There were a quite a few announcements made at Apple’s September 9th Event. The products that were announced were the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus and the long-rumored Apple Watch.
iPhone 6
After many leaks and rumors, Apple made the iPhone 6 official. The new iPhone comes with a 4.7 inch Retina HD display with a resolution of 1334-by-750 at 326 ppi, a new A8 chip, Touch ID (like the 5S from last year), Fast LTE (which included support for VoiceOver LTE), a new 8 megapixel iSight camera with “Focus Pixels”, Apple Pay (which is Apple’s equivalent of Google Wallet or other tap-to-pay systems).
For battery life, you will be able to expect 14 hours of talk-time on 3G, 10 days of standby time, 10 hours of internet while on 3G (the same goes for while on LTE). It is bumped up to 11 hours of internet while on Wi-Fi. Video playback is now up to 11 hours and audio playback is up to 50 hours.
It will come in three colours: silver, gold & space grey. The on-contract price was not announced for Canadian carriers but it should be close to the American carriers’ price, which is as follows: 16GB – $199, 64GB – $299 (and yes, Apple did get rid of the 32GB version for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus) and 128GB – $399. The unlocked pricing is as follows: 16GB – $749, 64GB – $859, 128GB – $969.
iPhone 6 Plus
Apple also announced another iPhone that is has bigger screen than the iPhone 6. The Retina HD display is 5.5 inches, with a resolution of 1920-by-1080 at 401 ppi. It has mostly the same internals as the new iPhone 6, so same processors, same camera but the iPhone 6 Plus’ camera has OIS (Optical Image Stabilization) which the iPhone 6 does not have.
In terms of battery life, you can expect to get up to 24 hours of talk-time on 3G. About 16 days of standby time. For internet usage: about 12 hours on 3G, 12 hours on LTE and 12 hours on Wi-Fi. Video playback is about 14 hours while audio playback is about 80 hours.
It will come in three colours: silver, gold & space grey. The on-contract price was not announced for Canadian carriers but it should be close to the American carriers’ price, which is as follows: 16GB – $299, 64GB – $399 (and yes, Apple did get rid of the 32GB version for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus) and 128GB – $499. The unlocked pricing is as follows: 16GB – $859, 64GB – $969, 128GB – $1079.
Both the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus will be available for pre-order starting this Friday (the 12th of September) and both iPhones will be released on Friday September 19th 2014.
Apple Watch
All of those rumors can be put to rest because Apple’s first smartwatch is finally official. It is called the Apple Watch.
It has a flexible Retina Display with Sapphire Crystal for extra protection. It uses something called a “Digital Crown” to primarily control the watch’s interface, however the watch does have a touch screen as well. Another feature is that it will have wireless charging and the standard charger that comes with it, uses the MagSafe technology like on the chargers for the Macbook Air, Pro and Pro with Retina.
The first version of the Apple Watch is the standard one, which is simply named the Apple Watch. It has a polished stainless case and is suitable for everyday usage.
The next is called the Apple Sport Watch. It has a “ion-strengthened” display to help make it more durable for a more active lifestyle.
The third and final version of the Apple Watch is called the Apple Watch Edition. It comes in 18 karat gold and is directed at those who want a little more luxury.
It will come in 3 versions and will available in two wrist strap sizes. The pricing starts at $349 and will be coming in early 2015.