Success Is The 6s
It’s almost September and besides cool breezes, pumpkin-flavored everything, hockey & football, us Apple fanboys are gearing up for another iPhone announcement. This is what we in the business refer to as an ‘S’ year. Ever since 2009 when Apple debuted the upgraded iPhone 3GS, there has been a S year after a major redesign. The meaning of ‘S’ in the past varies year to year like Speed, Siri, and Security, but I have a feeling this year may be a little different. Ever since the launch of the iPhone 4S, I have speculated that eventually there will have to be an iPhone 6s which sounds a lot like ‘iPhone Success’. Not saying the iPhone is not a success, but it’s a very phonetic dumb-sounding name. I hope this is the year that they break out of their cycle and do something different. It could be called it the iPhone 7, or use a different letter like the iPhone 6L where L means LARGER. Regardless, for the sake of identification, I will be referring to the new iPhone as the iPhone 6s & iPhone 6s+.
Not Too Many Options
Since nothing has been and will not be announced until September, this is all speculation. Most of it stemming from Apple being a predictable company and having the same releases year to year. I venture we’ll get the same two options as last year; the 4.7” iPhone 6s and the 5.5” iPhone 6s+. The outer shape and look will not change, as with every S release, this will be internal upgrades only.
Storage Wars
Hopefully now that flash memory is becoming cheaper we’ll get a different set of storage tiers. Last year Apple got rid of the 32GB tier in favor of 64GB. That meant you could get 4x the space in your iPhone for only $100 more. Since it’s now the year 2015, the tiers should be 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB. This gives consumers wanting 64GB and 128GB the same price point as the 6/6+ but doubles the bottom tier without increasing the price
Feature Rich
New features are the reason a new phone comes out every year. Innovation, customer feedback, and industry trends fuel these changes at an ever-increasing rate. The iPhone 6 & 6+ are by far the best smartphone in the world, but there are some gaps where they could be improved.
Killer Camera
Over the last few generations, Apple hasn’t really upgraded the camera that much. They have added better focusing, slow-mo video, burst photo mode, and panorama abilities recently, but have yet to achieve DSLR quality images. We won’t be seeing the DSLR quality photos just yet, but Apple is rumored to be introducing a whole new camera on the iPhone 6s/6s+. Adding more megapixels isn’t the solution, as many people have pointed out, high megapixels does not necessarily equate to better image quality (See: Android). I do believe Apple will be increasing the megapixels on the camera, but that may only be to help the other features. 4K video will be introduced this time around meaning you can record video in 4096×2160 resolution. Some other upgrades could be better optical image stabilization, higher-quality slow-mo videos, more accurate focusing, and better photos in low lighting.
Display Games
Since the release of the Apple Watch and Macbook, there have been rumors of a new feature coming to the iPhone. Force Touch, or firmly pressing on the screen, is almost a lock to appear on the S series phones. This will need to be deeply integrated into the touch screen on the iPhone so it gives Apple a good excuse to change the screen again. With the iPhone 6 & 6+ we saw larger more HD screens that on any previous Apple device. The Android competition has these screens blown away in pixel density and efficiency by using OLED. I think we’ll see a more pixel dense OLED screen in an iPhone eventually, but probably not this year. Rumor has it the screen will remain the same (big disappointment) or only the resolution will be bumped to 1440p.
Predecessor Processor
Every year like clockwork (pun intended) Apple upgrades their mobile processors. These have been making leaps and bounds over the past few years since Apple has been designing the SoCs in house. By far, Apple has the best processors in the market and it will again get better this year. Just the like iPhones, the chips are numbered in order and we are at number nine. Both phones will see an A9 chip and an accompanying S9 motion coprocessor.
Memory Mix-up
Once of the huge shortfalls of the iPhone 6/6+ has been the 1GB of RAM. Multitasking and other memory intensive operations shutters the current iPhones and there is one clear way to fix that, more memory! Throwing memory at phones has never been Apple’s thing, but in their latest iPad, the Air 2, you can clearly see the difference. The latest rumor has the iPhone 6s keeping the 1GB of RAM and the 6s+ getting the bump to 2GB. Can’t say why this would be other than to drive sales of the 6s+.
These Colors Don’t Run
Back in 2013 with the iPhone 5s, Apple introduced a new color iPhone we have never seen before. Along with space gray and silver, we got gold. This new color gold looked more like champagne, but it was the phone to have. Having the gold iPhone made it instantly recognizable as the iPhone 5s. The gold colored casing and gold Touch ID ring made it the most popular iPhone.
This year, we may see a new color to distinguish from the regular 6/6+, and it’s sure to be a hit. Rose gold, a slightly pink version of Apple’s champagne may grace the metal shell of our favorite phone this year.
But Wait… There’s More
Apple usually doesn’t stop there. With a new camera, faster processor, more memory, new color option, and Force Touch, there is bound to be some other little enhancements. The rumor mill suggests the iPhone 6s/6s+ will have a stronger metal casing to prevent bending while at the same time be slightly lighter. A different flash is also rumored to be in this release. Combining the yellow and white flash into a single bulb could make the true tone flash more flexible. Some other behind the scenes enhancements could be a better NFC radio, stronger LTE antenna, new bluetooth radio, and Touch ID improvements.
Bringing You Back Down To Earth
Lots to talk about that’s why the S years are my favorite. it’s a chance to make the new designed phone even better. While there will be a lot of new features, there are lots of rumors pushing things that likely will not make into an iPhone this year or at all. The wildest rumor I’ve read is that the iPhone 6s/6s+ will feature a water-resistant design much like the Apple Watch. The current design of the iPhone doesn’t warrant this type of protection, but someday this could become a reality. Another watch feature that everyone wishes would migrate to the iPhone is wireless charging. It’s the latest craze in Android phones, and you’ve probably heard about it. But here’s the thing, you have to plug in the wireless charging device just like your charger. Yes, it’s convenient to just sit your phone down but then you have to buy a more expensive charger that you won’t want to move, in multiple locations.
Regardless of what Apple announces next month, millions of people will give them lots of money to have one. Personally, I am planning on upgrading my gold iPhone 6+ to a space gray iPhone 6s+… or whatever they call it. BB