First published: September 10th, 2014.
Apple has officially launched its new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus at an event in Flint Center for the Performing Arts, Cupertino, earlier today. Flint Center is the same venue where the original Macintosh and iMac were introduced many years ago.
Let’s jump right into the basic specifications:
iPhone 6
- Dimensions: 138.1 x 67 x 6.9 mm
- Weight: 129g
- Display: 4.7-inch LED-backlit IPS LCD at 750 x 1334 pixels (~326ppi)
- Processor: Apple A8
- Memory: 1GB
- Storage: 16/64/128 GB
- Network: HSDPA 42Mbps, Cat4 LTE 150Mbps, dual-band WiFi 802.11ac
- Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.0, A-GPS, NFC
- Sensors: Accelerometer, gycroscope, magnetometer (compass), light/proximity, barometer
- Main camera: 8MP, dual-LED True Tone flash, 1.5µm pixel size, f/2.2 aperture
- Features: 1080p videos at up to 60fps, 720p at up to 240fps
- Front camera: 1.2MP, 720p videos
- Battery: Lithium-polymer, capacity not yet specified
iPhone 6 Plus
- Dimensions: 158.1 x 77.8 x 7.1 mm
- Weight: 172g
- Display: 5.5-inch LED-backlit IPS LCD at 1080 x 1920 pixels (~401ppi)
- Processor: Apple A8
- Memory: 1GB
- Storage: 16/64/128 GB
- Network: HSDPA 42Mbps, Cat4 LTE 150Mbps, dual-band WiFi 802.11ac
- Connectivity: Bluetooth 4.0, A-GPS, NFC
- Sensors: Accelerometer, gycroscope, magnetometer (compass), light/proximity, barometer
- Main camera: 8MP, dual-LED True Tone flash, 1.5µm pixel size, f/2.2 aperture, optical image stabilization (OIS)
- Features: 1080p videos at up to 60fps, 720p at up to 240fps
Front camera: 1.2MP, 720p videos - Battery: Lithium-polymer, capacity not yet specified
Design
We don’t have to go much into the design, since the leaks and mockups that have been floating around are accurate. Both new iPhones have an anodized aluminum unibody, with a stainless steel Apple logo smack in the middle of the back. The unibody is broken only by the polycarbonate strips around the top and bottom that serves to reduce the antenna attenuation.
Display
One rumor turned out to be true that the iPhone 6 will have a 750 x 1334 resolution, but not many have anticipated Apple to bite the bullet and adopt a 1080p display on the iPhone 6 Plus. Because of the new resolutions, the iPhone 6 has 38% more pixels than the iPhone 5s, while the iPhone 6 Plus has 185% more pixels.
A bunch of technical jargons were being thrown around, including the fact that its LED-backlit IPS LCD panel is ultrathin, photo-aligned, with an improved polarizer, and is protected by an “ion-strengthened glass”. This makes the display crisper and has broader viewing angles.
Processors
Naturally, a new iPhone means new processors. Both iPhone 6’s will be powered by the Apple A8 chip, its second generation 64-bit processor. It has 2 billion transistors, and a 20-nanometer process, that is 13% smaller than the A7, but 25% faster. It is also 50% faster at processing graphics.
Apple claims that the new chipset can sustain a peak performance, running at full power for long periods of time without generating much heat. Part of this is thanks to its ‘Metal’ engine, which lessens the software gap between app and processor.
Also new, is the M8 co-processor that is suppose to improve the precision to measure user motion while keeping battery usage on the low. The co-processor is sensitive enough to be able to differentiate between a user running or cycling.
The iPhone 6 also packs a barometer, that measures air pressure, and the phone could use this data to determine the elevation. Nike will also incorporate this data to its next Nike+ fitness app update.
Network
Apple boasts fast networks on the iPhone 6, with WiFi 802.11ac dual-band that is now three times faster, and its improved Category 4 LTE with theoretical download speeds of up to 150Mbps. Unlike other manufacturers that make different variants, there is only one iPhone 6 and one iPhone 6 Plus, meaning it’ll pack 20 LTE bands that can be used around the globe.
The other two features mentioned during the keynote is that supporting carriers will soon implement voice over LTE (VoLTE) and WiFi calling capabilities, which means clearer voice calls.
Camera
It ain’t a smartphone launch without the makers touting the camera, and Apple is no different. Apple keeps both camera resolutions at 8 megapixels, but focused on improving other areas instead. The camera has a 1.5 micron pixel size, with a f/2.2 aperture.
There is still a dual-LED True Tone flash, but they’re enclosed in a single diffuser lens. Apple talked about this “focus pixels” which basically meant that it now does phase detection autofocus that is twice as fast as the iPhone 5s when it comes to focusing on subjects.
While the iPhone 6 only does digital image stabilization, the iPhone 6 Plus is large enough to support optical image stabilization (OIS). With OIS, it could capture in more light than previous models without producing blurry images.
Its video-taking department is not left behind too; the slow video has been doubled from 120fps on the iPhone 5s to 240fps on both iPhone 6’s, at 720p resolution. 1080p videos can either be captured in 30fps or 60fps. What’s more important is its continuous focusing capabilities, that frankly, has been present in many smartphones before this, but it’s nice to finally see it being improved here.
Other camera improvements across the board include a ‘burst selfie mode’, manual exposure controls, local tone mapping, noise reduction, faster face detection, time lapse, and the panoramic shots can now go up to 43 megapixels.
Apple Pay
It took them a while the the folks at Apple finally implemented NFC into the iPhone 6. Rather than using it for quick pairing with accessories (though I’m sure that feature’s available too), Apple is betting the NFC feature for fast and secure mobile payment. With 200 million credit card transactions daily in the US, or 12 billion a year, it’s no surprise Apple is interested in this space.
The idea is easy — you already have Touch ID set up, so just bring the iPhone 6 near a sensor at checkout, place your thumb to authenticate, and you’re done, the payment is made. Its security extends to the point that even if you lose the iPhone, it can be disabled through ‘Find My iPhone’, and there is no need to cancel the card, because there is no credit card information stored in the device to begin with. Neither Apple nor the cashier know the credit card info too.
It will, in the future, work with ‘online’ transactions too, meaning that third party apps could use the Touch ID feature for us to easily purchase items on the iPhone without needing to enter the password.
Apple Pay launches in the US in October 2014, and only works with Touch ID iPhones of course, though the iPhone 5 and 5c could also get some of its features through the Apple Watch; more on the watch in another post.
Battery
If it isn’t clear yet with the camera OIS, the fact that the iPhone 6 Plus’ battery life is better, it is clear which device is Apple’s favorite here. The iPhone 6, though larger, has equal or slightly better battery life than the iPhone 5s, but it is way better in the iPhone 6 Plus. In any case, Apple’s battery claims were usually very accurate, so the numbers below shouldn’t be too far off.
Unfortunately at this point, we’re still not sure of the exact battery capacity on both devices. A few examples that Apple gave include:
3G talk time
- iPhone 5s: 10 hours
- iPhone 6: 14 hours
- iPhone 6 Plus: 24 hours
Video playback
- iPhone 5s: 10 hours
- iPhone 6: 11 hours
- iPhone 6 Plus: 14 hours
WiFi browsing
- iPhone 5s: 10 hours
- iPhone 6: 11 hours
- iPhone 6 Plus: 12 hours
iOS 8
Pushing the appeal of iPhone 6 Plus instead of the 4.7-incher further, iOS 8 will have an iPad-like UI, so that it can be used on landscape mode, even on the home screen. Supporting apps will have a two-pane display like the Mail app on the iPad. It may not be too hard to implement, since Apple had plenty of experience with the iPad, but the new keyboard is quite interesting. It makes use of the larger screen real estate to include arrow keys, cut-copy-paste keys, and even an undo button, excellent for word processing. Why hasn’t anyone done this before for Android? I know SwiftKey has arrow buttons, but not the rest I’ve mentioned above.
The make it easier for you to reach up and press the back button, for instance, iOS 8 for the large iPhone could also drop the whole UI down with just a double-tap of the home button. Apple said that existing apps should scale just fine even on the iPhone 6 Plus’ 1080p display, though developers might want to update their apps to make use of the extra screen space.
Other improvements to the operating system, none of which we haven’t covered before, include an improved Messages app, a new Health app, better notifications, and the much-anticipated “extensibility” that give iOS an Android share intent-like features, allowing apps to talk to each other securely, rather than being siloed like they are now on earlier iOS versions.
Pricing and availability
iOS 8 is arriving on September 17th, 2014, two days before the iPhone 6 ships on September 19th to the following markets: US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, and the UK. Pre-order in these regions starts on September 12th. Malaysia’s usually in the third tier, so we’re looking at around December 2014 for a Malaysian launch. Apple promises to bring the two iPhones to 115 countries by the end of the year.
Both iPhone 6’s come in gold, silver, or space gray colors and 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB storage options. The prices in Singapore are as follow:
iPhone 6
- 16GB: SG$988 (~RM2,500.12)
- 64GB: SG$1,148 (~RM2,905.02)
- 128GB: SG$1,288 (~RM3,259.19)
iPhone 6 Plus
- 16GB: SG$1,148 (~RM2,905.02)
- 64GB: SG$1,288 (~RM3,259.19)
- 128GB: SG$1,448 (~RM3,664.26)
More information over at Apple.
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