going to love the 5S.

Those of you with an iPhone 5 shouldn’t feel compelled to upgrade to the 5S unless you value better low-light camera performance, or if you want to skip your PIN lock and use your thumb print instead. Otherwise, there’s not much that’s new here. Alas, the iPhone 5S will endure as a top-three smartphone for many months to come because everything it does it does well. And for many, that’s a really good thing.

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