The iPhone 4 is official! That’s the name for the super hot smartphone we’ve seen leaked to shreds over the last few months, and now at long last we’re getting the details on it. Read on for the full iPhone 4 run down.
The new iPhone 4 looks exactly as we’ve seen it before, but now we’ve got some hard stats to go with it: it’s 24 percent thinner than the iPhone 3Gs, at just 9.3mm thick. There’s a front facing camera, a 3.5mm audio port on the top of the iPhone 4, a camera with an LED flash and a slot for a micro SIM, just like the iPad.
Cleverly, the iPhone 4′s new case is actually used as part of the antenna, and much of the case is made of stainless steel. Pixel density of the iPhone 4′s 3.5-inch screen meanwhile has been quadrupled, to 960×649 as we expected – and the sharpest on any smartphone on the planet. The density is now 326 dpi if you’re counting – and it’s now being badged up as the iPhone 4′s Retina Display.
Pictures and video are about to get a whole lot sharper – so sharp in fact that Steve Jobs claims that you won’t be able to distinguish things better with the human eye at a higher density. In other words, the iPhone 4′s display is so sharp, it’s hit a limit. Jobs revealed that unlike the iPad running iPhone OS 3, the iPhone 4 doesn’t just pixel double apps, but upscale them properly in iOS 4, so your favourite apps won’t be left looking grainy.
The iPhone 4′s camera also gets a boost from three megapixels on the iPhone 3GS up to five, with a backside illuminated sensor and an LED flash, and it’s capable of 5x digital zoom. It records HD video at 720p resolution at a respectable 30 frames per second, and it works with the video editing feature first included in iPhone OS 3 – but now rolled into a dedicated iMovie for iPhone app that lets you add transitions and titles. The front facing camera meanwhile was shown on stage making a video call – from Steve Jobs to lead Apple designer Jonathan Ive. The feature is call FaceTime, and only works over Wi-Fi.
Under the bonnet meanwhile, the iPhone 4 uses Apple’s A4 processor seen in the iPad, and there’s a non-replaceable battery. Apple claims that iPhone 4 battery life will run you seven hours talking over 30, 10 while browsing on Wi-Fi or watching video, and 300 on standby. Storage sticks at up to 32GB – sorry folks, no 64GB storage option like the iPod touch 3G.
Apple’s also included a three axis gyroscope inside the iPhone 4 which it’s hoping developers will take advantage for better motion controls in games. Steve Jobs demoed a Jenga type game with a stack of blocks which rotated on screen as he turned around on stage – Nintendo’s Wii Remote eat your heart out.
Jobs joked to the audience at WWDC 2010 that they should “Stop me if you’ve already seen this”, a pop at the fact that the iPhone 4 was leaked by several gadget sites earlier this year. However, Jobs’ keynote was later interrupted by technical difficulties, limiting what he could show the audience at Apple’s annual conference, and forcing him to ask journalists present to disconnect from the Wi-Fi.
The iPhone 4 goes on sale in the UK 24 June, with pre-orders opening on 15 June.
Out TBC | £TBC | Apple
