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Don’t be fooled by the fact that the iPhone 4S looks identical to the iPhone 4. Deciding which iPhone to buy this year is more complicated than it ever has been, and there’s a lot more variable to consider now than there ever have been in the past.

Should you buy an iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 or iPhone 3GS? Should you get one in white or black? Should you get one with 8GB, 16GB, 32GB or 64GB of storage? Should you sign up with AT&T, Verizon or Sprint?

Those are big questions, and the answers will vary from person to person. Still, Cult of Mac has given this a lot of thought, and for most people, we recommend buying the 16GB Sprint iPhone 4S in White.

Below you’ll find our logic, but if you disagree, pipe up in the comments and explain why. We’re going to take the reader consensus and turn it into another post. We can’t wait to hear which iPhone the hive mind will choose.

Are you one of the Apple fans disappointed the iPhone 4S didn’t live up to the months of hype over the “iPhone 5”? Don’t worry, the hype train is still chuggin’ along, this time it’s load is full of rumors about — guess what? — yes, the “iPhone 5.”

Meet Julie Summers. She’s a “street worker” (prostitute) who is dragging her industry into the 21st century. Julie is the first — certainly that I know of — who doesn’t just accept cash, but will also take card using the Square service on her iPhone.

While there’s a lot more to a camera’s quality than megapixels, Apple’s initial batch of images taken with the iPhone 4S’ backlit 8MP camera are impressive. Really impressive.

Here’s the caveat, though: these are all images taken by professionals using absolutely perfect light conditions, likely with tripods. The pictures you take with your iPhone 4S in a pitch black club after you’ve had one too many Snake Juices are likely to vary wildly.

Check out Apple’s incredible photos after the jump.

Wall Street analysts, after watching disappointed investors sell-off some Apple shares, Wednesday attempted to remind consumers that the iPhone 4S maker is still a rock star, pulling in profits like nobody else on the planet.

If you’re eager to get hold of an iPhone 4S, but you only splashed out on an iPhone 4 12 months ago, then you’ll be pleased to hear that Apple will buy back your unwanted device for up to $200 via its Reuse and Recycle program.

Case company Hard Candy sold thousands of cases for a mystery Apple device that it believed Tim Cook would unveil yesterday.

Customer’s were so excited by the prospect of a jumbo iPhone with a 4.44-inch diagonal screen, they pre-ordered a couple of thousand cases based on the rumor.

“Crazy day,” said Hard Candy CEO Tim Hickman after the Apple event. “We have to cancel a few orders. Two thousand cases were ordered since you ran your story. That’s bad ass! Apple consumers love, love, love to play in this world.”

The iPhone 4S has been official for less than a day, and Samsung is already plotting to block the device’s launch in some parts of Europe. The Korean electronics giant has announced that it is filing a preliminary request to have an injunction slapped on Apple’s fifth-generation iPhone in both France and Italy.

Itching to get your hands on Apple’s latest iPhone? According to Apple representatives, you’ll be able to pre-order the iPhone 4S from 12:01 AM Pacific on Friday, October 14.

Shortly after Apple’s ‘Let’s talk iPhone’ event yesterday, the company finally seeded the Gold Master release of its highly-anticipated iOS 5 software. Until now, you had to have your device’s UDID registered to get your hands on the software early, but that’s not the case with the GM release — anyone can download and install it onto their device.

One of the overlooked iPhone 4S features in today’s keynote was the fact that Apple’s newest smartphone boasts Bluetooth 4.0 technology. The latest MacBook Air and Mac Mini models also have Bluetooth 4.0.

Apple’s technical specifications for the iPhone 4S note that the device has built-in Bluetooth 4.0 support. 

Back in 1987 during the era of John Sculley, Apple released a “what if” video describing a device called the Knowledge Navigator. This prescient work anticipated a personal digital assistant a la Siri, a touch screen tablet computer like the iPad, videoconferencing (FaceTime) and more.

Apple has posted its three intro videos from today’s “Let’s Talk iPhone” keynote on YouTube.

The three videos introduce the iPhone 4S, Siri, and iCloud. Check inside to watch!

Apple has just emptied their magician’s hat onto the table, and out of that silk showman’s topper spilled the brand new iPhone 4S. For some of us, the revelation of “just” a faster iPhone 4 was a disappointment… but it was much more than a disappointment to hundreds of case makers who had bet millions of dollars between them on a radical redesign.

Ah, the mythical iPhone 5. A slimmer, tear dropped iPhone with a larger display and a lozenge shaped capacitive home button. What a chimera. It first emerged as a report over at This Is My Next from Joshua Topolsky, the ex-Engadget editor who was also wrong about whether or not the iPad 2 would have a Retina Display. But he’s not the only one who was wrong about the iPhone 5, and for the last six months, it’s been persistently murmured about by tech bloggers, journalists and analysts.

What the hell happened? How were people so wrong?

Apple’s issued the call to all Mac OS X Lion Developers to submit their iCloud enabled OS X Lion apps today. Shortly after this first request went out Apple also asked iOS developers to submit their iOS 5 apps today.

Today Apple announced a new iPod nano model starting at $130. While the design of the iPod nano has remained identical to the previous model, Apple’s new nano software includes multiple additions and improvements.

2010 iPod nanos can already get Apple’s 1.2 software update that is starting to ship on the new models. The new software adds multiple clock faces, better navigation, and new Nike+ fitness features.

This is it, folks, we’re here: the future. Remember Dave talking to HAL back in Kubrick’s lethargic masterpiece? It’s real.

Apple has posted an online tool that you can use to check your iPhone eligibility for an upgrade. Basically it tells you if you are allowed to buy an iPhone 4S at full retail price or at a subsidized price.

Get ready for a shock that will piss you off folks. A number of readers are reporting that so far no eligibility dates are being updated to make it easy to get that annual iPhone upgrade that we’ve all been used to in the past.

Hailed as a “kiosk killer” back when it was announced in June at WWDC, there are a few more details available now on the Newsstand app, available Oct. 12 with iOS5.

Despite Apple’s  squabbles with publishers who were complaining about selling subscriptions to digital versions on iTunes, many top titles are will be available including The New York Times, GQ, Wired, The New Yorker, Popular Science, National Geographic and Esquire.

This is a pretty nice spread of titles to start with from the dozens of global publishers who signed up for Newsstand — Hearst Corporation, Conde Nast, Disney Worldwide, Europe’s Sanoma Media and the New York Times Corp.

There may be mixed reactions to Apple’s unveiling the iPhone 4S, featuring a ‘world phone’, improved antennas, better camera and the Siri voice-activated personal assistant. While the announcement was impressive, what wasn’t said could leave some Apple fans disappointed, according to analysts.

Apple has already posted the video recording of its “Let’s Talk iPhone” event online. You can head over to Apple’s website and watch the 96 minute keynote in its entirety right now.

Apple execs like Tim Cook, Scott Forstall, Eddy Cue and Phil Schiller all took the stage today to talk about products like iOS 5, iCloud, Siri and the iPhone 4S.

Check our homepage for all of today’s event coverage. And stay tuned for more.

If you’re not sold on how incredible Apple’s new Siri technology is, and why it’s worth buying an iPhone 4S just to have access to it, check out the incredible Siri demo video Apple played at today’s event.

If this doesn’t make you think that we’re on the cusp of an entirely new era of the way we interact with our devices, well, let us know, we probably embedded a Dramatic Chipmunk video by mistake instead.

Leander Kahney: I’m excited about the iPhone 4S. The old iPhone 4 model is a great handset; probably the best smartphone on the market. It’s a great design: easy to pocket; tough as nails; and very functional. Why mess with success? I know many fans are disappointed by the lack of a bigger screen or new design. Bu tI think the internal upgrades look phenomenal. A better antenna, a much faster chip and graphics, plus a great-looking 8MP camera! The best smartphone is even better.

Siri looks astonishing — truly sci-fi stuff. If it works as advertised — and that’s a big if — it will certainly change the way we use our smartphones. I’m already a big fan of Google’s voice search, which is great while walking or in the car. But Siri greatly expands the things you can do. I’d love to be able to set alarms, reminders, send texts and emails with a few simple commands. And it’s likely that the number of capabilities will quickly expand into other areas.

And being able to dictate everything rather than typing will make a big difference to me. I suck at typing. I can see my iPhone becoming my primary input device for writing and email, rather than my iPad or iMac.

Of course, we’ll see how it works in real life. Talking to my iPhone will undoubtedly feel strange and unnatural. I’m in no hurry to look like Scotty in Star Trek talking into the mouse. But I’ sure I won’t be the only one.

Following the release of the iOS 5 GM for developers, Apple has seeded the final Gold Master version of OS X 10.7.2.

This releases puts the finishing touches on iCloud integration with Lion for the service’s public launch on October 12th. iOS 5 will also be released to the public on October 12th before the iPhone 4S goes on sale October 14th.

OS X Lion 10.7.2 should be released publicly very soon. The update will be available in Software Update and the Mac App Store.

It was rumored by several mainstream media outlets that Facebook would be making an appearance at Apple’s iPhone event today to unveil integration with iOS 5.

That obviously didn’t happen. Why? It appears that Apple pulled Facebook from the presentation at the last minute.