posted on21 Mar 2013 at 11:48, by
David Ludlow
Our iPhone 6 release date, features and price rumours
article is updated on a regular basis, so check back to keep up with
the latest information
If there's one thing that everyone seems to be certain on, it's that
Apple plans to release its next smartphone in spring 2013. However,
there's some confusion over whether the new phone will be the iPhone 6
or the iPhone 5S. This article deals with the iPhone 6, although there's
naturally some crossover with our
iPhone 5S rumours article.
iPHONE 6 NAME
There's a lot of debate over what the new iPhone will be called. If
you follow Apple's naming strategy, then the iPhone 5S would be the most
likely choice. Typically Apple keeps the same case (or very similar)
for two generations, improving the internal specification. So the iPhone
3G was followed by the iPhone 3GS. It was the iPhone 4 that introduced a
new design, followed by the improved iPhone 4S. By that regard, the
iPhone 5, which introduced the widescreen display, should be followed by a spec upgrade in the iPhone 5S.
However, things aren't quite as clear cut anymore. While Apple used to do yearly (or there about) updates, the
iPad 4
was something of a surprise release, coming just six months after the
iPad 3. If that's a sign that Apple's moving to a six-monthly release
schedule, then it could be that the iPhone 5S gets released as a more
budget model, while the iPhone 6 is released as a brand-new phone.
There's plenty to suggest that Apple needs something new, as the
iPhone 5 wasn't met with the same rapturous applause of the previous
releases, both because of the hardware and the problems with Apple Maps.
With the competition getting a lot tougher, such as with the excellent
Samsung Galaxy S3 and the soon-to-be-released
Samsung Galaxy S4, it could mean that Apple needs to up its game with a brand new phone.
iPHONE 6 FEATURES
With its Retina display, Apple says that you can't see individual
pixels on the iPhone's screen when used at a normal distance. That
effectively means that upping the resolution on the same size screen
makes no sense. The only way to add more pixels, then, is to produce a
slightly bigger phone with a bigger screen.
It's now thought that the iPhone 6 will have a Sharp IGZO (Indium
Gallium Zinc Oxide) screen. This new technology allows for screens that
use less power and are considerably thinner. Rumours certainly picked up
when the
Sharp IGZO technology was demonstrated at CES 2013.
Reports have appeared that the iPhone 6 will have a Super HD screen,
but no details of screen resolution or size have appeared. We'd assume
that the Apple will stick with the new widescreen format it introduced
with the iPhone 5, though.
In terms of storage, 64GB has been the top model for a couple of
years, so we'd expect the top model to now be 128GB. This has been
predicted by Misek, who believes that the iPhone will offer more storage
than before. Whether or not this means a new top-end model or whether
the entry-level 16GB model hasn't been confirmed, but we'd expect Apple
to ditch the low-end and stick with its current pricing.
UPDATE: NEW STORAGE INFORMATION The rumours of a
128GB version would seem to be true, as we know that Apple now has that
capacity, thanks to the recent launch of a
128GB iPad 4.
Recently quite quietly, the new model doubled the maximum capacity of
the previous high-end iPad (64GB). This update was said to be about
increasing the variety of uses for the tablet, with Apple stating that
more storage was good for large files for use in applications such as
CAD and music production. It's also a more useful amount of storage for
photos and videos.
The update to the iPad 4 was a completely new model with a new price,
so we'd expect the same range of capacities and prices to be available
from the iPad 5: 16GB, 32GB, 64GB and 128GB. With Apple now using 128GB
storage in its tablets, the question is whether or not it will provide
the same range of capacities in its iPhone and iPad Mini range, too.
Given that the capacity is now available to Apple and that the
smartphone market is even more competitive, we'd say that a 128GB
version of the new phone is more than likely.
NFC
One of the omissions from the iPhone 5 was NFC, but with the
technology starting to appear in most new Android phones, we'd expect
this in the in iPhone 6. With Apple pushing its Passbook App, for
storing store cards, tickets and coupons, integrating this with NFC
would make a lot of sense. An Apple phone with NFC would also help push
the technology, as retailers are more likely to take it seriously with
this handset on board.
iPHONE 6 SMART BEZEL
One of the things that attracts people to the iPhone is its ease of
use and simplicity. However, iOS has barely changed since launch, so
Apple could well introduce new ways to interact with its phones in order
to stay ahead of the competition.
Patently Apple
managed to dig up information on a new patent for a smart bezel. This
will use a secondary display system, which could be embedded around the
primary screen or even on the back of a device to provide new controls
that light up when needed.
According to Patently Apple, "Apple intends to use the secondary
display to introduce a new set of illuminated indicators that would be
able to morph into various controls for work and play. Illuminated
gaming and productivity controls could be built into the face-side of
the bezel and/or selected back-side areas of iOS devices like the iPad."
Smart bezel will use a secondary display system that illuminates controls when they're needed
That sounds pretty cool to us and could negate some of the negative
point of iOS, such as having to scroll all the way to the top of an SMS
thread to call the contact.
iPHONE 6 PROCESSOR
Judging what Apple will do with the processor is harder, but we'd
expect an updated model in the iPhone 6. Currently the iPhone 5 has a
dual-core Apple A6 processor, but a quad-core Apple A7, using ARM Cortex
A15-based cores, sounds plausible to us.
There are already quad-core phones from Apple's competitors and there's now the
Samsung octa-core Exynos 5
chip. However, it's important to note that more cores doesn't been
better performance and the iPhone 5 is still the smoothest and fastest
smartphone that we've used, despite having 'only' two cores.
With that in mind, Apple will only use the hardware that its phone
requires, rather than going all-out to get the most number of cores into
a phone.
UPDATE: NEW PROCESSOR INFORMATION
The latest information suggests that the [a
href="http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/mobile-phones/1298617/iphone-6-a7-processor-being-built-not-for-iphone-5s"]Apple
A7 processor[/b] is now being finished by the Taiwan Semiconductor
Manufacturing company. It appears as though, the final design will go in
March, then move to risk production in May-June.
With that kind of schedule production of the new chip would happen in
2014, meaning that this processor will definitely be for the iPhone 6,
while the iPhone 5S is more likely to get some kind of tweaked A6
processor.
Recent rumours have suggested that the [a
href="http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/news/1298701/iphone-6-may-get-intel-manufactured-processors"]iPhone
6 process will be manufactured by Intel[/b], rather than Samsung.
With Intel's core market of desktop and laptops contracting, the
company is looking to expand its business by offering contract
manufacturing. It makes a lot of sense, as Intel has the capital
investment in global fabrication plants, which means it should be able
to offer competitive prices. It also means that Apple can move away from
Samsung, reducing its reliance on its main competitor.
This shouldn't be read as a move to Intel-based technology, though.
Although Intel has a smartphone chip, it hasn't been used in a lot of
phones, with manufacturers preferring ARM. ARM has the dual benefits of
low power requirements, which are important on battery-powered devices,
and the fact that it licenses its technology, so manufacturers can
easily build their own custom chips.
iOS 7
One of the constants of the iPhone has been iOS 6, which as barely changed. In fact, with
iOS 5, which was introduced with the iPhone 5, the OS barely changed, bar the introduction of the disastrous Apple Maps app.
With Android offering Widgets and Windows Mobile 8 a cleaner
interface, it's fair to say that iOS is starting to look a bit dated.
We'd bet money on Apple working on a successor with a different
interface, but whether or not this is iOS 7 and whether or not it will
be released with the iPhone 6 is yet to be seen.
iPHONE 6 CONCEPTS
Working off the discovered patents and leaked information, a lot of
iPhone 6 concepts have been released. At the moment, the most
interesting one is from InventHelp's Nickolay Lamm.
"I feel that the sales success of the iPhone 5 overlooks the fact
that it was a pretty boring phone," Lamm said. "I looked at all of
Apple’s recent patents and chose four which Apple may include in the
iPhone 6 or later version. I then hired a 3D graphic designer to
illustrate each of these patents so that the illustrations were as
realistic as possible. I gave him very specific guidelines to follow."
The shot below shows a possible version of the phone, along with the
Smart Bezel highlighting controls on the screen. The finished iPhone 6
will most likely look different, but it's interesting to see how Smart
Bezel could work.
This iPhone 6 concept shows how the new phone could look, complete with its smart bezel
iPHONE 6 RELEASE DATE
The next iPhone, whatever its name, is most likely to come out in
Spring 2013. According to Topeka Capital analyst Brian White, reported
on
Business Insider the next iPhone is going to come out in May or June. This fits with all the other reports that we've read.
Mac Rumours
has a similar report, with Peter Misek, analyst at investment firm
Jeffries & Co, reporting, "Our checks indicate that preliminary
builds for the iPhone 5S will start in March for a launch in June/July."
iPHONE 6 PRICE
Apple typically releases its new models at the same price as the old
ones, and we can't see it introducing a more expensive phone into this
tough market. If that holds out, then, and assuming that the 16GB model
is dropped, we'd expect the 32GB model to cost £529, the 64GB model £599
and the 128GB model £699.