Verizon and Sprint both still use CDMA networks in the United States, but that fact no longer causes a product schism: The iPhone 4S can connect to either CDMA or GSM networks. uses a different wireless standard (CDMA) than the networks the iPhone had previously supported, all of which (including AT&T in the U.S.) used the more common GSM wireless standard. That’s because Verizon’s network in the U.S. When Apple released the Verizon-compatible version of the iPhone 4 in February, the previously-simple iPhone product line got a little more complicated. In general usage, it didn’t seem to run out of battery any faster than my trusty iPhone 4. However, I didn’t get a chance to run any dedicated battery tests on the iPhone 4S. The end result is a phone that offers largely the same battery life as the iPhone 4. It seems clear, though, that some components are more energy efficient than on the iPhone 4 (I’m looking at you, cellular radio) while others eat more power (dual-core A5 processor). Apple says that the innards of the iPhone 4S have been entirely redesigned-so many components have changed, there’s no simple explanation for the change in the company’s battery-life claims. (The original iPad was similarly faster than the iPhone 4, in fact.) Of course, the iPad 2 doesn’t fit in your pocket, unless you have unusually large pockets or are a clown, or both.Īpple claims that talk time on the iPhone 4S’s battery is actually an hour longer than on the iPhone 4, but that Wi-Fi surfing will drain the battery an hour sooner. In most of my tests, the iPad 2 was slightly faster than the iPhone 4S. The only iOS device in existence that can match up-and even beat-the iPhone 4S is the iPad 2. The 4S had more than double the score on the GeekBench testing app, and loaded a test webpage in a third of the time. 3GS users will see an even larger speed increase, of course. But a whole lot of people will be upgrading from two-year-old iPhone 3GSes. ![]() Of course, many people won’t be upgrading to the iPhone 4S from the iPhone 4, due to those pesky two-year phone contracts that cell carriers insist on. One 3D test sequence played at roughly five times the frame rate of the same scene on the iPhone 4 another was roughly double the frame rate. ![]() That’s a best-case scenario, but my tests with the GLBench Pro graphics benchmarking app did show enhanced graphics performance. Apple claims graphics performance on the iPhone 4S has been boosted even more by the graphics component of the A5, with speed gains of as much as 7x. The results of my general-performance tests showed the iPhone 4S to be roughly twice as fast as the iPhone 4. This, too, is unchanged from the specs of the iPhone 4. On the front of the phone there’s a VGA-quality camera (640-by-480 pixels) that’s designed to be used for video chatting, either via Apple’s FaceTime technology or via a third-party app such as Skype or Google+. Extremely precise cases designed specifically for the original iPhone 4 may have trouble fitting over the ring/silent switch and the volume buttons of the iPhone 4S, which are slightly shifted from their position on the GSM iPhone 4 precision cases for the Verizon iPhone 4 and less-precise iPhone 4 cases will have no trouble. ![]() Verizon/CDMA version of the iPhone 4 introduced in February. With the exception of a micro-SIM card slot on the right side, the iPhone 4S is a dead ringer for the High-definition videos and photos display tiny details. ![]() Reading text is like looking at a printed page. Dubbed the “Retina display” by Apple, it’s got a screen resolution of 326 pixels per inch, meaning that the average human eye can’t even see individual pixels. The same eye-popping 960-by-640-pixel screen introduced with the iPhone 4 is present on the iPhone 4S, too. In terms of styling, the iPhone 4 feels like the most expensive electric razor ever made, or maybe like a finely-tuned luxury watch. The fit and finish are immaculate not a single thing about the iPhone 4S feels cheap. It’s a classic look, easily my favorite of all the iPhone designs to date.
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