On September 10, 2013, Apple revealed the iPhone 5s along with the iPhone 5C during an event at its Cupertino headquarters. Both the phones are remarkable in their own way. While the 5c was all about playful aesthetics, the 5s was more about classy design and improved performance. Since it was the s version, it meant that the aesthetics were to remain almost the same as is the case with previous iPhone s versions. But that did not take away the promise of outstanding features and improved performance.
With the inevitable need to bring something new on the table for its users, Apple brought a small change in the aesthetics of the phone. It added white and gold to its current color offerings. The champagne gold 5s was easy to anodize and proved to gain traction quickly. Apple also switched from slate gray to space gray with black making it slightly easy for the company to anodize the black phones.
While the aesthetics were a small yet interesting improvement, the game-changer was everything that was packed inside the 5s. Apple’s success with the A6 chipset motivated the company to introduce the Apple A7 which is the world’s first 64-bit mainstream smartphone processor. It was a huge milestone for Apple given the fact that it had achieved this before chipset manufacturing giants like Qualcomm and Samsung could do it.
The results were outstanding. The phone’s performance relied heavily on the RAM as well, but the 1GB DDR 3 RAM seemed to be a little less efficient than the actual requirements of the processor. A powerful processor also implored for better battery, but with the 1560mAh battery, users felt that they ran out of battery sooner than usual.
The 5s introduced Touch ID which brought fingerprint identification to the iPhones. This fingerprint recognition system is used to unlock the phone and it can also help you add an extra layer of security to app purchases. The fingerprint scanner was built into the Home button of the phone and used technology from AuthenTec, a company that was acquired by Apple in 2012
Given the problem of a purple glare in the iPhone 5, the camera needed some attention. Apple gave it a larger aperture and added a dual LED flash to make sure that it works flawlessly in different color temperatures.
The overall reception of the phone was positive, and the iPhone 5S along with the 5C sold over 9 million units in the first weekend. The iPhone 5s also became the best-selling phone on all US carriers in September 2013.
