With the iPhone 6s expected next month, the Apple-following community is increasingly anticipating this smartphone release. Although Apple has yet to actually confirm the release of the iPhone 6s, it is considered a certainty in tech circles that we will see this smartphone at some point during September.
After a difficult period for Apple financially, the consumer electronics giant will be looking to bounce back with the release of this smartphone. So here ValueWalk assesses all of the latest information about this flagship handset.
iPhone 6s release date
The first thing we know as an almost cast-iron certainty is the release date of the iPhone 6s. This would seem to be an extremely unlikely scenario, as Apple usually jealously guards the release date of any of its hardware devices. But in this particular case, a leaked email from the UK carrier Vodafone seems to indicate that the device will go on sale in the United Kingdom on September 25. With the UK considered a relatively important market for Apple, this would imply that the device will also hit the stores in the United States on the same day.
Design
It looks increasingly likely that there will be few physical design changes from the iPhone 6 when the iPhone 6s is released. Apple has reportedly been working on a metallic oxide replacement for the plastic strips that appear on the rear of the device, but it seems that this will not materialize during this iPhone generation. Major Apple analysts believe that Apple will focus on altering the internal specifications on the iPhone 6s, and largely retain the design that was generally well received in the last generation.
Display
Apple is widely expected to improve the display of the iPhone 6s when it is released, with the smartphone-sized version of the iPhone 6s expected to be upgraded to full HD resolution. This poses tantalising prospect of the iPhone 6s Plus phablet being a quad HD device. This would be a first for Apple, but the corporation has focused on upgrading the resolution of some of its other prominent devices in recent months. The 27-inch, 5K retina iMac is considered by many to be the pinnacle of desktop computing, and a smaller 21.5-inch display with a 4K resolution is also expected in the coming months.
Force Touch
One new aspect of the iPhone 6s that has been strongly predicted is the inclusion of Force Touch technology. This is becoming a trademark of Apple, much as Samsung has come to be associated with curved screen technology. Force Touch was introduced in the Apple Watch, and has since migrated to the MacBook line of Apple laptop computers. This is a technology that enables users to access various commands by simply pressing down on the screen with different degrees of severity. Although this was well received in the Apple Watch, it is thought that it could offer many more possibilities in complex devices such as the iPhone range.
Aluminum
Apple was besieged with negative headlines when the iPhone 6 was rather more bendy than intended. So the corporation is expected to ensure that the iPhone 6s is somewhat more durable. A central pillar of this process will be adopting the Series 7000 aluminum that was included in the Apple Watch series. This would also make logistical sense for Apple from a supply chain perspective, as the corporation looks to unify its production processes across its full range of devices.
iOS 9
It is a virtual certainty that Apple will include the latest iOS 9 operating system in the iPhone 6s when it is released next month. This is currently in beta version, but will probably be fully updated by the time that the smartphone emerges.
Sapphire glass
Apple could also decide to include sapphire glass in the display of the iPhone 6s when it is released. This was incredibly strongly linked with the iPhone 6, and many analysts thought that this smartphone release wouldn’t see this durable material included in the iPhone range for the first time. This was particularly rumored considering that Apple has notably bought up industrial quantities of sapphire glass to be included in future products.
However, this impression turned out to be incorrect; Apple did not utilise sapphire glass in the construction of the iPhone 6, instead introducing it with the recent Apple Watch. But as Apple searches for a stronger iPhone 6s build this time round, it seems probable that sapphire glass could finally made its debut in the iPhone series.
Mobile Virtual Network Operator
One of the interesting rumors about the iPhone 6s is that Apple is currently working on and testing its own Mobile Virtual Network Operator. This technology would ultimately enable Apple to become its own network operator, albeit the corporation would still be reliant on piggybacking on existing networks and carriers. It has been reported by Business Insider that Apple is testing this service currently in the United States, and that the corporation has in fact already conversed about this possibility with two major network operators.
There are obvious similarities between this proposal and the existing Google Project Fi, and it could become possible for users of smartphones to therefore skip between networks depending on the strongest signal in any given location. This would ultimately deliver a stronger and more consistent iPhone 6s Wi-Fi experience, with fewer dropped calls and a uniquely stable 4G connection.
The likelihood of this appearing in the iPhone 6s is not known, but clearly it is something that Apple is committed to in the foreseeable future.
Wireless charging
Finally, as Apple grapples with the difficulty of producing the sort of iPhone that it wishes to deliver while delivering convenient battery life, wireless charging continues to be linked with the smartphone. This would be a real feather in the cap of the iPhone 6s, particularly as Samsung has included it in the Galaxy range. But the jury is out as to whether it will be included.
