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.
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