From The Straits Times    |

New iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c to launch Sep 20 in Singapore

The iPhone 5c in green, blue, yellow, pink and white

Apple’s finally shown its hand – and what a colourful one it is. After countless rumours and fan-made mock-ups, the tech giant has revealed two new iterations of its by-now iconic iPhone. 

The iPhone 5c marks Apple’s foray into the lucrative, lower-end level of the smartphone market. Offered in five cheerful colours – blue, green, pink, yellow and white – the iPhone 5c is an aesthetic reimagining of the sturdy but monochromatic body of the iPhone 5.

The LTE-based, iOS 7 iPhone 5c, available in 16GB and 32GB models, comes rigged with the same 4-inch Retina display and specifications of its predecessor.

New iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c to launch Sep 20 in Singapore

Mix and match your iPhone 5c with Apple’s silicone cases, available in six colourways

The most eyecatching difference is of course its colourful hard-coated polycarbonate and steel reinforced frame – which you can jazz up further with six matte, microfibre-lined silicone cases with circular cut-outs to let your iPhone 5c’s colours peek through.

New iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c to launch Sep 20 in Singapore

The new iPhone 5s in grey, silver and gold

The second new model for 2013, the LTE-based, iOS 7 iPhone 5s, comes with a couple of software upgrades, the most significant being a more powerful 64-bit A7 processor, which Apple says will allow the smartphone to run twice as fast as the current A6 processor. 

The single biggest change in the iPhone 5s is the addition of a new fingerprint scanner located on a physical button below the display screen. This new Touch ID function will offer an additional layer of security for users, who can place their finger on the button to unlock their phone or to approve payments on purchases made on the iTunes store. 

Instagram users, rejoice – the iPhone 5s’ camera capabilities have been enhanced, and will work using a new 8-megapixel iSight camera with a larger f/2.2 aperture and sensor with 1.5μ pixels, for better sensitivity and low-light performance. Apple claims that these improvements will result in up to two times the speed in photo capture, auto-focus and automatic image and video stabilisation.

Apple also says that a new True Tone flash function will adjust the colour and intensity of photographs for over 1,000 combinations, resulting in more natural-looking flash photography.

New iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c to launch Sep 20 in Singapore

Envelop your iPhone 5s in these plush Apple-designed leather cases in six soothing colours—beige, black, blue, brown, yellow and red (not pictured), all with soft, colour-matched microfibre lining

Aside from the fingerprint scanner and souped up camera, other notable physical augmentations to the iPhone 5s include its colour scheme, which is now offered in a lovely metallic champagne gold version alongside the more familiar silver and grey anodised aluminium frames.

Other tweaks include what Apple calls the M7, a dedicated motion processor which will enable the iPhone 5s to track peripheral motion more intelligently. Applications that could potentially leverage on the motion-sensitive M7 are health and fitness apps – expect to see apps with the ability to accurately measure your running distance, for instance.

Besides the two new smartphone models, Apple will also be releasing iOS 7, its latest mobile operating system, on September 18.

iPhone 5c comes in blue, green, pink, yellow and white, and will be available for a suggested retail price of $848 inc GST for the 16GB model and $988 inc GST for the 32GB model.

iPhone 5s comes in gold, silver or space grey, and will be available for a suggested retail price of $988 inc GST for the 16GB model; $1,148 inc GST for the 32GB model; and $1,288 inc GST for the 64GB model.

Both iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s will be available from the Apple Online Store at www.apple.com/sg, and through SingTel, M1, StarHub and select Apple Authorised Resellers. For more information, visit www.apple.com/sg.

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