iPhone 4s
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iPhone 4s
It's the most amazing iPhone yet.
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| iPhone 4s — Technical Specifications (Apple Support) | |
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The iPhone 4s is a smartphone designed and marketed by Apple, and the fifth generation of the iPhone. It was announced on October 4, 2011, at Apple's "Let's Talk iPhone" event — Tim Cook's first product introduction as CEO — and released on October 14, 2011. Steve Jobs died the day after the announcement, making the 4s the last iPhone developed under his leadership; many read the name as "iPhone for Steve," though the "S" officially followed the iPhone 3GS's speed convention.
Reusing the iPhone 4's glass-and-steel body, the 4s concentrated its changes inside: the dual-core Apple A5 chip, an 8-megapixel camera with 1080p video, a dual-antenna design that finally put antennagate to rest, and — the headline — Siri, the voice assistant that shipped as a 4s exclusive. It launched alongside iOS 5 and iCloud, which together cut the iPhone's cord to the computer: activation, backups, and updates no longer required iTunes.
The 4s set a first-weekend record of four million units and went on to one of the longest lives of any iPhone, remaining on sale as the entry model until September 2014 and receiving software updates from iOS 5 through iOS 9 — five major versions.
1 Design✎
The 4s is outwardly almost identical to the iPhone 4: the same 9.3 mm stainless-steel band between two glass panels, the same 3.5-inch Retina display, three grams heavier at 140 g. The giveaway is the antenna break lines — the 4s adds a second break at the top of the steel band, the visible sign of its intelligently switching dual-antenna system, which Apple engineered in response to the iPhone 4's attenuation controversy.
White was available from day one this time, Apple having solved the manufacturing problems that delayed the white iPhone 4 by ten months.
2 Hardware✎
| Developer | Apple |
|---|---|
| Generation | 5th |
| Announced | October 4, 2011 |
| Released | October 14, 2011 |
| Discontinued | September 9, 2014 |
| Predecessor | iPhone 4 |
| Successor | iPhone 5 |
| Display | 3.5-inch Retina IPS LCD 960 × 640 (326 ppi) |
| Chip | Apple A5 (dual-core Cortex-A9, ~800 MHz) PowerVR SGX543MP2 graphics |
| RAM | 512 MB |
| Storage | 16 GB · 32 GB · 64 GB (8 GB variant from 2013) |
| Rear camera | 8 MP backside-illuminated, f/2.4 1080p video at 30 fps |
| Front camera | VGA (FaceTime) |
| Battery | 1,432 mAh built-in |
| Connectivity | World phone: GSM/UMTS + CDMA HSDPA 14.4 · Wi-Fi 802.11b/g/n Bluetooth 4.0 · Assisted GPS + GLONASS |
| Colors | Black · White |
| Launch price | $199 (16 GB) · $299 (32 GB) · $399 (64 GB) with 2-year contract (U.S.) |
| OS | iOS 5.0 ~ 9.3.6 |
The A5 chip brought the iPhone its first dual-core CPU and a claimed 7× graphics jump over the iPhone 4 — the same silicon that powered the iPad 2. The 4s was also Apple's first "world phone": a single model containing both GSM and CDMA radios, simplifying the lineup Verizon's iPhone 4 had split, and the first iPhone with Bluetooth 4.0 and GLONASS positioning.
The 8 GB variant introduced in September 2013 kept the 4s alive as the free-on-contract model for another year — and with it, the 30-pin dock connector and 3.5-inch screen survived in Apple's lineup until late 2014.
3 Camera✎
The 8-megapixel camera was a genuine leap: a backside-illuminated sensor behind a five-element f/2.4 lens with a hybrid IR filter, capturing 60% more detail than the iPhone 4 and recording 1080p video with real-time software stabilization. Apple leaned into "the camera that's replacing point-and-shoots," and photo sites soon reported the 4s among the most-used cameras on Flickr. The shutter could now be triggered with the volume-up button, and iOS 5 put a camera shortcut on the lock screen.
4 Siri and software✎
Siri — acquired by Apple in 2010 and rebuilt into the OS — debuted as the 4s's defining exclusive feature: a natural-language voice assistant that set timers, sent texts, checked weather, and answered questions, shipping explicitly labeled as beta. Reviews found it equal parts magical and unreliable; either way, it launched the voice-assistant era industry-wide.
iOS 5 itself was a milestone release: iMessage, Notification Center, iCloud sync and backup, and "PC Free" setup — the first iPhone that never needed to touch a computer. The 4s ultimately received iOS 6, 7, 8, and 9, with a final security update (iOS 9.3.6) in 2019. Its five-major-version span matched the longest in the lineup's history, though iOS 8 and 9 ran sluggishly on the aging A5.
5 Release and reception✎
Announced against widespread disappointment — the rumor mill had promised an "iPhone 5" with a new design — the 4s nonetheless sold four million units in its first weekend, doubling the iPhone 4's record, and one million pre-orders in the first 24 hours. Jobs's death on October 5 cast the launch in an unprecedented emotional light; buyers left flowers at Apple Stores that were simultaneously selling the last product he had shaped.
Reviews praised the camera, speed, and Siri's promise while noting the unchanged design and screen size as the market moved toward larger displays. Battery-drain bugs in early iOS 5 builds drew complaints that Apple patched over subsequent updates.
The 4s was discontinued on September 9, 2014, after nearly three years on sale.
6 Legacy✎
The 4s proved the "S" formula at full scale — record sales on unchanged industrial design — and its two debuts each outgrew the phone: Siri spread across every Apple platform and pulled Google, Amazon, and Microsoft into the assistant race, while iCloud's PC-free vision quietly redefined what "setting up a phone" means. As the final Jobs-era iPhone and the last with the 3.5-inch screen and 30-pin connector, it closed the product line's first chapter; the iPhone 5 opened the next. The lineage continues through the current iPhone 17 generation.