Not many hardware improvements apart from the A5 processor. Lets see what out networks price it at. Siri looked good though is there anything missing that would be a deal breaker. NFC could do it but that would also require new desktops. So I could getaway without that for a few years.

Apart from the new graphics processor. And the new antennas. And the new camera. In fact, apart from the screen, I think it's actually, electronically speaking, entirely new. Not sure about the battery - you'd assume the A5 needs more juice than the A4 but it may be a better battery or it may be they've just made the rest of it a bit more efficient to compensate.

Jon

Two antennas. Now we just wait for the people who make calls using both hands to complain that the signal drops.

They probably won't though. because they'd have to admit using their phone while driving.

JOn

The battery has definitely changed, that was mentioned before IIRC. I forgot about the camera. Yes technically it is a whole new phone but outwardly it does not look that different.

I NEEEEEEEEEED Siri!

I have dreamt of this since I watched Star Trek TNG when I was 6!!!

I may have to buy an unlocked 4S just to get Siri in my life!

WOWOWOWOWOWOW!

BTW, for all the people who are saying "can't believe it's only an iPhone 4S" what more would you have wanted? Would you have been satisfied if they had taken the 4S and called it a 5 and put it in a different case? If so, surely it is better to have the same phone that works with all your accessories that you already own

Just asking, I would have liked a redesigned phone also but Siri is more than enough to make up for that.

The case design is not an issue for me. It is a good looking phone. It is like the Powermac staying the same despite the innards getting major revamps. The extra memory looks a very good necessity. The upgraded camera is a definite plus especially the 1080p video capabilities. I was not expecting a massive change because they are still ahead of the competition and NFC technology needs more work I think. iCloud looks very good. As you say Siri looks good, lets see how it copes in the real world. The more I think about it I might actually get one over a cheap iPhone 4. I am not likely to replace it for a while and hardware wise it does what I want.

Why? NFC is for shopping. At the moment, it is only being trialled in New York (with the Google Nexus S). You need a good number of retailers to sign on to the service, before it will become useful.

Personally I'd have liked to have seen an A6 in there, I was somewhat underwhelmed when the A5 was released. One extra core at the same clock speed, it'd been nice to see some sort of a speed improvement per core.

why, so you can talk a bit quicker .

I'm not convinced by the requirement for faster and faster processors in smartphones. To be frank, smartphones aren't really the appropriate platform for things that need an enormous amount of processor grunt. Even in the current generation of dual core 1GHz jobs the thing must be sat twiddling it's thumbs for 99% of the time. The only thing I can think it would need a beefier CPU is for games, in which case you've got the PSP Vita coming along which does have a four core version of that chip. It also has a battery life of about 3 hours.

A beefier chip at a higher clock rate means more heat, more power draw so less talktime... What exactly do you want to do with it that's worth those drawbacks?

I don't want to have to carry a separate device around. I play games on my iPhone, faster CPU means smoother game play with more possibilities.
Running a dual core CPU on a mobile device would have been unthinkable a few years ago because of battery life, today we have it. I would expect the engineers to cook something up to compensate for the extra power needed.

It's a question of cost/benefit. I suspect the number of iPhone owners who are saying 'You know, I'd play more games on this, if only the CPU was 10% faster' is pretty small compared to the number who are just playing the likes of Angry Birds and Cut The Rope, which certainly don't need a better CPU. To a degree they are catering to the demand from the 'high end gaming' crowd with the 4S, because they've significantly improved the onboard graphics acceleration. That will make more difference to games than just a speedbump on the CPU.


Indeed they will. And at some point we'll undoubtedly have iPhones with mobile CPUs that are more powerful than what we have now, despite what I said earlier. However, it's patently obvious that the iPhone is not a 'technology lead' device. As far as I remember, the iPhone has never been technologically ahead of the best that say HTC are doing at the time. Apple jump less often and they tend to jump to what I'd describe as 'minimum premium level' - 8MP cameras, dual core CPUS etc., Nothing you can't get somewhere else. They apparently believe the software is where it's at.


JOn

Cores can be turned off, and they don't have to run at full speed all the time. In the long run, it doesn't even add that much to cost given the economies of scale.

Not fussed by the name. It’s a damn sight more nippy than my 3G, and I thought that I’d see what Apple’s next phone offering would be, but promised myself that I’d more than likely get one. The current phone works, and isn’t bad, but the apps I use are going beyond what it can handle comfortably. Allowing iOS 4 on the 3G was a mistake, TBH.

I want it for home security. Linking it to my macs. I doubt that I would use it for small purchases.