Every fall, you can always count on a few things to happen: a new school year will begin, football season will kick off, and new Apple products will be released. Apple didn’t disappoint and, on September 9, they hosted their famous keynote, which was livestreamed on their site. Among their many announcements about Apple TV and Watch updates and the new iPad, the big headliner was the new iPhone. Would they, in true Apple fashion, release a 6S, or would they surprise us all and skip straight to the 7? In the end, it was a 6S that was released and, while it didn’t feature as many changes as we saw in the 6 compared to the 5S, there were some key new elements:
Rose Gold
On first glance, the biggest change is the new color offering, which will have girls everywhere screaming: rose gold. Like the pink Motorola Rzr of yore (RIP), I expect a number of people to upgrade to the 6S simply to get their hands on the new color.
3D Touch
The 5S and 6 brought us the fingerprint ID; the 6S and 6S Plus offer 3D Touch. The “next generation of Multi-Touch,” the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus can sense how much pressure you apply to the display. While before you could tap, swipe, and pinch to do different things, you can also peek and pop. Peek and pop let you preview content without even opening it. Peeking (or lightly pressing) allows you to take a glance at an email. Press deeper (which is popping) and you’ll open the email. Your iPhone now responds to even the subtlest of taps.
A9 Chip
The iPhone 6S has a custom-designed 64-bit A9 chip. In comparison to other smartphone models, you’ll see 70% faster CPU performance and 90% faster GPU performance.
4K Video
The iPhone 6S can now take 4k video, which means your videos will have four times the resolution of a 1080 HD video. The iSight camera is 12-megapixel and the FaceTime HD camera has 5 megapixels.
7000 Series Aluminum Enclosure
While the 6S may look the same as the 6, the enclosure is new. It features a new alloy of 7000 Series aluminum, which is the same grade used in the aerospace industry. The cover glass is also the strongest and most durable you’ll find on the market.
LTE Advanced
With the iPhone 6S, you’ll experience speeds up to twice as fast as the previous iPhone generation. It also supports more LTE bands than any other smartphone.
While the new iPhone 6S may not feature as many updates as Apple fans would have liked, it’s a great option for those living in a cave sporting an iPhone 4S or 5. These latest updates just make me wonder, what is in store for the iPhone 7?
Photo by: Omar Jordan Fawahl
