The Verge - iPhone 4S: everything you need to know

Virgin Mobile to offer prepaid iPhone in US on Sprint's network

2012-06-05T17:54:22Z

The Wall Street Journal reports today that Virgin Mobile (owned by Sprint) will become the second carrier to offer the iPhone in the US on a prepaid plan. Cricket became the first to do so when it announced that it would start selling the iPhone 4S and 4 off-contract, beginning on June 22nd. Apple and Virgin have yet to confirm the news, but the WSJ says that the iPhone will be available on the carrier "as soon as" July 1st, citing "people familiar with the company's plans."

It's not yet clear whether Virgin Mobile will be selling the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, or some combination of the two, and there's no information yet on how much the devices will cost off contract. Cricket said it would sell the 16GB iPhone 4S for $499.99 without a...

In a triumph of marketing, AT&T upgrades Apple's iPhone to '4G'

2012-03-08T14:15:05Z

As he was introducing the iPhone 4S last October, Phil Schiller took care to note that while the device had dramatically improved cellular data speeds, Apple wasn't yet calling it a "4G" device. "This is what the majority of our competitors claim when they talk about 4G performance," he said, comparing the iPhone's data speeds to a number of AT&T smartphones listed as "4G" despite their lack of next-generation LTE radios. "We're not going to get into a debate in the industry about what's 4G and what isn't — we'll leave that for others to talk about."

How bout the new update to the iPhone for AT&T makes it 4g now #movinup
— Jake Goeckeritz (@JakeGoecks13) March 8, 2012

That debate has been conclusively decided. On Tuesday, Apple...

iPhone 4S to launch in India on November 25th

2011-11-15T12:49:54Z

Indian phone network Aircel announced that it will be carrying the iPhone 4S as of November 25th. Its competitor, Airtel, has also said that it will be launching the phone soon, but has not provided a date as of yet. Pricing hasn't been confirmed either, but based on the iPhone 4, it's expected to be between 35,000 and 40,000 Rupees (about $690 - $790) on contract.

Apple promised to make this the fastest iPhone rollout so far, which explains why Indian customers only have to put up with a six week delay instead of facing a repeat of the 11 months it took for the iPhone 4 to come to the subcontinent. The company plans to deploy the 4S in over 70 countries and have deals with over 100 carriers by the end of the year. Having recently...

Unlocked iPhone 4S now available in the US

2011-11-11T16:19:09Z

The Apple Store has now added the online option to purchase an iPhone 4S unlocked and off-contract, fulfilling Apple's launch promise of November. The non-carrier version of the phone costs $649 to $849 depending on storage capacity, and will only work on GSM networks, leaving Sprint and Verizon users out of luck. Much of the rest of the world obtained the unlocked version of this phone in late October, but this marks its first official availability in the USA.

iPhone 4S launches in Hong Kong, South Korea, and Eastern Europe on November 11th

2011-11-01T12:51:58Z

Apple has just revealed the launch day for its Siri-assisted iPhone 4S in 15 new markets, including Hong Kong and South Korea, two of the most smartphone-crazed locales. Friday, November 11th, is the long-awaited day they'll be able to get to grips with the latest iOS flagship phone, and they'll be joined by buyers in Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, El Salvador, Greece, Guatemala, Malta, Montenegro, New Zealand, Panama, Poland, Portugal, and Romania. Most of these new countries will open pre-orders a week earlier, on November 4th. No country-specific pricing has been announced yet, but Apple tends to keep its prices static, so see how much the current generation of iPhone costs you and expect to have to pay the same for the 4S when it's...

iPhone 4 and 4S users reporting dramatically decreased battery life

2011-10-31T19:03:05Z

2010 brought us antennagate. Will late 2011 be the season of batterygate? Apple acknowledges that standby battery life for the iPhone 4S trails the iPhone 4, but there may be a bigger issue at hand — Apple's support forums are filling up with posts from angry iPhone 4S owners with devices that can't make it through a day, even with battery-draining features like Bluetooth and location services disabled.

Speculation on the cause is running rampant; some people blame a location-based time zone setting, others find trouble with iCloud contact syncing, still others have seen a bug involving calendar reminders in the iOS 5 notification pane. These problems aren't limited to iPhone 4S users, either — many iPhone 4 users are...

iPhone 4S now available unlocked around the world

2011-10-31T16:36:26Z

Apple's latest iteration of the iPhone has just started its second wave of international availability. However, unlike the US, these new releases are being sold SIM-free. This means that customers in Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland can now buy their new handset direct from Apple without being tied to a carrier.

In most of Europe, the handsets start at €599 (roughly $840) for the 16GB version, with a 1-2 week wait time — prices vary country by country, however. With the iPhone 4S due to hit the US unlocked in the next few months, we're getting a...

iPhone 4S gives easy access to Siri on password-protected devices

2011-10-24T16:28:17Z

In Apple's zeal to make Siri available all the time, the company set a default behavior you may not expect: Siri's active even when your password-protected phone is locked. Without needing to enter any password, anyone that has access to your iPhone 4S can use the service to text, email, or pull up contact information. Happily, there's an easy fix: go to Settings > General > Passcode Lock, and turn the Siri slider off. Yes, it'll make using Siri a little less convenient, but your data will be that much more secure.