Apple has taken the wraps off the iPhone 6 and its larger sibling, the iPhone 6 Plus, after months of speculation and rumors.
The iPhone 6 is the 4.7-inch variant while the iPhone 6 Plus features a big 5.5-inch screen. Both the devices will ship with iOS 8 and will be available starting September 19 in select launch markets. The smartphone was earlier rumoured to be known as iPhone 6L owing to its larger screen.
Apple also announced the smaller iPhone 6 with a 4.7-inch screen as well. The internal specifications on the Plus are slightly better than the regular version. The Retina HD screen on the iPhone 6, packs a resolution of 750 x 1334 pixels and is protected by ion-strengthened glass. The smartphone is just 6.9 mm thick.
The resolution on the iPhone 6 Plus is 1920x1080 and the thickness of the device is 7.1mm, even though it has a large overall size.
Both the newly announced iPhones feature an 8 megapixel iSight camera. Only the larger 6 Plus features optical image stabilization (with a 'floating lens' to compensate for shaking hands or other motion blur); the smaller iPhone 6 features 'digital' image stabilization which relies on software trickery to perform a similar trick. Both cameras can record 1080p video at 30fps or 60fps, and slow-motion video at 120fps or 240fps.
The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus feature a 64-bit Apple A8 chip built on a 20nm manufacturing process, which the company has claimed, offers 25% more CPU power and 50% more GPU power. Apple's A8 SoC comes coupled with the M8 co-processor which has an onboard barometer to assist various health tracking activities such as steps. The devices support 20 LTE bands and would work with majority of networks worldwide.
After years since the launch of NFC payments, Apple has finally introduced the technology in the latest iPhones to make use of the Apple Pay payment system. The much awaited move from Apple is expected to boost the mobile payments market.
Apple says that its new devices are "the best phones ever made", and it has priced them accordingly. On a two-year contract, they will be priced as follows:
iPhone 6
- $199 for 16GB
- $299 for 64GB
- $399 for 128GB
iPhone 6 Plus
- $299 for 16GB
- $399 for 64GB
- $499 for 128GB
The iPhone 5s will live on, with prices starting at $99, while the iPhone 5c will remain only in its 8GB form, and will be free on a two-year plan. The new iPhones will be available in the US from September 19th, with pre-orders beginning on September 12. By the end of the year, they will be available in 115 markets worldwide.
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