iPhone 4S Fails to Impress

Every time Apple makes an announcement (or even announces an announcement), the techno-geeks, Apple-loyalists and the general media feed the Mac hype with speculative articles. Even things that are quite obviously fake leaks are written about because it drives more readers to blogs/sites. And almost every time Apple does make an announcement, we're left a tad underwhelmed - our lofty hopes left largely unrealised.

When Philip Schiller, senior vice president of Apple's Worldwide Product Marketing opened the 4S keynote reveal with "don't be deceived because inside, it's all new", it was all over. The most anyone hopes for with iPhone upgrades lies is how it looks. Beyond the literal meaning of Schiller's summation, his statement covers what most people actually care about: having the newest looking iPhone.

What makes me feel foolish about this latest reveal is that as dictated by previous iterations, the shape hardly changes at this point; a full update is always preceded by a minor one. And with such a lack of physical change, I'm giving upgrading my iPhone 3GS a second thought.

But if any of the previous upgrades are anything to go by, people will still buy the newest iPhone and brave an uncomfortable night's sleep outside the Mac store to make sure they are up-to-date. Even those who point to a 3 percent drop in Apple's share price also point to Apple's consumer savvy, releasing a phone with internal changes before making enthusiasts wait with bated breath for the iPhone 5.

So here's what's new on the inside:

- a faster processor. The iPhone 4S will be installed with the A5 chip (the same used for the iPad 2).
- voice activation software called Siri. This will allow users to make commands like "check voice messages" and even answer questions like "what's the weather like tomorrow?"
- a longer battery life (8 hours)
- an improved camera (8 megapixels and a video stabilisation tool)