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Apple has shown off its new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus to the world for the first time at its press conference in Cupertino.
Apple CEO Tim Cook took to the stage to reveal the new iPhones – the iPhone 6 (4.7-inches, 6.9mm thin, 1334×750 resolution) and the 6 Plus (5.5-inches, 7.1mm thin, 1920×1080 resolution). They feature anodized aluminum and stainless steel, polished glass, and are available in gold, silver and space gray.
Both phones have a new Retina HD display and are powered by Apple’s A8 chip, which has up to 25 per cent faster processing power and up to 50 per cent faster graphics. It also has an M8 coprocessor and 64-bit architecture. Apple says that processor performance is 50 times faster than the original iPhone, and graphics are 84 times faster.
The iPhone 6 Plus will also apparently play games in higher resolution than next generation consoles, thanks to Apple’s new ‘Metal’ tech.
The main new feature of the iPhone 6 is ApplePay – a contactless form of payment using NFC (near field communication) technology. To pay for something, a user can hold their iPhone near the contactless reader with their finger on fingerprint scanner Touch ID. A subtle vibration and beep lets them know that payment has been sent.
Passbook can store a user’s credit and debit cards just by taking a picture of each card or entering the info manually.
For safety, whenever a user makes a transaction, a unique Device Account Number is assigned, encrypted and stored in the Secure Element, a dedicated chip in iPhone. Apple says these numbers are never stored on Apple servers. If an iPhone is stolen, Find My iPhone can be used to put the device in Lost Mode so nothing is accessible, or the user can wipe their iPhone clean completely.
Visa, Mastercard and American Express are signed up as credit card providers, with 220,000 locations on board as partners, including Disney, Subway, Staples, Toys R Us and more.
The home screen on the iPhone 6 Plus can be displayed in landscape mode when turned on its side.
Battery life on the iPhone 6 ranges from ten hours when 3G browsing to 250 hours in standby mode, while the iPhone 6 Plus ranges from 12 hours to 384 hours.
Both iPhones have a barometer that senses air pressure to determine the user’s relative elevation, for example it can measure stairs climbed, an accelerometer that measures distance for walking and running, and a gyroscope to detect when you’re driving or playing games that react to movement.
The new iPhone also features 802.11ac for three-times faster WiFi. With faster LTE – up to 150 Mbps – iPhone 6 users can experience faster download and upload speeds for browsing the web, streaming music, making video calls and more. iPhone 6 also supports Voice over LTE (VoLTE)
In terms of the camera, the iPhone 6 has an 8MP iSight camera, with 1.5µ pixels, ƒ/2.2 aperture and a new sensor. It can capture slo-mo video at 120 fps or 240 fps, or normal 1080p video at 30fps or 60fps.
Camera features include exposure control, improved face detection, HDR video, burst mode and timer mode.
iOS 8 also has a range of new features including improved messages, so you can send an audio file instantly by touching and holding the new microphone button to record a message, then swiping to send it.
Both new iPhones will launch in the UK on September 19th, and are available to pre-order from this Friday (September 12th).
The iPhone 6 will cost £539 (16GB), £619 (64GB) or £699 (128GB), while the iPhone 6 Plus will cost £619 (16GB), £699 (64GB) or £789 (128GB).
There will be a range of silicone and leather case accessories available.
Apple Pay will be available in the US in October 2014. Apple says work is underway to take it worldwide in the near future.
