Apple finally gave into consumers wanting a real choice with the
iPhone, giving us two new models in September 2014, the regular iPhone 6 and phablet iPhone 6 Plus.
With Apple diversifying its product range for the first time ever, it's
interesting to find out what the company is up to this year with the
new models, the iPhone 6S and the iPhone 6 Plus. With Apple typically
keeping the same design for a couple of generations, it seems likely
that we'll get roughly what we've got now, but with some hardware and
software improvements; for the big changes, we'll most likely have to
wait until 2016 with the launch of the iPhone 7.
In this article, we're rounding up all of the most interesting
rumours and are putting together a picture of what the new phones will
look like. We'll put all of the new information at the top so that you
don't have far to go to find out about the latest rumours.
What you need to know, quickly
What is it?
|
Apple's latest smartphone, and the update to the existing iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus |
When is it out?
|
If Apple sticks to its normal release schedule, and it tends to, then we should see it late September 2015 |
What's new?
|
Externally it will look like the iPhone 6/6 Plus, but we should see iOS 9, a faster processor (the A9) and, potentially a better camera, too |
In detail
Analyst makes lots of predictions
One of the most vocal analysts is KGI Securities' Ming-Chi Kuo, who
has as good a record at predicting upcoming Apple products as anyone,
has made the biggest set of predictions for the iPhone 6S yet. It's
interesting to note that Kuo has started calling the phone the 6S again,
after originally stating that the new smartphone could be so different
that Apple might jump to the iPhone 7. Without further ado, here's what
he's predicting and what we think.
- Force Touch is coming This makes perfect sense to
us, as Apple has introduced this technology on the MacBook and both
MacBook Pro with Retina Display models; rolling it out to the iPhone is
just the next step, as we explore below
- Screen sizes will be 4.5in and 5.5in, and there will be no 4in model The
first part of this statement is obvious, as the iPhone 6S won't make
any big design changes from the 6, which means the screen sizes are
fixed. As for the second part, there's been a lot of will they/won't
they rumours about Apple releasing a smaller phone, which we go into in
full later. In short, the jury's out on this one
- There will be an additional rose gold colour Apparently,
this is to match the Apple Watch. As to whether or not it's a
replacement or an addition to the existing gold model we don't know, but
we can see Apple wanting to match colours across its mobile range
- The camera will be upgraded to 12-megapixels While
not exactly high resolution by today's standards, this rumour at least
fits in with what Apple's been doing in recent years: balancing noise
and image quality, against resolution; a jump to 12-megapixels should
keep noise down while improving resolution
- An extra microphone will improve voice quality Shocking, we know,
but there are some people that like to make phone calls. This minor
improvement is possible, as Apple added an additional microphone to the
MacBook Air a couple of years ago
- No more bending Tougher construction and build
materials will keep the phone from bending. We can see Apple constantly
looking to improve build quality, so a few tweaks here and there to make
it stronger seem likely
- Sapphire glass coming to the iPhone 6S Plus Well,
to some of the models, with Kuo stating that there will be a limited
number with sapphire. We think that it's unlikely that Apple will split
its run in this way and either all models will have it or none
- TouchID will be improved Apple Pay has made Apple
want to increase the recognition rate with Touch ID. This seems very
likely, as the Touch ID sensor is something that Apple will constantly
be looking to improve
- Gesture controls are coming You'll now be able to
use gestures to interact with your phone, although it's not clear as to
whether this means new sensors or just that iOS 9 will work with
existing sensors
First leaked images of rose gold model are out
Ming-Chi Kuo was the first to come out and say that the iPhone 6S
would come in a rose gold version, in order to match the Apple Watch.
While we can understand that Apple would like to align the colours
available between its mobile devices, until now we couldn't quite
picture what a rose gold iPhone would look like in the flesh. Well, we
have to wonder no more, as 9to5mac has
been sent the first set of leaked images. As you can see from the
image, the photos also show that the phone has dual rear cameras, which
seems to fulfill previous rumours.
Obviously, editing images of an iPhone 6 to turn it rose gold and
adding an extra camera lens isn't a very difficult job, and we can't
guarantee the authenticity of these shots. However, they at least give a
better idea of how the colour would work in the flesh. From what we've
seen, we like it and hope that Apple goes with this colour.
We could get a plastic iPhone 6C
it's the 'will they, won't they' saga of whether Apple will decide to
launch a plastic iPhone 6C alongside the premium iPhone 6S and iPhone
6S Plus. This rumour has been doing the rounds for a while, but it's now
starting to gather some proper momentum. In a way, a plastic iPhone 6C
makes a lot of sense. When the iPhone 6 models launched, Apple had the iPhone 5S as
the cheaper, smaller handset. When the new 'S' models come out later
this year, the 5S will be two years old and a little long-in-the-tooth.
While it can still sell the original iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, there'll be a
hole where the iPhone 5S once stood, which Apple may plug with the 6C.
According to DigiTimes,
which isn't always particularly accurate with its rumours, Apple will
launch three models later this year. All will use NFC and have Touch ID,
but the 6C will use the existing A8 chip while the high-end models will
use the new A9. Apparently, the iPhone 6C will have a 4in display and a
polycarbonate plastic case, similar to that of the iPhone 5C's.
In fact, we've already got a leaked shot that purportedly shows the
new iPhone 6C's case, comparing it to the iPhone 5C. As you can see in
the shot below, originally displayed on FutureSupplier,
the 6C appears to have an oval-shaped hole for the flash, rather than
the 5C's round flash. Secondly, the site has reported that the 6C has
different holes in the bottom for the speakers. Call us cynical, but
these shots could easily have been edited and they're far from proof.
Still, we do believe that Apple may want a third phone for the
entry-level market, and a plastic model makes sense in many ways.
iOS 9 incoming
Apple likes to release a new version of its mobile operating system, iOS, every year alongside new hardware. Given that we had iOS 8 last
year with the new iPhones, it stands to reason that this year we'll
have iOS 9. So, what can we expect? We go into more detail in our full iOS 9 rumours piece, but the word is: not much.
It seems that this time around, Apple is mostly focussing on making
the operating system more stable, rather than adding in a raft of new
features. That makes a lot of sense, as many people have felt that iOS
has become less stable over time. Instead, the only new features we're
likely to get are those that support new hardware. Fortunately, we don't
have too long to wait to find out, as Apple will most likely unveil a
beta version of iOS 9 at its WWDC conference on the 8th June 2015.
Force Touch may come to the phone, but only the Plus
We've had rumours, first mentioned by the Wall Street Journal, that the new iPhone 6S will have a Force Touch sensor since the technology was introduced with the new MacBook.
Force Touch technology can sense the difference between a light tap and
a hard push, performing different actions. For example, a Force Touch
on a highlighted word can bring up the Wikipedia entry for it.
Although the iPhone already recognises the difference between a short
and a long press, adding Force Touch brings in yet another way to
interact with the phone. It could be useful, for example, in games, with
a Force Touch in FIFA performing a long pass. It's likely that Apple
would also make changes to iOS in order to recognise the new type of
input, most likely inside iOS 9, which will launch this year.
While we initially thought that Force Touch would come with both the
iPhone 6S and the iPhone 6S Plus, recent information has cast doubt on
this, and it may only come with the larger Plus model. According to GforGames a
report mentioning TPK, the Force Touch manufacturer, only mentions the
iPhone 6S Plus, not the regular model. That's an interesting distinction
and the fact that the larger Plus model is specifically mentioned,
rather than a more generic 'iPhone 6S', seems to suggest that the sensor
is only coming to the Phablet.
Why is that? For starters, the sensor for an iPhone is more expensive
than on an Apple Watch or Mac Trackpad, so Apple may want to only
include this in its most expensive handset. Secondly, Apple may want to
distinguish its two phones a bit more, giving the Plus another feature
in addition to the optical image stabilisation (OIS) that it has and the
regular iPhone doesn't. Finally, it may even come down to a question of
size, with the iPhone 6S Plus' body physically giving more room to
squeeze in the required sensors, while the iPhone 6S may not be designed
for it. We'd imagine that this would change with the new design of the
iPhone 7, but as that's not launching until 2016, we've got a bit of a
wait.
Will the iPhone 6S be the iPhone 7?
This is one rumour that simply refuses to go away: Apple may not have
an iPhone 6S, but may instead jump straight to the iPhone 7 instead.
The latest rumour on this front comes from KGI Securities analyst
Ming-Chi Kuo, and reported by MacRumors,
who believes that the inclusion of Force Touch on the new phone is such
a big change that Apple will skip straight to iPhone 7.
Apparently, a capacitive Force Touch sensor will be installed under
the phone screen's backlight, and this is enough for Apple to make a
complete name change. We really don't think that this is the case. After
all, with the iPhone 5S Apple introduced Touch ID and went 64-bit:
these huge changes weren't enough for the company to jump straight to
iPhone 6, and Force Touch isn't even in that league. We firmly believe
that Force Touch will make an appearance (more on that later in this
article), but we definitely don't believe that this alone is enough to
make Apple drop a model number.
That's not to say that Apple won't go for iPhone 7 instead of the
iPhone 6S; however, if it does, the most likely reason will be because
the company has decided that the 'S' range of phones is a bit confusing
and clear model numbers make more sense.
Besides, doing this would completely change how Apple has approached
its iPhone line and we're not convinced that it's ready to do
that. Apple typically launches one new product with a brand-new design,
which has a brand-new number: the iPhone 4, iPhone 5 and iPhone 6 are
all clear examples of this. The following year, Apple takes the same
case (perhaps with some tweaks), makes some internal changes and
launches a follow up with an 'S' suffix: the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 5S
are all clear examples of this.
Yet, every year, we have to go through the usual set of rumours
suggesting that Apple will skip the S version and move straight to the
next number. When the iPhone 4S launched, everyone was disappointed that
it wasn't the iPhone 5; when the iPhone 5S launched, everyone was
disappointed that it wasn't the iPhone 6. Obviously, we've got rumours
that the next phone will be the iPhone 7.
Based on past form, we'd have to say that is complete nonsense and we
refuse to believe these rumours until there's some hard proof. Until
then, this article cover the iPhone 6S, which will launch this year, for
bigger changes, we're most likely going to have to wait until 2015 for
the launch of the next phone, which we cover in our iPhone 7 rumours article.
