In the week that saw the iPhone 5s drop tested, spec tested, torn apart and subject to some unfortunate security flaws it's time to check out the truth about Apples latest iPhone.
Later we'll look at some benchmarking results that might not match with what you've heard but first....
Let's start with the shocking truth...the 5s is a good phone, and the fingerprint scanner is an innovative and welcome addition that could well usher in the return of such tech to more high end phones from other manufacturers, at least in higher numbers than can be found right now.
But wait....the 5s just got hacked, you can fool its finger print sensor with a photograph, or a cats paw....or even your nipple. How can it be a good thing. Right?
Yes. And no.
Yes people have used things other than fingers to unlock their phones, but no it didn't get hacked.
Has it been beaten, circumvented?
Yes, it has. Respected German "ethical" hacking group Chaos Computer Club (CCC), established in the early nineteen eighties, posted a video showing the 5s being trained with only one finger yet being unlocked with a completely different finger that had not been registered with the phone.
In the video a hacker places a gel copy of the registered print, created from a high resolution photograph of the print in situ on glass (and not, as some have claimed, a photograph of the finger itself, or a scan of it) onto a finger not registered with the device and places this finger onto the phones home button (which houses the touch id fingerprint scanner) - and the phone accepts the copied print and unlocks.
Debate continues to rage as to how easy this is to do, let's see what it takes and you can decide for yourself whether you need to panic should you be one of those using the new 5s.
What you need (and this is according to those involved) is a clear fingerprint (not a smudged one) of a finger registered with the phone, taken using a high resolution camera (or high resolution scanner), a laser printer, a transparent sheet and some latex.
It is not that easy to get a clear print off of your phone, of course if you happen to possess a portable crime kit it is probably extremely easy to dust it for prints and find a print that way but other than that you're going to have to spend a while looking at the phone under good lighting in the hopes of spotting a noticeable print, and then hope it photographs well, or you're going to have to get the print some other way such as from a glass they've handled, for example.
So yes, it is possible and yes it is a lot easier than Apple led many to believe...but it isn't the sort of length most phone thieves would go to just to unlock your phone - and if someone goes to the trouble of faking your fingerprint to see what's on there, you've probably got bigger problems to worry about than what they find. Like a crazed stalker or government agents out to get you.
Joking aside this is a major security blow for Apple, if this flaw had not been discovered and exposed then when it became a more widespread use of verifying identity for payments outside of the Apple ecosystem, it would have provided significant enticement for criminals and those with sensitive data (such as government employees, military personnel etcetera) would be unaware that their devices could be unlocked and their data discovered.
For most of us the scanner is still pretty secure, it's unlikely criminals will start cloning your fingerprints in the hope of unlocking stolen phones...after all aside from the equipment needed you also have to guess the correct finger (or fingers), find a clear print of that specific finger and make sure it is recognised first time....because after a few attempts the system defaults to needing your passcode, rendering the scanned print useless - even if the phone is rebooted, as the 5s requires a passcode when rebooted.
So if you need a convenient method of unlocking your phone rather than having to type in a pass code every time you want to use it, Apples touch id is a very useful way to do that. It can be beaten if you really work hard to do so, yes, but it is a lot more secure than having no lock at all and it means if your phone gets stolen then it is still a lot harder for thieves to unlock than if it had no security at all.
People have been led to believe Apple had invented a revolutionary new idea that no one could fool, when in reality yes it is a very clever approach but it is still a fingerprint scanner and so can be fooled in a similar way to other fingerprint scanners.
Okay, so aside from the touch id being fooled what has been the main topic of conversation regarding the 5s? Yep, benchmarks.
Despite the fact that in almost all the videos and reviews you will see or read the 5s is not hugely quicker in every day use than other high end phones (in fact, compare in real time the act of loading web pages for example such as facebook in a browser and you'll see phones such as the older Galaxy S4 slightly out perform the 5s) it is, as usual, statistical benchmarks and not real world use that makes the headlines.
You will have heard Apples A7 is the fastest ever processor unit on any device, ever.
So let's look at how it performs in actual tests against rival processors, here the test is Geekbench 3...although bear in mind all the processors were tested with 32 bit software except the A7 which was tested in 64 bit software (click here for detailed results and links to verify them)....
Apples 64 bit A7 processor, in full 64 bit mode gets an official Geekbench score of 2564.
Nvidias 32 bit Tegra 4 processor gets a score of 2900.
Qualcomms 32 bit Snapdragon 800 processor gets a score of 2771.
Yes you are reading right, the 64 bit A7 is a great processor but it is still beaten by some 32 bit processors used in some 32 bit Android phones (such as the Snapdragon 800 in some variants of the Samsung Galaxy S4).
Now let's be fair to Apple here, those processors that beat it have more cores than the A7, even though they are 32 bit and not 64 bit, but as you can see the hype is simply not true....Apples A7 is not the fastest cpu in a phone...but it is the fastest processor when tested for single core benchmarks.
In other words it's an impressive cpu, and were it to have as many cores as its rivals it would indeed blow them away, but then it would also eat battery life at an exorbitant rate and so the hype is true yet not true....true that it is without doubt a beast of a processor, and performs brilliantly against its 32 bit rivals with their higher clocked cores, but not true that the A7 processor is the fastest phone processor you can get.
So what is the truth?
The iPhone 5s finger print scanner is not as secure as it has been suggested, it can indeed be fooled but for your everyday use it is perfectly safe and much better an option than having no security lock on your phone at all.
And the A7 processor is impressive, and a clever piece of engineering, but it isn't quite the fastest as has been claimed.
