Make mine a large…
Believe the hype (and the leaks): Apple’s new superphones are bigger
Nosingl epieceofcons umer tech generates as much chatter as a new iPhone and Apple again gives us two models to chew over at once. The lead iPhone 6 comes, as widely leaked, with a 4.7-inch display that pits it against the Galaxy Alpha and HTC’s One M8 for the superphone crown. The display is Retina rather than full-HD – 720p and 326ppi, since you ask – while something called “ionstrengthened glass” means it should withstand a pocket-based brawl with your car keys.
The larger, phablet-like 6 Plus, however, is 5.5 inches of full HD (1920x1080 and 401ppi) splendour, which is big enough to let you run apps in landscape mode, iPad-style. On both this and its smaller sibling, rounded corners and a seamless build mean a closer similarity to iPads Air and Mini than iPhone 5S. The lock button on both moves from top to side, too.
Design and res aside, little has changed that drastically since the iPhone 5S. There’s still silver, gold or “space grey” flavours and there’s still no SD card support, meaning you must choose from 16GB, 64GB or 128GB storage – where’s 32GB gone? No, we don’t know either.
The new 64-bit A8 processor in both is, Apple assures us, 13 per cent smaller than last year’s A7 but 25 per cent faster, although, as ever, no stats are quoted. Similarly, the camera still has eight megapixels and an f/2.2 aperture lens, though a new sensor with “focus pixels” gives better autofocus and less noise, while the 240fps slo-mo upgrade is suitably great. The 6 Plus even gets optical image stabilisation.
As ever, where the changes mainly come is in the software, and while iOS 8 is visually similar to its predecessor, the functionality is greatly expanded. You can multi-task email drafts, send voice iMessages, make calls from your Mac, add real-time widgets to Notification Centre and use third-party keyboards. HomeKit and HealthKit will let you control a soon-to-be-announced canon of connected devices, while Apple Pay (see box, right) has designs on your wallet.
Connectivity-wise, there’s little to grumble about, with 20 bands of LTE – more than any other phone – and download speeds up to 150Mbps. Something there is likely to be grumbling about? Well, if you’re offended by “premium” pricing, look away now… iPhone 6 from $869, 6 Plus from $999, apple.com/au, out now