Everything we know so far about the iPhone 6

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We now all know that Apple is holding a press event on 9th September with the express intention of unveiling the iPhone 6 to the world. Considering how soon that is, and how much we’ve already heard about the highly anticipated phone we’ve decided to go through everything we’ve heard so far to make sure you’re all up to speed and know (roughly) what to expect.

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The Screen

The rumours regarding the iPhone 6’s screen size have been very clear. Not only will the phone be larger than the 5S and the 5C, it is also expected to arrive with two different screen sizes: 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch. Both of these are considerable increases over the 4-inch screen that came with the previous models, and if the 5.5-inch model is indeed true then it looks like Apple is finally making the move into the phablet market. This move is hardly surprising seeing as larger phones are becoming a lot more popular than they used to be.

What else do we know about the screen? Rumours originally stated that Apple was going to ditch Gorilla Glass in favour of the super strong sapphire glass (although it’s not indestructible). More recently, however, there have been rumours that Apple was struggling to produce enough glass to ensure all the iPhones in production had the stronger screens. Rumours then evolved from there claiming that only the 5.5-inch model would have sapphire glass, then claims that only a limited number of the 5.5-inch model would include it. Apple’s partner GT Advanced Technologies has reportedly started mass production on sapphire glass, but it’s not clear whether or not it will be ready in time for a late September/early October release.

Others have claimed that the screen will be curved, but those rumours seem to have died down as time goes on.

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Camera

Currently both the iPhone 5S and 5C only have 8MP cameras, which is a little bit behind the competition, so it’s a given that Apple will be including a better camera in the iPhone 6. According to reports said camera will utilise Sony’s Exmor IMX220 camera sensor, which has 13MP resolution, a 1/2.3″ sensor, and can record video in 1080p. Previous reports had claimed that the iPhone 6 would stick with an 8MP camera, but that just doesn’t make any sense at all.

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Processor

We’ve heard surprisingly little about the iPhone 6’s processor, just that it’s an “A8 processor” and the one used in the 5.5-inch model may well be more powerful than the processor in the 4.7-inch model. Despite not knowing anything about the speeds, at least A8 is a nice upgrade from the A7 and A6 processors used in the 5S and 5C.

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iOS 8

There’s not much to say about iOS 8, since a lot of people have been using the preview version for a couple of months. What we do know that it will come with a HealthKit app and HealthKit API which are designed to bring all your fitness needs into one app. Also included will be Extensions a feature that lets apps communicate with each other, and HandOff which makes blurs the lines of what you can and cannot do on both a Mac and an iPhone. Presumably Siri will also be getting a much needed upgrade to better compete with Microsoft’s Cortana and Google Now.

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Battery life

Rumours on the iPhone 6’s battery are incredibly varied, with some leaks reporting that the phone will have a battery capacity of 1,810 mAH, some claiming it’ll be closer to 2,500 mAh, and others claiming it will have a 2,100 mAh capacity. While the fact that there are two different models will certainly account for some of this disparity between the rumours, it still doesn’t account for them being so massively different. There has been little reported on what the battery life might be, as it would require hands-on testing.

We’ll have to wait and see what the official word is on this one, but I’d assume that 18,10 mAh is far too low for a phone that has to compete with phones that have a 3,000 mAh battery capacity and a 2-3 day battery life.

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Features

After it’s inclusion in the 5S it seemed inevitable that Apple would be including the TouchID fingerprint scanner in the iPhone 6, and leaked hardware and specs corroborate that assumption. The thing we don’t know is if it’s going to be different to the version we’ve seen before. The leaked hardware shows that the 5.5-inch model’s home button is slightly different to the one on the 4.7-inch model, but we have no idea what that might mean. It might be huge changes, and it might be nothing at all.

The 5.5-inch iPhone 6 has also been rumoured to be incredibly thin, leading some people to title it as “The iPhone Air”. Slimming down gadgets has been one of the things Apple has focussed on with past devices (the iPad Air being a prime example), so this is more than likely.

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Payment Facilities

Mobile payments are not a new concept, and companies like PayPal, Amazon, Google, and Visa already have their own payment apps that allow people to buy things in shops using just their phone. It’s no surprise that Apple is wanting to join in and offer that service to its users, and rumours of the so-called “iWallet” have been circulating for the past few weeks. Not long after leaked photos indicated that Apple might be making the iPhone 6 the first iPhone to include NFC, the communications system in place that allows mobile and contactless payments to occur.

Similarly, it was revealed in the last couple of days that Apple might be partnering with Visa to make its own version of the digital wallet a reality. A rumour that makes sense, since Visa have already released their own mobile wallet, as well a providing competition against the current PayPal/Samsung partnership.

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Launch dates

A page on Amazon claimed that the iPhone 6 would be released on the 30th September, but it turned out that the page had been submitted by a third party seller, and not Amazon, which calls its legitimacy into question.

A lot of people were surprised by the ability to pre-order an iPhone 6 with custom gold and platinum shells, especially so early on before an announcement. The pre-order page claimed that the custom phones would be delivered in September or October of 2014, which indicated that the phone would be released sometime close to the end of September.

We don’t really know exactly when it’ll be released, but Apple isn’t exactly known for making people wait more than a couple of weeks to get their hands on new devices. So if the reveal is on the 9th September, we should be seeing at least one iPhone 6 by the end of that month (though some claims have emerged that say it’ll be the 14th October). I say one, many rumours have claimed that troubled production on the 5.5-inch model has delayed it to November. As unfortunate as that may be, we’ll just have to wait and see. Who knows, maybe Apple will surprise us all.

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