iPhone 5C, iPhone 5S

Apple has unveiled a pair of new iPhones.

Here is the iPhone 5S and 5C Official Video:

iPhone 5C

The first is the much-rumored iPhone 5C, with a plastic casing available in a variety of colors (green, blue, reddish-pink, yellow, white). Apple seems to have done its best to make the device look high quality, with the backing and sides molded of a single piece of plastic; on the hardware side of things, the iPhone 5C comes with a 4-inch Retina display, A6 processor, and 8-megapixel camera. But if Apple wants to truly compete in the midrange smartphone market, the key factor is price, and the iPhone 5C will retail starting at $99 with a two-year contract—not startlingly low, but definitely cheaper than many Apple products.

Apple is also selling its own cases for the iPhone 5C, which could peeve smaller case manufacturers. The cases feature a grid of cut-out circles, the better to see the actual iPhone’s color.

iPhone 5S

The other new Apple design, the iPhone 5S, is the company’s next-generation “hero” device. While the iPhone 5 was a radical new design, the 5S is an iterative upgrade; on the outside, it looks pretty much the same as its predecessor. The new iPhone features a new color, gold, in addition to the “traditional” black or white aluminum body.

The iPhone 5S has an A7 chip built on 64-bit architecture (capable of running 32-bit and 64-bit apps), which is pretty speedy, to put it mildly. There’s also the M7 “motion co-processor” which boosts the actions of the accelerometer, compass, and gyroscope—in theory, opening the door to more refined motion-related apps, such as ones devoted to exercise. Battery life is rated at roughly 10 hours’ talk time, 250 hours on standby.

On the camera side of things, new features include burst (snap 10 photos at once), slow motion, and an improved panorama feature.

The most radical new hardware addition, however, is probably the fingerprint lock. Instead of inputting a passcode (something a lot of people neglect to do, apparently), users can unlock their iPhone 5S via their finger. The capacitive sensor is imbedded in the device’s home button, which is constructed from highly scratch-resistant sapphire; in addition to unlocking the phone, it can also be used to authenticate an identity for buying apps from the iTunes Store.

Apple’s Touch ID is capable of reading multiple fingerprints; the fingerprint itself is never uploaded to Apple’s servers or stored on iCloud, which could satisfy a few more paranoid users. Pricing for the iPhone 5S starts at $199 with a two-year contract.

Rollout date for both new iPhones is Sept. 20, with preorders starting a week earlier.

Slashdot.org, Image: cdn.macrumors.com, Video: Apple Inc.