Apple's iPhone 5S, iOS 7, and more: Live-blogging the unveiling
A new fingerprint sensor? A plastic iPhone 5C? Keep track of all of today's happenings here.
It's that time of year again. If all goes according to plan, Apple will reveal two new iPhones today at its headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. Will the new phones dazzle? Has Apple lost its luster? Will Tim Cook pull a "one more thing"? The event starts at 1 p.m. EST (10 a.m. PST). Follow along here (and remember to hit refresh!):
2:25 p.m. All done, everyone. Thanks for reading!
2:20 p.m. Quick note: No pre-orders for the iPhone 5S. Probably to avoid the supply-chain clog-up that plagued the iPhone 5 last year. The iPhone 5C can still be pre-ordered Sept. 13.
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2:16 p.m. Costello is still on stage chatting up the crowd. He's aged pretty well! Anyway, since you can't hear him...
2:13 p.m. It looks like our "Should I buy an iPhone?" predictions piece still stands (at least for the most part). What do ya'll think? Underwhelmed? Impress? Irrationally desiring a gold iPhone all of a sudden?
2:10 p.m. Lolololololol now Elvis Costello is performing. This is the most Apple-y thing ever.
2:09 p.m. Tim Cook's back on stage. "Before we close, I'd like to return to music. We do really love music."
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Oh no...
2:06 p.m. Pre-order starts Sept. 13. Goes on sale in the US, Australia, and Canada on Sept. 20. Guess I was totally wrong about the pricing scheme. Via The Verge:
2:05 p.m. iPhone 5S pricing:
16GB :: $199
32GB :: $299
64GB :: $399.
No 128GB version like the rumors suggested.
2:01 p.m. The sensor does more than just unlock your phone. You can use it to do stuff in apps, or authenticate yourself in iTunes whenever you're purchasing something. Also also also! It will be able to handle multiple fingerprints, which is kind of weird!
Maybe it's just in case you lose your favorite finger. (I kid. Kind of.)
1:59 p.m. Here's what the new fingerprint sensor looks like up close. Apple is calling it Touch ID. Via Engadget:
1.58 p.m. A lottttta people in my timeline aren't looking forward to slow-motion video taking over the internet. Here's another good point:
1:56 p.m. This happened, too.
1:54 p.m. The iPhone 5S can also take slow-mo HD video at 720p, 129 frames per second. Imagine the selfies.
1:50 p.m. Looks like Apple is stealing a page out of the HTC One's book, and is adopting bigger pixels for its next camera. (f/2.2 aperture.) The camera app will set lighting automatically for you, and has something called "true tone flash." Basically, that's two LED lights — one is white, one is amber — which can combine to eke the right color balance out of your photos. Reminds me of this:
1:46 p.m. The 5S has an M7 motion processor (think Nike FuelBand without the FuelBand). More importantly, though...
1:44 p.m. They're giving a neat-looking demo. The Infinity Blade dude is battling a giant T-Rex looking monster that spits fire... which means now is a good time to shamelessly plug The Week's funtime roundup of phone games from this morning.
Geez, Infinity Blade III looks like a console game.
1:39 p.m. Apple is going super spec-y. "It's over twice as fast" in terms of speed, says Schiller. Now they're demo-ing the Infinity Blade games (which consumed all my subway riding for oh... about a month?)
1:38 p.m.
1:37 p.m. The 5S is made of "high-grade aluminum" with chamfered edges. Here's a photo:
It's being touted as the world's first smartphone with a 64-bit chip. So: An A7 processor.
1:35 p.m. Alright, it's the iPhone 5S. Schiller says it is "perhaps the most forward thinking phone anyone has ever made." It comes in Slate, Gold, and Silver.
1:33 p.m. Lol:
1:31 p.m. It's manufactured from a "single piece of polycarbonate," but there's a steel frame in there, too. Anyone like what they're seeing so far?
1:26 p.m. Same specs at the iPhone 5, including the 8MP camera. $99 for the 16GB on a two-year contract, $199 for 32GB.
1:26 p.m. The 5C will come in green, yellow, blue, white, and red. Here's a picture, C/O of Engadget:
1:24 p.m. They're not wasting any time. Now on to the iPhone. "In the past, when we introdcued a new iPhone, we lowered the price of the old iphone." They're going to replace the iPhone 5 "with not one, but two new designs."
Yup! it's the iPhone 5C — "made with all the incredible technology of the iPhone 5... more fun, more colorful."
1:22 p.m. Great point:
1:21 p.m. Oh, awesome! iWork fand iLife apps are free with new iOS devices.
1:20 p.m. Cook: iOS devices "are incredible for creating content." I wonder what the PopSci liveblogger thinks.
1:18 p.m. iOS 7 will coming to the iPhone and iPad on September 18th.
1:16 p.m. Walking the crowd through iTunes Radio, which is basically like Pandora on your iOS device, except that if you like a song you can click-through to buy it on iTunes. "Best way to experience new music," he says.
1:15 p.m. Now, Federighi is showing off the new Camera app and Photos. A bit. Here's a look at some of the browsing capabilities, C/O The Verge:
1:13 p.m. They're talking about the new Notification Center in iOS 7, which you can swipe up from the lock screen or bring down from the top. Now, he's talking about the new Safari (which is really, really nice — especially with its new tabbed view). Also: Apple can'ts top talking about Lady Gaga. Maybe they're making up for Ping?
1:10 p.m. Cook: "Next month we will ship the 700 millionth iOS device... iOS will quickly become the world's most popular operating system." Now, Apple's Craig Federighi is talking about iOS 7. His shirt is very blue: "Virtually overnight hundreds of people will download iOS 7. It starts with the lock screen."
1:06 p.m. Apple is still high-fiving itself onstage with time-lapse videos of Lady Gaga. BTW, this is a good tweet:
1:03 p.m. He's showing photos of Lady Gaga dancing around to lasers because that's totally relevant! Also this happened:
1:00 p.m. Here we go! Tim Cook just took the stage. (This is the part where Apple pats itself on the back for a few minutes.) He's talking about the iTunes festival in London. I guess Justin Timberlake performed, which is cool?
12:56 p.m. The actual event is taking place at Apple's Cupertino headquarters (as opposed to somewhere fancier in, say, San Francisco). I get the impression today's announcements will be a bit understated.
12:55 p.m. Here's @MacRumorsLive:
12:49 p.m. Some other liveblogs worth checking out: The Verge always does a fine job. Here's 9to5 Mac. And a PopSci editor is covering the whole thing from his "busted-ass iPhone"
12:46 p.m. Hi guys. Hope you're all having a great morning! If we find any legit livestreams we can share, we'll post them here.