iOS 7 launched last week has been immediately adopted on a mass scale with more than 200 million devices estimated to be already running the said firmware.
It's hard to overstate just how successful, at least in the early days, the iPhone 5s has been. Allied to the iPhone 5c, which will also have shifted a few fair units, the first weekend has seen almost double the amount of sales as compared with the iPhone 5, and when you pit the numbers against the first weekend of Samsung's Galaxy S2, S3 and S4 combined, it's still not what you could call a contest.
The iPhone 5s / 5c may have sold incredibly well in its first weekend on sale, but supplies are now all-but spent, and getting hold of this year's most sought-after gadget so far - if you haven't already - is nigh-on impossible. Consumers placing orders in the past couple of days have been met with lengthy estimated shipping dates of two weeks or more, but in order to try and help fans get hold of the devices more promptly, Apple has rolled out an in-store pick-up option for selected retail outlets. Available through the company's website, the would-be iPhone owner can check store availability for each configuration of the new flagship, before placing their order and picking up the device from their local store.
Let's immediately jump into the basics of Apple's new iPhone 5s and set the tone. Apple consistently tells us that each new iPhone release is the "best iPhone yet". So, is this latest iteration of the device the best version that we have seen, or is it nothing more than a money-making spin on the sixth-generation iPhone 5? The rest of this post will offer my subjective opinion on the Gold iPhone 5s, after spending a couple of days using and interacting with everything it offers. There'll also be plenty of pictures to show off just how beautiful it is.
In Depth Speed Comparison of iPhone 5s vs iPhone 5 to see how much value there is on the speed and performance side, in going for the iPhone 5s over the 5.
We've put together a gaming comparison of iPhone 5s vs iPhone 5 comparing the 64-bit enabled Infinity Blade 3 on the 5s, and the 32-bit version of the same game running on the previous generation iPhone 5.
The iOS 7 firmware has only just been released, and with millions of iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users having already rushed to check it out, the security holes within this fledgling release are really beginning to add up. We've already heard about an iOS 7 lock screen bug that allows a potential intruder to check out personal information such as email and photos, and now, a similar issue has been found on the new-look lock screen allowing any number to be dialed / called without access to the home screen. The emergency call feature, which has naturally been put in place to facilitate emergency calls on any device, is, and not for the first time, the culprit here, and below, you'll see a video sent to Forbes reporter Andy Greenberg that demonstrates how very easy it could be for someone to rack up a huge phone bill.
Apple's product design has been an instrumental component in their market dominance for the past few years. Combine their beautiful hardware aesthetics with the ease of use of their software, and you have a recipe for selling a lot of products. Under Steve Jobs' direction, as they became the market leader, Apple rarely released a product which could have been considered to have 'questionable design'. Strangely enough, however, the new iPhone 5c came with a case that could only be described as having questionable design.
This is just in, BBM (BlackBerry Messenger) for iOS has just gone live on the App Store. Currently, it is only available in New Zealand App Store, but it shouldn't be too long before the rollout on all the App Stores is complete. More details after the break.
Video of iPhone 5s vs Galaxy S4 vs HTC One head-to-head hardware comparison between these flagships from Apple, Samsung and HTC respectively.
