The Apple iPhone 6 Grows Bigger and Better

The Apple iPhone 6 is finally official. It will come in two sizes: the iPhone 6 with a 4.7-inch screen and the iPhone 6 Plus with a 5.5-inch screen. Design-wise, both iPhones look like a cross of the most recent iPod touch and the iPad mini. The iPhone 6 is still clad in anodized aluminum, combined with stainless steel and glass. The iPhone 6 measures 138.1 mm x 67 mm x 6.9 mm and weighs just 129g. It packs a 4.7-inch LED-backlit IPS LCD panel that has a resolution of 750 x 1334, giving it a pixel density of 326 ppi. This is still in line with Apple's Retina display philosophy. Its pixels are dual-domain allowing for wider viewing angles. Its brightness reaches 500 nits and has a contrast ratio of 1400:1. An oleophobic coating will keep fingerprint smudges away from the iPhone 6's screen.

Image by PhoneArena

The new iPhone 6 is equipped with the company's brand new quad-core A8 system-on-chip along with the M8 motion co-processor. Like the A7 chipset of its predecessor, the A8 chip comes with 64-bit architecture. The GPU of the iPhone 6 will also perform 50% better in comparison with the iPhone 5s'. This new SoC also comes with support for over 20 LTE bands, supporting LTE roaming, Voice Over LTE, and Wi-Fi calling. The iPhone 6's battery capacity was not mentioned in the keynote and neither on its website but Apple claims that the new iPhone will offer up to 4 hours extra in 3G talk time, 10 more hours of audio listening, and 1 extra hour of video playback over the iPhone 5s. The iPhone 6 is also the first iPhone to come with a barometer in addition to the usual smorgasbord of sensors.


Since the iPhone 4S, Apple is stuck with an 8-MP rear camera. This remains true with the iPhone 6. The rear camera of the new iPhone has 1.5µm pixels, five-element lens, and an f/2.2 aperture.  It is protected by a sapphire crystal lens cover. Similar to the Galaxy S5's camera, the iPhone 6's camera has some sort of phase-detection autofocus called Focus Pixels but will not have optical image stabilization (OIS). The TrueTone flash can still be found at the back of the new iPhone. The iPhone 6 can shoot videos at 1080p FullHD resolution at 60fps and slow mos in 720p HD resolution at 240fps. As for the front camera, the FaceTime HD camera has been improved, now with an f/2.2 aperture, allowing the camera to collect 81% more light for clearer selfies.


Perhaps one of the biggest changes in the iPhone 6 is the introduction of iOS 8. It improves the notification bar, multitasking tabs, and the QuickType keyboard. The Touch ID fingerprint sensor can now be utilized by third-party developers. Siri, which is Apple's virtual assistant, will now be able to recognize songs, make iTunes purchases, and control smart household gadgets through the new HomeKit API. In addition, Siri can now understand about two dozen languages. Widgets are also a welcome addition on iOS 8 but they can only be seen within the Today tab.


Finally, Apple has joined the bandwagon of devices sporting an NFC chip. With the iPhone 6's NFC capabilities, it can now be used to pay at a number of retail locations, which include Starbucks, Subway, McDonalds, Macy's, Disney, Bloomingdales, among others. Apple has also partnered with VISA, MasterCard, and American Express to be able to process such transactions.


The 16GB variant 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. There will be no 32GB models this time around. Pre-orders for the new iPhone start September 12 and units will start shipping out September 19. The iPhone 6 will come with a Lightning adapter and Apple EarPods. The first countries to get them are USA, Canada, the UK, France, Germany, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan. Before the year ends, some 115 countries worldwide will also have access to the iPhone 6 just in time for the holiday season. Check out the iPhone 6's promo videos below:




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Til then...

xoxo Nash