It’s official: the 8th generation iPhone is here, and it’s called the iPhone 6 (and iPhone 6 Plus). Right off the bat, what do you think of the new name? While I thought the C for Color was kind of lame, am I the only one who thinks the “Plus” is a bit reminiscent of a particular competitor’s social network?
Review: iPhone 6 and 6 Plus
The design for the iPhone 6 is pretty much a complete overhaul of what we’ve had in the iPhone 5/5S. Say goodbye to those square corners with which you’re familiar, and hello to a much slimmer, rounded body. The iPhone 5S measured 7.6mm in thickness, but the iPhone 6 will be a mere 6.9mm, and the iPhone 6 Plus will be a smidge thicker at 7.1mm. However, the overall size of both the 6 and 6 Plus is larger to accommodate the larger screen sizes—4.7” (326ppl) and 5.5” (401ppi) respectively.
Processor
In terms of power, the iPhone 6 is packing an A8, 64-bit second gen. processor and a next gen. M8 motion co-processor. The processor is now 50x faster than that of the original iPhone, and graphics are processed 84x faster than when the first iPhone came out. Perhaps best of all, the iPhone 6 is up to 50% more energy efficient (yay, longer-lasting battery life!).
Camera
The iPhone 6 camera is 8MP, just like the 5S, but that’s where the similarities end. The iPhone 6 features a wide angle iSight lens, true tone flash, f/2.2 aperture, greater noise reduction, and a 2x faster autofocus. It can also shoot 1080p video, and slo-mo video can now be recorded in either 120 fps or 240 fps. In exciting news, the front-facing FaceTime camera has been upgraded too. It’s now in HD and has an f/2.2 aperture, as well as a new sensor that allows up to 81% more light in!
iOS 8 Features
As they announced at WWDC back in April, iOS 8 will be available to download on September 17, and will come standard on all new devices. The features of the new iOS are also pretty neat:
- You’ll now be able to add voice, video, and location to any message.
- The predictive keyboard will learn your conversation style and help you answer messages accordingly. In the Apple Live screen shot, they showed a message asking “Do you want to go for dinner or a movie?” and above the keyboard were the options “A movie,” “Dinner,” and “Not sure.”
- A new health app (to pair with the new Apple Watch) will show you all kinds of health and fitness data. The phone even features a barometer to measure atmospheric pressure. Now your phone will be able to track whether you’re going up a tiny hill or a tremendous mountain and report your fitness stats to you accordingly.
- Notifications will now be even more detailed, showing you flight delays, headshots of the people who’ve viewed you on LinkedIn, etc. A whole myriad of apps will have notification extensions.
- Touch ID will now let you securely and easily access content in other apps. No more having to log into your banking apps every, single time! Yay!
Apple Pay
As for all the speculation about an iWallet or some other kind of mobile payment system, Apple cleared the air and gave us the facts: Apply Pay is here!
The iPhone 6 will feature a new NFC antenna, the security of Touch ID, the privacy of the Secure Element, and the convenience of Passbook. You can start by adding credit card payment options directly from your iTunes account, and to add new cards you can use your iSight camera. You pay for things using Touch ID, and your card number is never stored, shared, or displayed on your device or Apple servers. A one-time, unique number is created to authorize each transaction—a dynamic security code to replace the static security code on the back of your card. Apple will never know what you bought, where you shopped, or how much you paid, and cashiers will never see your name, card number, or security code. Apple has partnered with American Express, MasterCard, and Visa, along with more than 220,000 merchant locations to accept Apple Pay payments. Apple Pay will be available in the US in October 2014.
Pricing
So what’s this all going to cost? With a new, two-year contract, the iPhone 6 is $199 for 16GB, $299 for 64GB, and $399 for 128GB. The iPhone 6 Plus is $299 for 16GB, $399 for 64GB, and $499 for 128GB. They both come in the same colors as the iPhone 5S—gold, silver, and space gray.
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