At its headquarters in Cupertino, Calif., Apple unveiled the latest additions to the iPhone family, including its newest security features and updated operating system, iOS 7.
As expected, Apple CEO Tim Cook introduced the low-cost, plastic iPhone 5C, as well as the latest iPhone upgrade, the iPhone 5S.
The lower-cost iPhone 5C will be available in five colors — green, blue, yellow, pink and white, reports The Associated Press. Cook calls it “more fun and colorful” than any other iPhone.
The iPhone 5C will cost $99 for a 16-gigabyte model and $199 for a 32-gigabyte model with a two-year wireless contract. The phone is expected to help Apple boost sales in China and other areas where people don’t have as much money to spend on new gadgets as they do in the U.S. and Europe, the AP reports.
The new iPhone 5S, however, is “the most forward-looking phone we have ever created,” claimed Phil Schiller, senior vice president of worldwide marketing at Apple. It will come in silver, gold and “space gray” and run a new chip — the A7 — that is up to twice as fast as the A6.
The most buzz-worthy addition to the new operating system and the iPhone 5S is perhaps the new security feature, entitled “Touch ID.”
“You can simply touch your home button to unlock your phone,” say Schiller at the presentation today. According to Theverge.com’s live blog, the new home button is sapphire, so it won’t scratch.
“All fingerprint is encrypted, and secured inside a secure enclave,” Schiller said of the new “Touch ID” software. The Verge also reports that Apple claims Touch ID will “scans sub-epidermal skin layers” at “360 degree readability.”
Apple noted you can use it to unlock your phone without a PIN or make iTunes purchases without entering a password, says Time.
Additionally, Apple also said that their next operating system for mobile devices, iOS 7, will be available for download starting Sept. 18. AP reports that Craig Federighi, head of software at Apple Inc., said at an event at the company’s Cupertino, Calif., headquarters that “downloading iOS 7 is like getting an all new device.”
Both iPhone 5S and 5C will be on sale on Sept. 20 in the U.S., Australia, China, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Singapore and the U.K., and pre-order starting Friday, Sept. 13.