iPhone 5S release date, price and specs confirmed

Check out our round-up for everything you need to know about the new iPhone 5S including release date, features and specs

iPhone 5S release date FAQs

The iPhone 5S goes on sale in just a few days. Launched last week alongside the iPhone 5C and iOS 7, the iPhone 5S now comes in three colours, packs in a new fingerprint scanner, and runs the company’s brand new A7 chipset.

Check out our iPhone 5S release date FAQs below:

When is it happening?

The iPhone 5S will be available from 8am on September 20.

Where can I get it?

If you want to get your hands on the iPhone 5S straight away your best bet is an Apple Store. Although there will be queues, and no guarantees of picking up a handset, so be warned.

Is there a pre-order?

No.

How much does the iPhone 5S cost?

The iPhone 5S will cost £549 for the 16GB version, £629 for 32GB and £709 for 64GB

Will there be delays?

Almost certainly. In a note to investors, Jeffries & Co analyst Peter Misek said Apple would build five to ten million iPhone 5S handsets this quarter. Misek also pointed out that yields of the iPhone 5S’ fingerprint scanner have been terrible – something that could have dire consequences for consumers.

This is, perhaps, to be expected, however, as historically Apple has put its flagship handsets up for pre-order straight away after its announcements, chalking up record sales in the process. This time, in a somewhat startling move, there have only been pre-orders on the iPhone 5C.

What’s different about the iPhone 5S?

Quite a bit as it goes, but most of the new stuff is under the hood: Touch ID fingerprint scanner; new 64-bit A7 chipset with M7 coprocessor; revamped imaging capabilities; better battery life.

Apple says the new A7 chipset is twice as fast as the A6 chipset found inside the iPhone 5. You can read more about the iPhone 5S’ new features and USPs below.

What networks are carrying it?

O2, EE, Vodafone, and Three – basically all the big UK players. The handset will also be available direct from Apple as well as most major UK retailers.

Is it 4G?

The iPhone 5S – like the iPhone 5C – supports 17 4G bands and in the UK you will be able to pick up a LTE version of the handset at the following networks: O2, Vodafone, Three, and EE. Although it’s worth noting some networks do not yet have fully operational LTE services.

Everything else you need to know about the iPhone 5S – including specs, features, and hardware – is detailed below. We've also added in some videos that explain some of the handset's new features as well as and lots of pictures, so you'll be fully up to speed ahead of the September 20 release date.  

Apple iPhone 5S is official

It’s all over for another year – Apple’s new iPhone is here, and just as everybody expected, this year saw the company launch two handsets: the iPhone 5S (available in gold, silver and space grey) and the iPhone 5C (pictured below).

The iPhone 5S is the new flagship, adding in a brand new processor, improved imaging, and better battery life, while the iPhone 5C is a mid-range handset targeted at pre-pay and Asian markets.

The iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C both have 4-inch Retina Displays and run iOS 7 out of the box. Apple says there are some 200 updates inside its new iPhone and iPad platform.

The company outlined a selection in an official release to the press, which you can read below:

• Control Center, which gives you quick access to the controls you want in one convenient place with just one swipe from the bottom of your screen
• Notification Center, now available from the Lock screen so you can see all your notifications with a simple swipe, and the new Today feature gives you an at-a-glance view of your day with a summary of the important details such as weather, traffic, meetings and events; 
• improved Multitasking that gives users the ability to switch between their apps in a more visual and intuitive way, and iOS 7 pays attention to which apps you use most and automatically keeps your content up to date in the background;
• AirDrop, an entirely new way to quickly and easily share content with people nearby;
• new Camera app filters so you can add real-time photo effects, a square camera option, and you can quickly and easily switch between your four cameras—video, photo, square and panorama—with just a swipe;
• a redesigned Photos app that introduces Moments, a new way to automatically organise your photos and videos based on time and location;
• full-screen browsing with Safari’s new redesigned user interface, the new smart search field helps simplify searching, and there’s a new view for your bookmarks and your Safari tabs; 
• Siri with new male and female voices,* Twitter search integration, Wikipedia integration and Bing web searching within the app; and
• iTunes Radio, a free Internet radio service featuring over 200 stations and an incredible catalogue of music from the iTunes Store, combined with features only iTunes can deliver.

iPhone 5S Official Specs

• A7 chip
• 64-bit
• 2x faster graphics and speed from iPhone 5
• 40x faster than iPhone1
• OpenGL ES 3.0
• M7 Motion processor
• Better battery life - 40 hours of music, 10 hours video or browsing, 250 hours standby
• Camera: improved f/2.2 aperture, bigger sensor, larger pixels