It happens once a year, Apple debuts its newest products with a special event. This year, the iPhone gets bigger, it’s joined by its long-awaited, smaller, wearable cousin, the Apple Watch, will this hold consumers strong to Apple?
iPhone
It wouldn’t be a mobile launch without at least one new iPhone, and this year we’ve got twins. The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, with 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch screens, respectively, as well as new generation Retina Displays, Retina HD. The Plus’ is full HD resolution.
They’re thinner, have redesigned keyboards, faster graphics processing and a new motion coprocessor (for tracking motion and distance data) and better battery life than the iPhone 5S. they also promise faster Wi-Fi and LTE.
The camera’s been updated with phase-detection autofocus, and optical image stabilization debuts in the 6 Plus, and the phone now supports 1080/60p and 30p, with slow-motion 120fps or 240fps, continuous autofocus and image stabilization. The FaceTime camera has a new sensor and f2.2 aperture, plus burst mode, better face detection, and single-shot HDR for still or video.
They have definitely made significant changes from the 5S. Lets go through them now:
As you can see, the shrinking phone fad is now the “expand, expand, expand”. The popular “phablet” concept seen with the Nokia Lumia 1520 and Android devices has tugged Apples strings and have made sure they got one of their own.
Technology is still being shrunk to give you great power in a smaller case. the 6 & 6 Plus have definitely made an impact on a thinner size to the 5S, although the 6 is a much more definitive reduction compared to the 0.5mm the 6 Plus offers.
iPhone 6 vs 5S in Specs:
| iPhone 5s | iPhone 6 | |
| Storage | 16GB, 32GB, 64GB | 16GB, 64GB, 128GB |
| Display | 4-inch, 1136×640, 326 ppi | 4.7-inch, 1334×750, 326 ppi |
| Contrast ratio | 800:1 | 1400:1 |
| Processors | A7 64-bit, M7 motion | A8 64-bit, M8 motion |
| Touch ID | Fingerprint sensor | Fingerprint sensor |
| Rear Camera | 8MP, 1.5µ pixels, ƒ/2.2 | 8MP, 1.5µ pixels, ƒ/2.2 |
| Video Recording | 1080p at 30fps | 1080p at 30fps or 60fps |
| Front Camera | 1.2MP photos, 720p video | 1.2MP photos, 720p video |
| FaceTime | Over Wi-Fi or Data | Over Wi-Fi or Data |
| Assistant | Siri | Siri |
| Navigation | GPS and GLONASS | GPS and GLONASS |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth 4.0 | Bluetooth 4.0, NFC |
| Talk time on 3G | Up to 10 hours | Up to 14 hours |
| Internet use on LTE | Up to 10 hours | Up to 10 hours |
| Internet use on 3G | Up to 8 hours | Up to 10 hours |
| Internet use on Wi-Fi | Up to 10 hours | Up to 11 hours |
| Standby time | Up to 250 hours | Up to 250 hours |
| Height | 4.87 inches (123.8 mm) | 5.44 inches (138.1 mm) |
| Width | 2.31 inches (58.6 mm) | 2.64 inches (67.0 mm) |
| Depth | 0.30 inch (7.6 mm) | 0.27 inch (6.9 mm) |
| Weight | 3.95 ounces (112 grams) | 4.55 ounces (129 grams) |
| SIM card | Nano-SIM | Nano-SIM |
| Connector | Lightning | Lightning |
| Colours | Silver, Space Grey, Gold | Silver, Space Grey, Gold |
| iPhone 6Plus | ||
| Storage | 16GB, 64GB, 128GB | |
| Display | 5.5-inch, 1920×1080, 401 ppi | |
| Contrast ratio | 1300:1 | |
| Processors | A8 64-bit, M8 motion | |
| Touch ID | Fingerprint sensor | |
| Rear Camera | 8MP, 1.5µ pixels, ƒ/2.2, OIS | |
| Video Recording | 1080p at 30fps or 60fps | |
| Front Camera | 1.2MP photos, 720p video | |
| FaceTime | Over Wi-Fi or Data | |
| Assistant | Siri | |
| Navigation | GPS and GLONASS | |
| Connectivity | Bluetooth 4.0, NFC | |
| Talk time on 3G | Up to 24 hours | |
| Internet use on LTE | Up to 12 hours | |
| Internet use on 3G | Up to 12 hours | |
| Internet use on Wi-Fi | Up to 12 hours | |
| Standby time | Up to 384 hours | |
| Height | 6.22 inches (158.1 mm) | |
| Width | 3.06 inches (77.8 mm) | |
| Depth | 0.28 inch (7.1 mm) | |
| Weight | 6.07 ounces (172 grams) | |
| SIM card | Nano-SIM | |
| Connector | Lightning | |
| Colours | Silver, Space Grey, Gold |
Even though the 6’s have definitely been upgraded from the 5S, the 2 6’s don’t have much of a difference.
Australia’s line of iPhone 6s will set you back AU$869 for 16GB, AU$999 for 64GB and AU$1,129 for 128GB, the iPhone 6 Plus starts at AU$999 for 16GB, AU$1,129 for 64GB and AU$1,249 for the top-of-the-line 128GB model.
The premium price is still an interesting concept that consumers seem to not worry about, only time will tell when competing companies bring phones that go beyond the offerings of Apple with a much cheaper price.
Available: September 19.
Apple Watch
Apple finally makes its official jump into the wearables market with the Apple Watch.
That dial on the side of an analog watch you use to set the time, its been turned into navigation as well as addition to touchscreen swiping and Siri.
There’s a second button on the watch for Digital Touch brings up a list of your favourite contacts, and supports tap-based shortcuts. A sensor on the watch activates the display when you raise your wrist, and it bears a completely different interface than iOS of course optimized for a small screen. It sports a flexible Retina display with a sapphire screen, a variety of sensors for motion and health tracking, and it supports inductive charging. Apple demoed some interesting applications, like the ability to unlock a hotel-room door.
In addition to watch faces, there are six different straps, each of which uses a standard means to change them. There are three collections; Apple Watch, Apple Watch Sport (most durable), and Apple Watch Edition (18K gold). It also requires an iPhone, though it will work with the 5 series as well as the iPhone 6 versions.
How much? It starts at AU$380. Regardless, you won’t be able to get one until early 2015.
The Standard Edition:
The Sports Edition:
The “Watch Edition” Edition Side View:
You can read Apples webpages showing off every inch by clicking on the picture below:
iOS 8
iOS 8 was announced and given to Developers in June and now the official release is September 17th. You can read about the details of iOS 8 on CNet.
The next couple of months will determine the likes and dislikes although its still being labelled as a “Android Copy”. Honestly, the 3 big companies, Microsoft, Apple & Google, will always have its own copy of the others and these days its all about who can do more and/or better stuff than the other in the consumer world is farce.
Apple, with its strict, secretive and “get to the better stuff before others or match it”, makes Apple weaken in the market.
Google, open source allowing companies and developers mash Android and mould it into whatever they please, brings innovation but also high risk of major bugs, hacking and attacking.
Microsoft, the middle man, sucking up the pass and fails of its enemies with Nokia bringing its own flavour of innovation. Windows Phone takes the great features of Apple and Google, refines it and brings a platform that can hold its own in the battle.
If Nokia continues to make innovations under Microsoft’s wings and not lag behind in apps, Windows Phone can be the under dog that takes the cake over the others and that can be a worrying concept and so the fight for ‘awesome’ status continues with the giants.
