At its big fall event at in Cupertino on Tuesday, Apple unveiled two new iPhones: the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. As expected, both new models sport much larger screens than previous versions. The standard iPhone 6 now sports a 4.7-inch display, while the iPhone 6 Plus comes with a massive 5.5-inch screen, putting it squarely in “phablet” territory.
Apple has also bumped the storage up to 128GB on both models, and dropped the 32GB option altogether. The iPhone 6 will come in 16GB, 64GB and 128GB models for $199, $299 and $399, respectively, while the iPhone 6 Plus will come in 16GB, 64GB and 128GB models for $299, $399 and $499. Both models will be available on September 19th, and preorders should open up later this week.
Design
The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are even thinner than the 5s, coming in at 6.9mm and 7.1mm thick, respectively, compared to the 7.6mm iPhone 5s. The glass front of the iPhone 6 curves around the side, and each model features an anodized aluminum back. As some of the leaks we saw prior to the event indicated, the camera features a ring that protrudes a bit from the back of the device, but it doesn’t really take away from the incredible thinness of the iPhone 6.
Screens
With the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, Apple has upgraded the displays to what they’re calling Retina HD. The 4.7-inch iPhone 6 has a resolution of 1334 by 750, with a pixel-density of 326 pixels per inch (ppi); the 5.5-inch 6 Plus goes full HD with a 1920 by 1080 display and a whopping 401 ppi. Apple says both versions are covered with “ion-strengthened glass,” to make the iPhone 6 less susceptible to drops and scratches.
You’ll definitely have more to look at on both models, and Apple has built new views into its iOS apps to make use of the larger displays. For example, the iPhone 6 plus will show your contact’s profile picture next to their messages within the Messages app. Third-party developers will have the opportunity to update their apps as well.
Innards
Both phones come with a new generation 64-bit Apple A8 chip, which is 13 percent smaller and up to 25 percent faster than the previous-generation A7. Graphics on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus should get a boost as well, with the A8 chip carrying a graphics processing unit that Apple claims is 50 percent faster. And the A8 is 50 percent more energy efficient than the A7, which should translate to better battery life for the 6 and 6 Plus.
Speaking of battery life, the iPhone 6 promises around the same battery life as the 5s, coming in even better than the 5s in some categories; the iPhone 6 Plus offers more battery life still, thanks to a bigger battery.
The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus boast more advanced wireless capabilities, offering up to 150 Mbps LTE (compared to 100Mbps on previous models), and also support 802.11ac Wi-Fi. And both models support Wi-Fi phone-calls, with seamless call hand-offs between WiFi and LTE/4G on supporting carriers.
To support its new Apple Pay payment system and easy mobile payments, both the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus will have an NFC chip, so you can tap your phone to a supported payment terminal to pay for purchases.
Cameras
Both phones sport an 8 megapixel iSight camera on the back with True Tone flash, 1.5 micron pixels, f/2.2 aperture and an all-new sensor. The result should be crisper details and better performance in low-light. The camera has phase-detection autofocus, which should offer even faster automatic focus for pictures and videos. And while the iPhone 6 has digital image stabilization, the iPhone 6 Plus adds optical image stabilization.
Updated at 11:00 am PT with pricing and availability.
Updated at 10:45 am PT with more details.
iPhone 6