Apple’s iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus is finally official. After weeks of intense speculation and conjecture that sometimes bordered on the bizarre, Apple has finally lifted the lid on the future of the iPhone. Let’s not waste any additional time here and jump right in to look at the announced features, the specifications of each device, as well as the pricing structure and release dates.
Specs / Features:
Design
As expected, the physical design of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus hasn’t deviated a great deal from the iPhone 6 that landed twelve months ago. Apple has made minor adjustments to the dimensions of the new hardware – by making it marginally thicker – to make it more robust and less likely to succumb to issues like the “bendgate” scandal that tainted the iPhone 6 when it first launched. Apple’s introduction of a new 7000 Series aluminum casing material will also add to the structural stability of the new hardware.
Display
The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus features unaltered 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch LED-backlit Retina HD displays with 3D Touch technology (more on that below). The pixel resolution of the displays remains consistent with existing hardware at 1334 x 750 pixels for the iPhone 6s and 1920 x 1080 pixels for the iPhone 6s Plus. Both devices will serve up display protection with ion-strengthened glass and a fingerprint friendly oleophobic coating.
3D Touch
Called 3D Touch because of its three-level touch capability, Apple has decided that this feature will be predominantly used on the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus to invoke a range of commonly requested shortcuts, as well as provide instant access to specific functionality within first and third-party applications. Apple is calling the new feature, Peek and Pop and its being complimented with the support of a Taptic Engine to provide feedback when using 3D touch.
Check out our detailed post on how 3D Touch works here: How iPhone 6s 3D Touch Display Works [Video].
A9 Processor
The inclusion of Apple’s in-house A9 processor was a given. The Cupertino company has a tradition of bumping up the internal processor of its iPhones with each launch, meaning that the inclusion of the A9 was always going to happen. The new chip has 70% faster performance than previous generation and boosts graphics performance up to 90% compared to previous-gen.
As expected, the inclusion of the A9, along with the bump in onboard RAM to 2GB should ensure that the 6s and 6s Plus are notably faster and a lot more fluid when in the hands of end users.
M9 Coprocessor
The successor to the M8 Coprocessor, the new chip will always remain powered on in the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, thus making the always-on “Hey, Siri” command possible.
Camera
As Apple is keen to consistently point out, the performance of the iPhone camera is one of the reasons that consumers continue to choose the device over rivals. The introduction of the 6s and 6s Plus will do little to change that. The smaller iPhone 6s comes equipped with a 12-megapixel rear shooter which means 50-percent more pixels than before. Another new addition is the 5-megapixel FaceTime camera which is now supported by the Retina Flash – simply put, the display will light up to 3-times the original brightness to serve as a front-flash for your selfies.
The jumbo-sized iPhone 6s Plus comes with same camera hardware embedded within in as well, except that it also features OIS (Optical Image Stabilization), this time both for photos and videos. Both devices support 4K video recording via the rear camera and up to 720p video recording from the front cam.
Live Photos
Apple is bringing your photos to life! This new feature allows users to capture regular photos but the phone cleverly adds a frame or two before and after the shot, giving it an animated look, with audio. All of this in full 12MP glory. The magic happens when you deep press on the photos, thanks to the 3D Touch tech in the new iPhones. This feature is enabled by default, which means all the photos you take are ready for Live Photos. Check out the video below to see it in action:
Motion Wallpapers
One of the smallest, but nicest features of the new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus is the inclusion of support for what Apple likes to call “Motion wallpapers”. This functionality has been ported across after its success in the Apple Watch and will afford owners with the ability to select from a selection of pre-defined dynamic wallpapers that will not only bring the device to life, but will also look stunning on the large Retina display.
Battery
Apple is clearly happy with how performant the previous-generation iPhone 6 and 6 Plus models have been in regards to battery life. With that in mind, the latest progression within the iPhone range provide up to 14 hours talk time on the iPhone 6s and up to 24 hours on the larger iPhone 6s Plus, similar to previous-gen.
LTE and Wi-Fi
Apple is claiming that the new LTE chip is twice as fast as before with 23 bands, offering up to 300Mbps over LTE Advanced. Similarly Wi-Fi has been bumped to over twice the speed of that in the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, offering speed support up to 866Mbps over WiFi.
Improved Touch ID
Apple is claiming that the Touch ID on its new phones is version 2 and much faster and secure than ever before. How exactly? Well, Apple chose to skip that part.
Colors
The potential color choices of the iPhone 6s was bizarrely one of the most discussed topics in the run-up to this announcement. After much speculation it’s now been confirmed that consumers will be able to purchase the iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus in Space Gray, Silver, Gold, and the new Rose Gold option that borrows inspiration from the Apple Watch.
Accessories
The accessories that come purpose built for the iPhone are always the last to be talked about, but often end up being extremely lucrative for the Cupertino-based company. To compliment the new, slightly thicker iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, Apple has introduced an updated range of premium leather and silicon cases that not only perfectly compliment the visuals of the new iPhone, but also offer a level of protection that a lot of consumers yearn for.
Apple has also announced a new dock for the new iPhones, which is available in matching colors for your iPhone selection, and as you guessed it, will be sold separately.
Price:
iPhone 6s:
- 16 GB — $199 (on contract) or $649 (unlocked)
- 64 GB — $299 (on contract) or $749 (unlocked)
- 128 GB — $399 (on contract) or $849 (unlocked)
iPhone 6s Plus:
- 16 GB — $299 (on contract) or $749 (unlocked)
- 64 GB — $399 (on contract) or $849 (unlocked)
- 128 GB — $499 (on contract) or $$949 (unlocked)
Apple also announced a brand new iPhone Upgrade Program, more details on which you can find here: Apple Announces New iPhone Upgrade Program, Here Are The Details.
Release Date:
Pre-orders for the company’s next-generation hardware will begin on September 12 in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, the UK and the US. Public release and shipping will start a week later on September 25.
Apple plans on releasing the new iPhones in over 130 countries, with over 400 network carriers as partners by the year end.
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