Now that Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has officially sent out invitations to its Sept. 9 media event in San Francisco, where it is widely expected to unveil the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus smartphones, a cavalcade of rumors is flooding out about what the company will and won't announce at the event.
According to 9to5Mac, usually among the most reliable sources for Apple rumors, the new iPhone iterations will have 12-megapixel camera sensors -- up from the current 8-megapixel sensors on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Additionally, the report said, both phones will be able to capture 4K video, something that has been creeping into high-end smartphones since early 2014. The ability to record 4K video means the new iPhones will be compatible with the latest 4K TV sets for displaying the video and will also give the phones improved stability and clarity and more options for post-production editing. Moreover, as 9to5Mac notes, Apple is likely going to use 4K video capture as one of the main selling points for the new phones in its marketing.
Meanwhile, 9to5Mac also reported that Apple has been working on a 4-inch phone that has the capabilities of the iPhone 6, which sports a 4-inch screen. Presumably, this model would be a cheaper variant and would be dubbed the iPhone 6c, akin to the iPhone 5c, which had the same internals of the iPhone 5 but came with a plastic housing and was cheaper than the iPhone 5s. The report said Apple will not unveil an iPhone 6c because the device is not yet ready to ship. Interestingly, the report added that Apple has also internally tested a new, smaller iPhone with a 3.5-inch display, which is the same size of the iPhone's screen from the first model in 2007 to the iPhone 4S in 2011, but Apple does not plan to release the gadget. Presumably, the phones with smaller screens would be targeted at emerging markets or customers without the means to buy more expensive iPhone models.
Apple plans to discontinue sales of the iPhone 5c and make the iPhone 5s its entry-level model, according to 9to5Mac. The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus would see price cuts of $100, as has been Apple's custom for older models when a new version is introduced.
The new iPhones are expected to have 4.7-inch (for the 6S) and 5.5-inch displays (for the 6S Plus), faster processors and more advanced Category 6 LTE modems capable of 300 Mbps theoretical peak downlink speeds and carrier aggregation from Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM). Apple will also reportedly add a rose gold color option for the new phones. Further, according to 9to5Mac, the phones will use Apple's Force Touch technology, similar to the implementation in the new MacBooks and in the Apple Watch, which registers hard and soft presses. On the Apple Watch, the technology allows users to access more options. On Apple's forthcoming iPhones, 9to5Mac reports that the technology will allow users to more quickly navigate through Apple's iOS operating system.
Apple is apparently expecting that the adjustments and updates it is making to the new iPhones will be enough to drive significant sales this holiday season, even though the launch will represent an intermediate update. A July Wall Street Journal report said Apple is asking its suppliers to manufacture between 85 million and 90 million units combined of two new iPhone models by Dec. 31. The WSJ noted that, in 2014, Apple ordered a then-record initial production run of 70 million to 80 million iPhone units. Apple sold 74.5 million total iPhones in the first quarter of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus's availability.
For more:
- see these four different articles from 9to5Mac
- see this CNET article
- see this TheNextWeb article
- see these two separate articles from The Verge
Related articles:
Apple reportedly prepping Force Touch actions on forthcoming iPhone 6S, 6S Plus
Report: Apple may unveil iPhone 6S on Sept. 9
Apple ships 47.4M iPhones, ASPs jump to $660
Apple's massive reported iPhone order could be driven by Chinese demand
Report: Apple asks suppliers to make up to 90M new iPhones by year-end
Analysts: Apple's carrier partnerships have likely peaked, Q4 iPhone 6S sales could be flat