iPhone 6 and 6 Plus - Apple's September 2014 Special Event

By now, I'm sure you've heard something about Apple's September 2014 Special Event; whether it is the iPhone 6 or U2's free album, the news has been plastered all over the Internet. To be honest, I absolutely love Apple's events. My very first laptop was a Mac (a 15" PowerBook G4, to be precise), and since then, I was hooked. I dream of one day being lucky enough to attend, but for now I'll have to stick with watching online. As a tech nerd, I thought I'd share some of the new tech from Apple. I'll try and keep this short(ish) and sweet - I make no promises. I'm definitely geeking out over here!

If you're a tech nerd like me, I would really encourage you to go and watch the Keynote. Whether or not you're an Apple fan, it is always interesting to see the developments of technology. I was in a lecture for my User Interface class today with a fantastic lecturer; he mentioned the unveiling of the Apple Watch, and how some people are already complaining about the interface without even having tried it. In his words? "In my day, you got what you got and you liked it!" I think there is definitely some truth to this - we're completely spoiled by choice, and can sometimes forget about the sheer awesomeness of the advancement of the technology! 

Anyway, enough from me - onto the iPhones!

iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus

Photo sourced from PC Advisor

Physical Updates

Photo sourced from PC Advisor

Claiming "...the biggest advancement in the history of iPhone", Tim Cook (CEO of Apple) unveiled the latest iPhone versions - namely the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. The new iPhones boast a bigger (and better) display, while being thinner with longer battery life. 

The most obvious development is, of course, the screen size. After the unveiling of two iPhone versions last year, it was not surprising that Apple has once again unveiled two versions of the iPhone 6; "truly the most beautiful phone[s] you've ever seen", with brand-new Retina HD Displays.

	iPhone 5S	iPhone 6	iPhone 6 Plus
Display Size (inches)	4”	4.7”	5.5”
Thickness (mm)	7.6mm	6.9mm	7.1mm
Display	1136 x 640 326ppi	1334 x 750 326ppi	1920 x 1080 401ppi
Number of pixels	-	1 million pixels	2 million pixels

The A8 Chip will replace the pre-existing A7 - the A8 has 2 billion transistors (twice as many as the A7), and will allow for greater sustained performance. To demonstrate show the 'cool stuff they were working on' with Metal (Apple's graphics library for developers) and the new A8 chip, Apple introduced Super Evil Megacorp to debut 'Vainglory', a multi-player battle arena game, described as 'capture the flag, but with crystals'. I mean, they have a Kraken to capture - what's not to like?

Along with the A8 comes the M8 chip - Apple's new next generation motion coprocessor, which will improve the iPhone's ability to track data. Using a barometer, the new iPhones will now be able to measure relative elevation from air pressure, allowing apps to correctly account for stairs and elevations in training routines. 

Storage capacity - my goodness. The new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus will come in three colours (Gold, Silver and Space Grey), and in three configurations: 16, 64 and now 128GB. Crazy. 

Software and Internet Updates

Reachability, a new gesture specifically for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, means that users will be able to 'double-touch' the Touch ID button to make the the whole display will slide down, allowing users to reach the top of the screen if you are using the device one-handed. Along the same lines, the Sleep/Wake button has been moved to the right-hand side of the devices. Horizontal features include dedicated keys to "cut, copy and paste", as well as a horizontal Home Screen.

Improved Internet capabilities were also discussed, with mentions of 20 LTE (long-term evolution, also known as 4G) bands allowing for more seamless LTE roaming, working with 200 carriers around the world. Also, VoLTE was briefly skimmed over - VoLTE is 'Voice over LTE', allowing users to make voice calls over the 4G network (carriers mentioned included Verizon, AT&T, T Mobile, StarTone and several others). Faster WiFi will be present in both devices utilising 802.11ac, which is three times faster than the previous 802.11n. WiFi Calling is also a cool feature - being able to make a call over WiFi, however if you leave the network, it will seamlessly transition to cellular. T-Mobile (US) and EE (UK) were mentioned.

I'm not going to talk too much about iOS8 too much right now, just a couple of quick features!

• Messages - allows you to share locations, audio messages, has a new controller which can use thumb input
• Keyboard - quick type features, will suggest words based on the content being typed
• Health app - I would imagine some big improvements will be coming along with the new M8 Chip (motion coprocessor)
• Touch ID - will now be able to be utilised by third-party applications

iOS8 will be available for a large number of Apple devices on September 17th, 2014.

Camera Updates

As a photographer, the camera features really drew my attention. Apple has upped their Slo-mo game, adding the option of 240fps (frames per second) to the pre-existing 120fps. 

So many new features seem to go into the updated iPhones, including improved Image Stabilisation, the aforementioned Time Lapse Video, continuous autofocus on video using Focus Pixels, enhanced noise reduction, improved panoramas (up to 43 megapixel photos!), and many more.

The FaceTime HD Camera also had some updates too - improved face detection, burst mode for all you selfie-aholics out there. Come on, you can admit it - we've all done it! Another cool feature is Single shot HDR (High Dynamic Range) - allowing the foreground and the background of a photo to be perfectly exposed.

Conclusion 

The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus will be available in the US on September 19th, 2014. I can't wait to see some reviews from actual users of the devices as they become available. If you've made it this far into this post, I'm sincerely impressed. Also sort of concerned as to why you're taking my word for this instead of watching the keynote! Seriously - get onto it. I'll be back late with information from the Keynote.

Thanks for reading! B x