The big day is finally here: the Apple iPhone 6 has been unveiled. No messing around, let’s get straight to the good bits.
We knew it was coming, and the rumours were all true. The iPhone 6 will have a 4.7-inch display. That’s 0.7 inches larger than the iPhone 5s.
There will also be an even bigger model. The iPhone 6 Plus will have a 5.5-inch display. This is the first time Apple has ever revealed two new iPhones at once.
iPhone 6 has a resolution of 1334 by 750 with 326 pixels per inch, for a more than 720p Retina HD display. iPhone 6 Plus has a resolution of 1920 by 1080 with 401 pixels per inch. That’s full 1080p HD resolution.
It’s also thinner than ever before (and the iPhone 5S was already the slimmest flagship on the market). The iPhone 6 is just 6.9mm thick, the iPhone 6 Plus 7.1mm.
Both devices will be available in three colours – White, Gold and Space Grey.
Both devices will also be available in three different internal storage sizes – 16GB, 64GB and 128GB. That’s a larger spectrum, something fans have clamoured for for the longest time due to the lack of expandable memory. Unfortunately, that’s still the case – there’s no microSD card slot here.
Of course, the new iPhone is more powerful than its predecessors. It uses Apple’s latest A8 chip, which results in 25% faster performance from the processor and 50% faster graphics compared to the iPhone 5s.
Metal, which we first got a glimpse of at the iOS 8 reveal, will provide the best looking games you’ve ever seen on mobile.
On top of the standard accelerometer, gyroscope and compass, the iPhone 6 has a barometer. This allows it to measure relative elevation.
Naturally, this ties in with iOS 8’s health and fitness features so that it can accurately track when you, say, climb a flight of stairs.
iMessage lets you send texts over Wi-Fi – no mobile network signal required. With iPhone 6, you can do the same with phonecalls.
In signal blackspots, iPhone 6 will switch over to any connected Wi-Fi networks to make calls.
Wi-Fi speeds are also up to three times faster than the iPhone 5s.
The iPhone 5s already has one of the best mobile cameras on the market. Apple is evidently aware of this, as it’s not actually made any huge changes to it on the iPhone 6.
What is different is the sensor, which it claims to be ‘all-new’.
The lens is still the 8-megapixel iSight model with 1.5µ pixels and Æ/2.2 aperture.
Video recording is improved too, with full 60fps 1080p recording available, compared to 30fps on the iPhone 5s. The slow-mo video has been upped from 120fps to 240fps. Pretty slow, in other words.
There’s time lapse photography and burst-shot selfies, too.
Need we say any more?
Alright then, we’ll elaborate a little. Essentially, it’s the one thing that iPhone has been missing for what feels like forever. A mobile wallet, activated by the iPhone 6’s NFC, called Apple Pay.
You input your desired debit or credit card’s information into your iPhone (where it is stored encrypted, entirely securely). You can even use the camera to scan in those details. They’re added to your passbook.
Now, when you’re at the checkout, you simply whip out your iPhone, select a payment card and then hold your requisite digit on the finger/thumbprint scanner to enable payment. It’s slick, it’s effortless, and it’s something that Android has been doing for more than a year now. It’s not come a moment too soon.
If you lose your device you can use Find My iPhone to wipe the cards from the device, without having to call your card provider to cancel them entirely.
As there’s six variants of the devices, you’ve got six different price points to mull over. The choice is nice, but you’re going to have to have your fair share of expendable income if you want to purchase one off-contract.
The iPhone 6 will cost £539, £619 and £699 for the 16GB, 64GB and 128GB variants respectively, whilst the iPhone 6 Plus will be priced at £619, £699 and £789 for the same storage sizes.
We don’t know how much they’ll cost on contract though, which will most likely be the more relevant price tag for the majority of customers. US pricing starts at $199 when purchased with a contract, so expect to be paying at least £100 for a monthly deal which isn’t completely extortionate.
You can buy the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus on September 19th. Pre-orders will be taken from September 12th onwards.
Those dates apply to consumers in the USA, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan.
So, what do you think?
