Apple Announces The iPhone 6S and 6S Plus

After months of speculation, Apple finally unveiled their latest iPhones at an event held at the Bill Graham Civic Center in San Francisco today. Rumors swirled around the release of the latest iPhones, with many predictions ranging from sensible to borderline insane. Tim Cook and Co. took to the stage to put many of those rumors to rest and finally give fans what they’ve been waiting for. 

Both models aesthetically look very similar to the previous iPhones. The body, the frame, size, and even weight all remain relatively unchanged. In fact, the only thing that’s different this time around is a new Rose Gold Aluminium tone added. Apple made sure to bring a ton of “new” tech to the iPhone 6S and it starts with the part of the phone you’d use most.

Apple introduced a new touch screen technology they’re affectionately dubbing, “3D Touch.” 3D Touch was first introduced to us on the newest MacBook as Force Touch, and essentially reimagines how you interact with your screen. On a basic level, 3D Touch allows you to execute a soft touch on your iPhone 6S display to showcase options and a firmer touch will usually execute an action. For example, if you’re browsing around on your homescreen, a soft touch will give you a sneak peek of a notification or common actions you’d use an app for, while a firm press will open up the full content or take you into said application. Apple is calling this Peek and Pop. You can also use 3D Touch to engage the multitasking menu by simply pressing on the left side of the screen. If you’re within messages, notes, or email, you can press against the keyboard to turn it into a trackpad of sorts, making it super easy to highlight text.

Faced with scrutiny over the disaster that was ‘Bendgate’ Apple decided to kick the design materials up a notch, and used a 7000 series aluminum alloy. In short, this will make it harder to actually bend your iPhone. They’ve also switched to the same Ion X glass that is used on the Apple Watch, for the displays on the 6S and 6S Plus adding to the durability for both devices.

What intrigued me the absolute most with Apple’s announcement today was how they had planned on upgrading the iSight Camera for iPhone. After what seemed like an eternity of 8MP shooters on the iPhones, I’m proud to announce that Apple has made the jump to an all new 12MP sensor. Apple promises to give you the best photography experience ever on a mobile device with the tech from their new camera system. For starters, Apple made a pretty big deal about the new Focus Pixels and a new image signal processor. Both work together to allow more light into the sensor, while making sure each pixel is as sharp, and crisp as it could be. These new sensors also allow for a new feature called live photos. Live photos are essentially GIFs that are super high resolution, that are made entirely in the camera. The new 4K video mode looks awesome, and has a certain cinematic appeal to it. In short, the best camera on a smartphone just got better.

Apple is claiming that with the new iPhone 6S and 6S Plus performance is increasing by 70% thanks to the new chipset inside. Thanks to the new Apple A9 chip, the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus will be capable of console-like graphics within a mobile environment. Working right next to the A9 is the M9 coprocessor which allows for better gyroscope, accelerometer, barometer, and compass performance while not dragging the battery down in a fiery catastrophe.

Both models will be available for pre order this Saturday, September 12th with sales beginning September 25th, starting at $199.99 on a 2 year contract or $19/mo. on most installment plans.