October 7, 2011: Two days after the demise of Steve Jobs, Apple opens preorders for its next-gen iPhone 4s.
The final iPhone that Jobs labored on straight, the 4s boasts a speedier A5 chip, improved 8-megapixel digicam with 1080p HD video recording, and — most importantly — Apple’s new AI digital assistant, Siri.
iPhone 4s turns into an prompt hit
The iPhone 4s was destined to promote properly. For the primary — and, I imagine, solely — time in Apple historical past, gross sales of the gadget’s predecessor have been nonetheless constructing when the up to date mannequin was launched. Because of this each quarter, iPhone 4 gross sales grew, fairly than the same old burst of gross sales at launch adopted by a gradual decline for the remainder of the 12 months.
In actual fact, the iPhone 4s arrived at a time when the general public was actually going iPhone loopy. Add to that the huge information protection about Jobs’ passing, and it was clear this gadget was a giant one for Apple.
Finally, the iPhone 4s offered 4 million items in its opening weekend. That’s a fraction of the quantity Apple sells on opening weekends at this time (the final publicly launched figures, for the iPhone 6s, have been 13 million in its first days). Nonetheless, the iPhone 4s’ weekend gross sales represented two-thirds of the variety of iPhones that Apple offered within the unique smartphone’s total first 12 months.
iPhone 4s specs and Siri debut
By way of specs, the iPhone 4s set the template for future incremental “s” releases. It provided no main kind issue redesign. Nonetheless, it introduced loads of inner enhancements, together with a giant characteristic that hinted at Apple’s future ambitions.
On this case, that characteristic was Siri. The chatty digital helper marked the end result of a long-term dream for Apple. Impressively, the corporate predicted the arrival of a Siri-like AI assistant way back to the Nineteen Eighties. (Truly, the corporate nailed the date to inside a month.)
So far as enhancements went, the iPhone 4s handled the earlier 12 months’s “Antennagate” controversy by altering the dual-antenna design encapsulated within the chrome steel band. This tweak eradicated dropped calls that iPhone 4 customers skilled in the event that they “held it flawed.”
On steadiness, the iPhone 4s didn’t completely blow my thoughts (as the unique iPhone and the iPhone 4 did). Nonetheless, I definitely look again fondly on the iPhone 4s.
Do you keep in mind the iPhone 4s? Go away your feedback, recollections and — if you happen to can — your alternative for favourite iPhone beneath.
