Apple lifted the curtains off two new iPhones today: The high-end iPhone 5S, and the plastic-bodied iPhone 5C. Both were pretty much exactly what we suspected they would be! But now that everything is all official, here are the six things you need to know about them.
1. The iPhone 5S has a fingerprint sensor
Apple calls the feature Touch ID. In addition to unlocking your homescreen, you can use your prints to quickly greenlight purchases of apps or stuff on iTunes. It also accepts multiple fingers, should you be in the unfortunate position of having to share a phone.
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Naturally, conspiracy theories are already being floated:
2. It comes in three colors
They are: Slate (black), silver (white), and gold (more champagne-ish). Pricing starts at $199 for the 16GB version, $299 for the 32GB version, and $399 for the 64GB version, all on two-year contracts.
3. You can shoot slow motion video on it
At 120 frames per second. Some people are apparently very excited about this.
4. The rest of the upgrades are kind of boring
The iPhone 5S received a much faster A7 processor (making it five times speedier than the iPhone 5, claims Apple). And its camera stole a page out of the HTC One's book, adopting a "big pixel" sensor that allows it to take better low-light photos.
In addition to a built-in stabilizer, the new iPhone also comes with something called True Tone Flash, which uses two LED lights — one is white, the other amber — to correct the color balance whenever you take a flash photo. The phone's battery life is more or less the same as the iPhone 5's.
5. The iPhone 5C is basically the iPhone 5, but plastic
The home button, display, and internal guts are all the same. The biggest change is the polycarbonate (read: Plastic) back enclosure. Apple lead designer Jony Ive says it is "beautifully, unapologetically plastic," which is hilarious because that is such a ridiculous thing to say. You can get it in green, blue, yellow, pink, and white. The iPhone 5C will run you $99 for the 16GB version, or $199 for the 32GB version, again on two-year contracts.
6. They both go on sale on Friday, Sept. 20
The iPhone 5S won't be available for pre-order, but you can place your online order for the iPhone 5C starting Sept. 13. iOS 7 will be available to download for everyone on Sept. 18.
