Apple iPhone 4S: Thoroughly Reviewed
by Anand Lal Shimpi & Brian Klug on October 31, 2011 7:45 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Apple
- Mobile
- iPhone
- iPhone 4S
Final Words
Putting out a new chassis design, whether large or small, requires a ton of resources and effort. There are up front design, tooling, prototyping and manufacturing costs that have to be recouped over the life of the product. The newer the product, the less likely Apple is to re-use its design. We saw this with the first generation iPhone and Apple TV, both of which saw completely new designs in their second incarnations. Have a look at Apple’s more mature product lines and you’ll see a much longer design lifespan. The MacBook Pro is going on three years since a major redesign and the Mac Pro is even longer at four (six if you count the Power Mac G5 as an early rev of the design). Apple uses design as a competitive advantage. In markets where it feels more confident or less driven to compete, designs are allowed to live on for longer - improving the bottom line but removing one reason to upgrade. In the most competitive markets however, Apple definitely leans on a rapidly evolving design as a strength. The iPhone is no exception to this rule.
The evolution of iPhone (Left to right: iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 1)
Thus far Apple has shown that it’s willing to commit to a 2-year design cycle with the iPhone. I would go as far as to say that from a design standpoint, Apple isn’t terribly pressured to evolve any quicker. There are physical limits to device thickness if you’re concerned with increasing performance and functionality. Remember, the MacBook Air only happened once Moore’s Law gave us fast-enough CPUs at the high-end that we could begin to scale back TDP for the mainstream. Smartphones are nowhere near that point yet. The iPhone 4S, as a result, is another stop along the journey to greater performance. So how does it fare?
The original iPhone 4 design was flawed. Although Apple downplayed the issue publicly, it solved the deathgrip antenna problem with the CDMA iPhone 4. The iPhone 4S brings that fix to everyone. If you don’t remain stationary with your phone in an area with good coverage, the dual-chain antenna diversity introduced with the iPhone 4S is a tangible and significant improvement over the previous GSM iPhone 4. In North Raleigh, AT&T’s coverage is a bit on the sparse side. I get signal pretty much everywhere, but the quality of that signal isn’t all that great. The RSSI at my desk is never any better than -87dBm, and is more consistently around -94. Go down to my basement and the best you’ll see is -112dBm, and you’re more likely to see numbers as low as -130 thanks to some concrete walls and iron beams. The iPhone 4’s more sensitive cellular stack made it possible to receive phonecalls and text messages down there, although I couldn’t really carry on a conversation - particularly if I held the phone the wrong way. By comparison, the iPhone 3GS could not do any of that. The iPhone 4S’ antenna diversity makes it so that I can actually hold a conversation down there or pull ~1Mbps downstream despite the poor signal strength. This is a definite improvement in the one area that is rarely discussed in phone reviews: the ability to receive and transmit a cellular signal. The iPhone 4 already had one of the most sensitive cellular stacks of any smartphone we’d reviewed, the 4S simply makes it better.
Performance at the edge of reception is not the only thing that’s improved. If you’re on a HSPA+ network (e.g. AT&T), overall data speeds have shifted upwards. As our Speedtest histograms showed, the iPhone 4S is about 20% faster than the 4 in downstream tests. Best case scenario performance went up significantly as a result of the move to support HSPA+ 14.4. While the iPhone 4 would top out at around 6Mbps, the 4S is good for nearly 10Mbps. We’re still not near LTE speeds, but the 4S does make things better across the spectrum regardless of cellular condition.
The improvements don’t stop at the radio, Apple significantly upgraded the camera on the 4S. It’s not just about pixel count, although the move to 8MP does bring Apple up to speed there, overall quality is improved. The auto whitebalance is much better than the 4, equalling the Samsung Galaxy S 2 and setting another benchmark for the rest of the competition to live up to. Sharpness remains unmatched by any of the other phones we’ve reviewed thus far, whether in the iOS or Android camp. Performance outside of image quality has also seen a boost. The camera launches and fires off shots much quicker than its predecessor.
Our only complaint about the camera has to do with video. Apple is using bitrate rather than more complex encoding schemes to deliver better overall image quality when it comes to video. The overall result is good, but file sizes are larger than they needed to be had Apple implemented hardware support for High Profile H.264.
Then there’s the A5 SoC. When we first met the A5 in the iPad 2 it was almost impossible to imagine that level of performance, particularly on the GPU side, in a smartphone. As I hope we’ve proven through our analysis of both the solution and its lineage, Apple is very committed to the performance race in its iOS devices. Apple more than doubled the die size going from the A4 to the A5 (~53mm^2 to ~122mm^2) on the same manufacturing process. Note that in the process Apple didn’t integrate any new functionality onto the SoC, the additional transistors were purely for performance. To be honest, I don’t expect the pursuit to slow down anytime soon.
The gains in CPU and GPU speed aren’t simply academic. The 4S is noticeably faster than its predecessor and finally comparable in its weakest areas to modern day Android smartphones. In the past, iOS could guarantee a smooth user experience but application response and web page loading times were quickly falling behind the latest wave of dual-core Android phones. The 4S brings the iPhone back up to speed.
On the software side, there’s Siri. The technology is a nod to decades of science fiction where users talk to an omnipotent computer that carries out complex calculations and offers impartial, well educated advice when needed. In practice, Siri is far away from being anywhere close to that. Through an admittedly expansive database of patterns, Siri is able to give the appearance of understanding and depth. That alone is enough to convince many mainstream consumers. The abstraction of Wolfram Alpha alone is a significant feature, as I’m not sure how many out-of-the-loop smartphone users would begin to use it as a tool had it not been for Siri. But what about for power users, is Siri a game changer?
There are a few areas that Siri does improve user experience. Making appointments and setting alarms are very natural and quite convenient thanks to Siri. There’s still the awkwardness of giving your phone verbal commands, but if no one is looking I find that it’s quicker to deal with calendar stuff via Siri than by manually typing it in. Setting alarms via Siri actually offers an accuracy benefit as well. Whereas I’ve all too frequently set an alarm for 7PM instead of 7AM because I didn’t definitively swipe the day/night roller, Siri doesn’t let me make that mistake. Searching for restaurants or figuring out how much to tip are nice additions as well.
Text dictation is a neat feature for sure, but to be honest I’m still not likely to rely on it for sending or replying to messages. It’s convenient while driving but the accuracy isn’t high enough to trust it with sending messages to important contacts.
Siri is a welcome addition, but not a life changer. As Apple continues to expand Siri’s database and throws more compute at the problem (both locally on the phone and remotely in iCloud), we’ll hopefully see the technology mature into something more like what years of science fiction moves have promised us.
From a hardware perspective, the iPhone 4S is a great upgrade to the iPhone 4. If the 4 was your daily driver, despite the lack of physical differences, the 4S is a noticeable upgrade. While not quite the speed improvement we saw when going from the iPhone 3G to the 3GS, the 4S addresses almost every weakness of the iPhone 4.
The biggest issue is timing one’s upgrade. History (and common sense) alone tell us that in about 12 months we’ll see another iPhone. If you own an iPhone 4 and typically upgrade yearly, the 4S is a no-brainer. If you want to keep your next phone for two years, I’d wait until next year when it’s possible you’ll see a Cortex A15 based iPhone from Apple with Qualcomm’s MDM9615 (or similar) LTE modem. The move to 28/32nm should keep power in check while allowing for much better performance.
If you own anything older than an iPhone 4 (e.g. 2G/3G/3GS), upgrading to the 4S today is a much more tempting option. The slower Cortex A8 is pretty long in the tooth by now and anything older than that is ARM11 based, which I was ready to abandon two years ago.
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ados_cz - Tuesday, November 1, 2011 - link
I have the 4S now and the problem is gone but once my girlfriend comes with her 4, I will make a video and post it to prove you wrong. People have no problems only in areas where signal is really strong. Why would I possibly want to lie?wonderfield - Tuesday, November 1, 2011 - link
What's of concern here is not whether the issue (signal loss) can be demonstrated but whether the phone is, in Brian's/Anand's words, "usable" with the defect or not. It's certainly possible for the GSM iPhone 4 to be rendered unusable in a low signal strength area with a natural, right-handed grip just as it can be rendered unusable with a death grip. That's not to say the phone will be unusable in most scenarios, however, because in most scenarios the phone should function properly. There are certainly edge cases, and the issue is more significant for those who're left-handed and for those who live/work in very poor coverage areas (where it can become an issue), but, again, that's not the typical use case. It's why I categorize Brian's claim that the GSM 4 is not usable without a case as being disingenuous.Realistically, you don't need a "really strong" signal to have not have any problems with the phone, you only need a signal great enough to overcome any attenuation introduced by making contact with the antenna. The extent of the attenuation, as demonstrated in another Anandtech article to which you might refer, is not as significant as portrayed by some media outlets.
ados_cz - Tuesday, November 1, 2011 - link
As far as the need for good signal went I needed to use the case all the time otherwise I would always have to hold the phone in unnatural way. iPhone 4/S is a really beautiful piece of hardware and It was really upseting that I had to use the case and spoil the desing. My close friend living just 15 miles next to me in Perth does not use the case and when he does not care to not to hold the phone in sensitive area, the call drops. It happend to me with him on the phone on few occasions. Few of my friends at uni need to use the case for iPhone 4 as well. The problem was not overstated. Either learn to hold the phone unnaturaly avoiding joining those two critical antenna strips or use a case. I opted for a case. My friend in the London got on well without case, but he learned to hold it by the to when calling. Anyway, I am glad that I have the 4S now and I think my girlfriend does not mind the case on her (former mine) iPhone 4. It so well made piece of hardware and so affordable here in Britain. You are being ripped off in US. Check the deals for iPhones on www.three.co.uk I got mine iPhone 4 for 69 pounds 5 months ago with two years contract for 35 pounds a month (2000 mins any network, 5000 mins mine network, unlimited 3G data with no fairu user policy). I paid 189 pounds for girlfriends (now mine) 4S for 32GB white version just few days ago and she got the same 35 pounds contract.Tetracycloide - Tuesday, November 1, 2011 - link
"I have hundreds of friends who have iPhone 4's who've never had any issue with signal loss at all."Really? Name them. Numbered from one to at least two hundred if you please.
Overstating the strength of your anecdotal evidence doesn't make you look right it makes you look biased.
For what it's worth, I think you're a huge tool for, well, being such a huge tool.
doobydoo - Wednesday, November 2, 2011 - link
Don't be ridiculous.To label someone a 'tool' for stating that their friends don't have issues with signal loss on a phone, is quite frankly ironic.
To suggest I would list my friends names in a bid to convince such a low level individual is even more ridiculous than the rest of your comment (which is a lot).
If you really need hard evidence, I'd point you in the direction of the millions of iPhone customers who gave the iPhone 4 the highest satisfaction ratings of any phone, full stop. Bit hard to imagine that happening if they cant make calls on it, don't you think?
To claim I'm overstating my quite logical claim doesn't make you look right, it makes you look biased.
Tetracycloide - Wednesday, November 2, 2011 - link
I labeled you a tool because your response to another commenter saying they experienced an issue you and 'your friends' never saw was 'your a liar' or more literally "For what it's worth, I don't believe you anyway." That's where you were a tool, that part right there.Your 'hundreds' comment was absurd and you know it. To obtusely pretend I'm actually asking you for a list of names and act like that's absurd (it was obviously rhetorical) is to miss the point which was: you do not actually have 200+ individual examples from 'friends' to draw from. That's absurd.
Your claim was hardly 'logical' it was an absurdly overblown statistic that, even if it was accurate, would still be anecdotal. As are you're 'millions of iPhone customers' by the way. The phone looses signal if held incorrectly. That is the objective reality, full stop.
doobydoo - Friday, December 2, 2011 - link
How ironic that your justification for calling me a tool, is that I essentially disbelieved someone else, after that's all your comments to me are based on.Not only that, but how ridiculous and illogical to say someone is a tool for not believing something. Grow up?
'Hundreds' is not absurd at all, perhaps it sounds absurd to a social recluse? But I can actually name at least 200 friends of mine who use iPhones. Sorry if having friends is a strange concept to you. How dare you claim that you 'do not believe' my 200+ friends claim - that makes you a tool (it's a definition handed down to me by someone special).
Even if my claim was anecdotal, so what? Your criticism of my claim wasn't that it was anecdotal, and I never masqueraded it as anything other than what it was?
The 'MILLIONS' of iPhone customers is not anecdotal at all, by the way - they HAVE factually given the iPhone 4 the best user ratings of any phone of all time. That's reality, fact, pure and simple. They wouldn't do this, if they couldn't make phone calls, don't you agree?
I own an iPhone 4, and it doesn't LOSE (wtf is 'looses') signal in any meaningful way (as in, it never affects call quality or causes calls to be dropped) if held in any way I want. Unbelievable that you make such claims then try to define them as 'objective' - exactly the criticism you levy at me.
gcor - Monday, October 31, 2011 - link
Reading the specs on a lead acid 12v battery I have, I discovered that the higher the load in amps, the lower the total amp hours the battery will output. For example, the spec's say that a particular model can deliver a max of 1 amp hour over 20 hours, but only .5 amp hour over 12 hours.I'm guessing this is also true for the batteries in smartphones and laptops. This assumption seems to be supported when looking at the 3D gaming battery life results in the review, where a 10% increase in power consumption on the 4S, resulted in a 25% drop in battery life.
I assume this has implications for the "race to sleep" concept, as an increase in amp draw by the device may reduce the battery efficiency enormously, as well as actually using more power.
Anyway, just a thought to add into the mix when estimating a % speed increase required for a pay off in additional sleep.
Pliablemoose - Monday, October 31, 2011 - link
Your recommendations mirror my own thoughts, picked up 3 iP4's in the last month, 2 ATT models to put on Straight Talk for $499/year each with unlimited talk text and data (yes, I know it's not really unlimited data) for my kids, and a Verizon iP4 for me. I actually replaced a ThunderBolt with an iP4, got tired of the poorly executed radio software and the constant reboots to keep it connected. The ThunderBolt is a heck of a 4G LTE modem, sort of a poor phone, and definitely a brick with the extended battery it needs get me through a day of web surfing and stock trading.Saving my upgrade next year for an iP5, and keeping my fingers crossed for at least a 4" screen.
ltcommanderdata - Monday, October 31, 2011 - link
"Furthermore Apple even seems to be ok with combining a process shrink with a new architecture as we saw with the iPhone 3GS. It's generally thought of as a risky practice to migrate to both a new process technology and a new architecture in the same generation, although if you can pull it off the benefits are wonderful."I don't believe Apple has actually pushed a new process and architecture simultaneously. Up to now, the iPod Touch was generally the test platform for new processes as a shrink on an existing architecture.
The full evolution is:
iPhone 2G/1st gen iPod Touch/iPhone 3G 412MHz ARM11 90nm
2nd gen iPod Touch 533MHz ARM 11 65nm
iPhone 3GS 600MHz Cortex A8 65nm
3rd gen iPod Touch 600MHz Cortex A8 45nm
iPad 1/iPhone 4/4th gen Touch 1GHz/800MHz Cortex A8 45nm
iPad 2/iPhone 4S 1Ghz/800MHz Cortex A9 45nm
It is curious that we haven't seen a shrink of an existing chip as a pilot for a next gen process, either Samsung 32nm or TSMC 28nm, although the iPod Touch not being updated this year didn't leave many options. It would no doubt be too risky to put a new process pilot chip on the iPhone 4S. I believe iFixit did find some different markings on the 2011 iPod Touch, but I haven't heard about any size difference so that makes a large shrink unlikely. Is there any chance the 2011 iPod Touch could be piloting the A4 on a TSMC 40nm process as a means of getting that relationship off the ground? Is there enough commonality in the tools for the 40nm and 28nm processes to make piloting on 40nm a worthwhile interim step?