This is the main event, the reason why we sat through one of the stranger of Apple’s September showcases. And ‘strange’ is putting it nicely. But we were all waiting on that iPhone announcement – Would we be getting the 6s or the 7? How about those camera upgrades? Would there be any new sensors? In short, would Apple be making any drastic changes? The answers lie below.
1 – It looks… pretty much the same, actually
If you were hoping to casually place your brand new iPhone 6s or 6S Plus onto a countertop and instantly have people recognise that you have the latest upgrade, you’re out of luck. You’re actually going to have to tell people what you have, unless you happen to have bought the Rose Gold phone and even then, your viewers are going to need a little prompting.
2 – But beauty isn’t skin deep
The good news is that you’re going to have reason to boast despite the 6s handsets looking the same at the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. There’s a snazzy new processor inside the new pair of iPhones, the A9 with its attendant M9 co-processor. Processing speed has been increased over the dual-core 1.4GHz A8 CPU found in the last generation of iPhones. The A9 is still a dual-core but it runs at 2GHz now and there’s significant improvement – Apple claims up to 90% – in the graphics processing as well. Apple haven’t mentioned yet whether the iPhone 6s will be getting a RAM upgrade to go with that processor.
3 – Unless you only care about the camera upgrades
And trust us, you care about these camera upgrades. You’re going to get the same camera setup whether you’re opting for the hand-fitting 6s or the oversized Plus and that setup is… gasp… new. Apple have gone for a 12MP sensor at the back of the iPhones (as suspected) – optical image stabilisation, dual LED flash and phase detection autofocus are all here, as well as something called deep trench isolation which Apple says will result in more accurate colours. The front camera now… the front camera has jumped from 1.2MP to 5MP – Apple seems to have caught on to that selfie thing the kids are doing these days. /getoffmylawn. We wouldn’t be as impressed by the megapixel jump in the front and back if it wasn’t for the other upgrades. Either iPhone will record 4K video, there’s the ability to snap 63MP panoramas and Apple are introducing a Live Photo mode that grabs video from before and after your shutter press. Just in case. The smartphone camera race just got tighter.
4 – There are a few trunk options for all of your junk
Copy
5 – iOS 9 comes standard
You’d think this one would be a no-brainer… actually, this is a no-brainer. We can’t think of a single phone Apple has released that didn’t support their newest mobile OS at launch. But you’ll have some time to get used to iOS 9 because that’s going to hit the previous generation of iPhone next week, on 16 September. Stuff‘s internet connection is going to sob. And so will we if Telkom happen to be mucking around that day.
6 – You will want to touch it on its… er.. display
Force Touch? Yeah, that happened but you can’t call it Force Touch, because it has evolved. Apple have given the displays what they call 3D Touch. A press on the screen will let you preview an image or message, with said preview vanishing when your finger does. A longer press will bring up a secondary menu, which would be context sensitive depending on where you’re poking. As it were. Speaking of the screens, you’d think that 3D Touch would mean new displays but you’d be wrong. The iPhone 6s retains the 4.7-inch 1,334 x 750 screen and the 6s Plus hangs onto that 5.5-inch 1,920 x 1,080 display.
7 – Siri will always be listening
About that hint… Google Now users have had this function for a while yet and now the iPhone is getting it. Siri is going to be always-on, so you won’t have to manually activate the digital assistant with the funny name for its owner (yes, we know about that). A key-phrase is required though, so saying ‘Hey Siri’ should get the ball rolling. It’s an excellent feature but one that prompts a bit of thought – isn’t it weird how when Google or Apple do it, it’s awesome but when Microsoft does it with the Xbox One, everyone loses their minds…? Just saying.
