The iPhone 4S: A hands-on first look

So let’s get this out of the way. Apple didn’t launch what you and I and they might have called the iPhone 5. Get. Over. It.

It’s just a number, no? What’s in a name? After all, it still says iPhone on the back and that’s why millions – including you - love these handsets.

And millions will still want to buy this one, especially if they currently carry an iPhone 3G or 3GS model.

By revealing the iPhone 4S, Apple might have disappointed a few who were caught up in the tech press hype and, of course, the link-baiting.

They and you may have expected a radical new design but let’s be honest, besides the original antenna glitch – was there anything so wrong with the iPhone 4’s look and feel?

Apple say this iPhone 4S has a superior antenna system to achieve the strongest signal. Only time and a fuller test will tell that.

But after getting a quick five minutes hands-on with the 4S last night, it’ll definitely be well worth the trade-up for anyone without an iPhone 4.

And if you own that handset, there’s still just enough to have you considering it.

Of course, you could wait it out, read every rumour going, imagine all the futuristic new technology that might be in an iPhone 5 like NFC mobile payments you can’t use on the British high street and sit tight for one.

However, with an eight-megapixel camera, the same superfast A5 processor as the iPad 2 and iOS 5, this is a great new smartphone and takes some beating.

Apple’s intelligent personal assistant Siri is siri-ously cool and just as useful. If it really works as well as the video demo showed then it does scare the insides out of me as to where this technology will end up in a decade’s time.

[Related story:  Apple unveils news iPhone 4S model]

Right now though, based on my experience yesterday, I’m hooked.

I simply asked Siri to set me a reminder to buy milk at 9am and it did it, no fuss, no arguments, no mistakes. It might not sound ground-breaking but voice control on previous iPhone models has been poor.

Siri really does seem to be the futuristic science fiction meets science fact addition we’ve been dreaming of for a long time.

It even coped well with the accented English of an Italian journalist trying it nearby.

It’s far more practical than say FaceTime and you can see it being used every day to save plenty of time. Who wants to type when you can talk, ask and tell your phone what to do?

Interestingly, on the UK version of the iPhone 4S, Siri is actually a man and he doesn’t sound as nice at first listen as the US’s virtual lady.

But there’s no doubt other voices will soon become available, and celebrities will be queuing up to have their speech mastered.

If you own an iPhone 4, you can’t get Siri. Is that enough in itself to justify shelling out cash on an iPhone 4S, then no.

As a sign of what’s to come however, it’s a great marker laid down by Apple and speaks volumes as to how voice control is finally coming of age.

The iPhone 4S does present a real problem for those who just want to flash a new-look iPhone around so people see they own the latest model.

It is a reason for upgrading for some but let’s face it, these people obviously have far more money than sense – and they can’t have much money if they only buy tech to show off.

You – and they - will struggle to tell any difference between the two models unless you look very carefully.

The silver band around the outside, which houses the antenna, is split in a different place and does away with the little black line on the top of the iPhone 4 next to your headphone socket.

As I write, we don’t know just how expensive it is to own an iPhone 4S. Pricing is still to be announced in the UK.

So on the basis of what I’ve seen and touched and heard, should you upgrade?

Well, if you have an iPhone 3G or 3GS then you’d be silly not to. The 3G won’t run iOS 5 and the 3GS won’t really take full advantage of all of its capabilities.

It will also stop you sitting there becoming consumed in every iPhone 5 rumour for months to come.

The answer to this crucial question for current iPhone 4 owners is a lot harder to find, especially as an upgrade to iOS 5 will make it feel like a whole new handset anyway.

 All the other additions to the iPhone 4S when looked at as a package though do make it attractive.

Some, such as the improvements to the camera, are a long time coming to catch-up with the competition. But the camera did take awesome snaps and the addition of full HD video recording is a very welcome one.

During my quick hands-on, it was also noticeably faster thanks to the new A5 chip.

Now Apple traditionally reveal new iPhone models in early summer so it’s worth remembering, we could be less than eight months away from that fabled iPhone 5 announcement.

Many who bought the iPhone 4 back in June last year will also just be coming out of those horrid two year network contracts just in time for the iPhone 5.

But whatever its number, the iPhone 4S shapes up on first impressions to be another superb smartphone and there’s little doubt that those sales numbers are sure to stack up for Apple when it hits the streets on 14 October.