Mobile operator Vodacom has announced it will offer the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, Apple’s new flagship smartphones, from Friday 16 October. Consumers looking to get their paws on one of the new devices can pre-order them from next Friday (9 October) on Vodacom’s website. We expect MTN, Telkom and Cell C to make their own, matching announcements soon.
[UPDATE: MTN has confirmed it, too, will have stock of the new iPhones on 16 October. Consumers can re-register here.]
Vodacom hasn’t confirmed pricing for the new devices which, like the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus — last year’s flagship Apple handsets that went on sale in South Africa on 24 October 2014 — are available in 16GB, 64GB and 128GB variants. While the new handsets are priced the same as 2014’s models in the US, we’d expect South African pricing to rise given the dismal state of the rand against the dollar compared to the same time last year.
As is Apple’s convention with its “s” devices, the new handsets offer upgrades over their predecessors — faster processors, a better primary camera, and a new pressure-sensitive touch interface called 3D touch — but the same form factor. This is great for those who’ve invested in accessories like cases, but also makes it necessary to actually tell people you have the “s” model (or make sure they see you using 3D touch) for full bragging rights.
Android fans will yawn and deride the new handsets, Apple fans will fawn and clamour and queue, and the biggest tech company in the world will sell tens of millions of them. Business as usual, then.