Apple today announced the iPhone 5S, a refresh to the iPhone 5, that will be available in slate, silver, and gold. The iPhone 5S is made from aluminum with chamfered edges and a 4-inch Retina Display. Outwardly it looks similar to the iPhone 5, but Apple says the iPhone 5S has numerous internal changes. The iPhone 5S is run by a 64-bit system-on-a-chip processor called the A7, which was designed by Apple. Apple says the chip has over 1 billion transistors and offers desktop-class performance. iOS 7 and all Apple apps have been rewritten to run in 64-bit (they will also run in 32-bit on older devices). Apple claims the processor is more than twice as fast as the iPhone 5's. The iPhone 5S runs OpenGL ES version 3.0, it offers 56 times faster graphics performance. The 5S contains what Apple calls the M7 Motion Coprocessor, which continuously measures accelerator, gyroscope and other motion data to work better with health and fitness apps. Last, the A7 supports Xcode in order to make it easier for developers to port their apps. Apple claims the new iPhone will offer 10 hours of 3G talk time or 10 hours of LTE browsing time, with standby time clocking in at 250 hours. The iPhone 5S has an improved 8-megapixel camera. Apple redesigned the lens, which has 5 elements and an aperture of f/2.2 for better low-light performance. Apple also enlarged the size of the pixels so they capture more light. The camera takes multiple shots and selects the best one, and can adjust the dual-LED flash to match the ambient light for correct skin tones. It also adds a burst mode that can fire up to 10 shots per second, and the video camera can shoot 720p HD video at 120 frames per second for slow-motion videos as well as 1080- HD video at 30 frames per second. The iPhone 5S also features a fingerprint sensor, which is built into the sapphire Home button. Apple calls the feature "Touch ID." The sensor scans sub-epidermal skin layers at 500ppi to read the owner's fingerprint. It can read fingerprints in any orientation and the used to unlock the iPhone or authenticate things such as app purchases. As with previous iPhones, the 16GB model costs $199, the 32GB model costs $299, and the 64GB model costs $399 with a new two-year contract. The iPhone 4S will continue to be available for free with a new contract. Preorders for the iPhone 5S begin Friday, September 13 and will deliver beginning September 20. The iPhone 5S will be available for AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless.


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