Apple unveils iPhone 4S, promises 7x graphical leap with dual core A5, due October 14

It's indicative of the hype Apple manages to build around unannounced products that the firm's Let's Talk iPhone event was almost a victim of its own success.

The public and press alike expected an iPhone 5 unveiling. What they got instead, however, was iPhone 4S – visually almost identical to its predecessor apart from a silver trim, but sporting a number of upgrades inside.

As expected, the new iPhone will come equipped with Apple's A5 chip, already employed within iPad 2.

Also on board is a dual-core architecture, doubling the phone's performance when compared to its predecessor according to Apple's numbers, and delivering "up to 7 times" the power compared to iPhone 4.

Outside of games – Apple choosing Epic's Infinity Blade 2 to demonstrate its prowess – iPhone 4S will deliver 8 hours call time and, in a move no doubt designed to consign iPhone 4's antenna problems to history, will switch between two antennas for better call quality.

Data download speeds will benefit, too, jumping from a theoretical max performance of 7.2 Mbps to 14.4 Mbps.

North American users will also be boosted by 4S' status as a 'world phone' – in other words, it'll run on both GSM and CDMA wireless network standards.

Other hardware upgrades include an improved 8MP camera, with a CMOS illuminated sensor serving up 73 percent more light, and a new lens system, face detection software, and auto-white balance.

Video wise, for the first time iPhone owners will be able to record in full HD 1080p, with video image stabilisation to aid quality.

Similarly flash is the ability to play iPhone games on your television, either via AirPlay Mirroring (part of iOS 5), or a wired connection – presumably with an official Apple HDMI cable.

The bulk of the presentation, however, was devoted to Siri voice control, which will allow users to perform tasks like checking the weather to searching Wikipedia using 'natural language'.

It seems Siri will be exclusive to iPhone 4S, though this wasn't made clear during the conference.

"When you think about it, only Apple can bring all these things together in such a powerful and integrated experience," said CEO Tim Cook, summarising the announcement.

"I am so incredibly proud of this company and all of the teams that work so hard to bring the innovations you’ve seen today to reality."

It's a date

Naturally, the launch of iPhone 4S won't mean the immediate death of iPhone 4 - the firm's best selling iPhone to date.

Apple will continue to sell the 8GB iPhone 4 for $99 on a two-year contract in the US, while iPhone 3GS will be sold as the first 'free' iPhone.

Meanwhile, 4S will launch in the US, Canada, Australia, UK, France, Germany and Japan on October 14, with pre-orders kicking off a week earlier.

Most other territories across Europe and South America will see 4S roll out on October 21.

Apple will offer the handset in three flavours; a 16GB edition for $199, a 32GB edition at $299, and a 64GB release for $399.

[source: Apple]