The iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, Apple Smart Watch, Apple Pay, today was the busiest day of your Twitter feed history. As everyone predicted, Apple announced their newest devices during todays press conferences. The iPhone 6 will be available later this year and will support all major carriers, while the Apple Watch will be available for $350 early next year.
The new iPhone 6 comes in two flavors. The regular iPhone 6 comes with a larger screen at 4.7 inches, while only being 6.8mm thin (thinner than the average #2 pencil). Apples new phablet, the iPhone 6 plus, packs a 5.5 inch screen, and 7.1mm thin design. Announced with both of these was the new A8 chipset, 25% faster, 50% graphics performance increase, and a battery life with increased audio playback time. Wifi calling and a barometer sensor were announced as well. Improved LTE performance lets the iPhone 6 line connect up to 20 LTE bands, more than any other smartphone in the world.
Working with both these devices is "Apple Pay", a new system Apple design with the idea to replace cash and cards altogether. Using NFC and TouchID security, simply holding the phone (or Apple Watch) up to the NFC device at the register will allow you to use your phone like a debit card and make your purchases using the device. Credit cards are organized in passbook and "Find My iPhone" can be used to locate the phone if it becomes lot and even cancel transactions in case someone else tries to use it. Walgreens, Whole Foods, Subway, and other establishments will be adding Apple Pay, and the system supports MasterCard, Visa, and American Express.
An upgraded 8 megapixel camera extrudes from the back, with an auto focus thats twice as fast thanks to, as Phil Schiller calls it, "Phase Detection". Both the 6 and 6 plus cameras have an f/2.2 apature and image stabilization, but while the 6 only has digital image stabilization, the 6 plus features optical image stabilization, allowing for less shaky pictures. On the video side, both iPhone 6's can shoot 1080p video at 30fps or 60 fps. The slow-mo functionality has improved to an admirable 240fps.
The iPhone 6 retails at $200 for the 16 GB version, $300 for the 64GB, and $400 for the 128GB(with a two-year carrier agreement). The iPhone 6 Plus is $300 for the 16GB version, $400 for the 64GB, and $500 for the 128GB (also under carrier agreement). Both phones will release September 19 and are available for preorder Friday, September 12.
