Almost exactly 365 days after Apple removed the veil masking its now ex-flagship, the iPhone 5s, the company has, like clockwork, just announced its successor -- the iPhone 6. In many ways the new iPhone serves as a reminder that change is inevitable, even for a seemingly monolithic company like Apple.
Indeed, the iPhone 6 opens up a new page in Apple's relatively short history of building smartphones. Perhaps most notably, the Cupertino-based giant is changing its ways in both the hardware and software categories, with a larger-than-ever flagship, and a more open, developer-friendly iOS 8. And while we're certain that, in due time, the industry as a whole will dissect the new iPhone and its updated software in a leave-no-stone-unturned type fashion, right now is the time to focus on the basic building blocks of the latest iPhone.
From what we know so far, the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 will have a resolution of 750 x 1334 pixels, or a pixel density of 326 ppi, in line with the iPhone 5s. The phone has also been made thinner than its predecessor, and now its profile measures in at 6.9 mm instead of 7.6 mm.
The processor inside the new iPhone 6 is, as expected, a 64-bit A8, which Apple says has 25% faster CPUs and 50% better GPU (and 84 times faster overall compared with the original iPhone from 2007). The 20 nm chip has 2 billion transistors on it, and is still 13% smaller than its predecessor, the A7. The processor will also support up to 20 different LTE bands (more than any other smartphone), along with Voice Over LTE, LTE roaming and calls over Wi-Fi. The chipset on-board also has a Wi-Fi 802.11ac chip, which apparently will deliver three times faster speeds over your wireless.
The iPhone 6 will also be more efficient, so expect increases in battery life. According to stats Apple presented, 3G talk time was increased from 10 to 14 hours (from the iPhone 5s), while Wi-Fi browsing and video playback went up an hours (from 10 to 11).
As for the camera, we're looking at an 8-megapixel iSight camera with a True Tone flash, f/2.2 aperture lens and 1.5µm pixels. The best thing about the camera is a a new iSight sensor with "focus pixels". The shooter also makes use of phase focus, which will apparently cut focus time in half. The camera in question can also shoot 720p clips at the whopping 240 frames per second -- that's twice the number of frames from what's available with the iPhone 5s (120). Unfortunately, while the bigger iPhone 6 Plus will sport optical image stabilization, the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 will have to make do with a software implementation (digital image stabilization). As far as the camera on the front is concerned, we're looking at a "new" FaceTime HD camera with an "all-new" sensor with f/2.2 lens. According to Apple, the new config will allow the selfie cam to collect 81% more light.
The 16GB version of the iPhone 6 will cost $199 on a 2-year contract, while the 64GB and 128GB versions will go for $299 and $399, respectively. You read that right -- Apple will replace the 32GB slot with a 64GB version, and is also making a 128GB model available for the first time.