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How might Apple's iPhone 6 change from the iPhone 5S? We take a look at what the rumour mill suggests
Apple’s iPhone 5s has done well with critics and sales figures alike with its souped-up performance, premium-grade imaging and improved battery life. Many have to admit to thinking of the ‘S’ branded iPhone line being an incremental update compared to the changes aboard the iPhone 4s and iPhone 5. So eyes are already turning toward the iPhone 6 to see what it’ll bring to the table and many are expecting BIG changes.
Change is afoot at Apple HQ. Rumour is the company will drop the number-naming convention on the next iPhone much like it did to the iPad with the iPad Air. Some believe the iPhone 6 may actually be called the iPhone Air. It’s said to be the slimmest and lightest handset Apple has ever come up with so it’d make sense.
Then there’s the rumour of more multiple handsets being released in one year like Apple began to do with the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. This time around it looks like there will be the standard handset, a larger one and then a full-on phablet-sized device. Many believe the phablet is the least likely of the three to hit shelves though. Whatever happens, it’s pretty much nailed on that the iPhone 6 will feature a larger display than any of its predecessors. Three Apple iPhones in one year, however, is not guaranteed.
So how do the rumours of the next iPhone compare to Apple’s iPhone 5s handset? As ever, the details about the iPhone 6 or iPhone Air are only rumours, there’s no confirmed details as of yet.
Design and build
The iPhone 5S hasn’t departed from Apple’s existing iPhone design much at all. It still sports an aluminium back panel and has the same proportions and weight, but then, it’s one of the lightest and thinner devices on the market with some of the best build quality you’re likely to come across, so this is all quite understandable. The main changes include the colour options, which are now space grey, silver and champagne gold, and the metallic bezel around the Home button.
Apple’s iPhone 6, while almost certainly under development, remains the product of feverish fanboy dreams at present. However, rumours consistently point towards the idea of Apple finally buckling and producing a larger handset to accommodate a now-fashionable large-scale display
A phablet would be great and some reports indicate Apple is lining up a dual-iPhone launch and that both handsets will sport larger-than-normal displays. Whether this actually turns out to be true remains to be seen but the idea of a 4.5-inch-to-4.78-inch iPhone and a 5-inch+ "phablet" iPhone launching side by side is pretty damn tantalising all the same.
But the idea of the iPhone 6 expanding is still difficult to come to terms with for the simple fact that Apple has, in the past, argued until its blue in the face that 3.5-4-inches is the optimum size for easy operation. Previously Apple managed to make the jump from 3.5-inches to 4-inches with little fuss, but that’s only a boost of 0.5-inches. Moving from 4-inches to phablet-sized displays is another thing entirely.
The device’s size being adjusted to accommodate a bigger display is the main way in which we can imagine it transforming, although even if the display does enlarge, it seems likely Apple will try to keep the phone’s overall proportions as small as possible with a narrower bezel, following Samsung’s example with the Galaxy S4/Note 3 and its own efforts with the iPad Air tablet. There’s been talk of a curved display but frankly we don’t consider this is very likely. What ultility would it add to the iPhone anyway. OLED displays, yes. Flexible bendy ones? Not likely.
Display
The iPhone 5S’s display remains unchanged from its predecessor – a 4-inch IPS LCD Retina display with an 1136x640 pixel resolution at 326 pixels-per-inch (ppi). Again, Apple says this is optimised for visual quality and ease-of-use in typical smartphone usage scenarios. Certainly it lives up to things in the quality stakes – it’s difficult to complain about the iPhoe 5S’s sharpness, colour and brightness.
But, bigger displays are driving a lot of smartphone adoption on rival platforms at present, so it does make sense for Apple to eat a bit of humble pie and admit that some users want larger screens. An iPhone 6 with a 4.8-inch display sounds about right and it shouldn’t be too much trouble for the quality to be maintained. Apple may simply opt for a full HD 1080p resolution and be done with it.
One particularly interesting point is the abundant rumours regarding Apple’s iPhone 6 switching to OLED display tech rather than IPS LCD.
Processor
Apple’s A7 processor which debuted aboard the iPhone 5S, has received bucket-loads of praise since it arrived. The chip is the first mobile processor made using 64-bit architecture and while the dual-core 1.3GHz processor with 1GB of RAM has been outperforming all and sundry in benchmark tests “as is”, the idea is that as more applications are written for 64-bit we’ll see a further boost in app speeds. Apple’s iWorks suite is already taking advantage of the turbo-charged chip, but more developers are expected to follow suit.
Being the first past the post with 64-bit, it’s naturally thought that Apple will continue to promote this architecture in its forthcoming devices. So, the iPhone 6 will feature a 64-bit chip which will be even quicker. Whether it’ll be called the A7X or the A8, remains to be seen, but expect faster performance still. Could the iPhone 6 be the first quad-core iPhone? That’s possible, but hard to say at this point.
Hardware
Apple is unlikely to change its storage and connectivity options from the iPhone 5S, unless some new standard emerges between now and late next year, which doesn’t seem very likely. That means we’ll still see 16GB, 32GB and 64GB storage options, no microSD, the Lightning connector,Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, no NFC, and a full range of 4G/3G mobile data options.
The current iPhone 5S has a 1,560mAh battery, up from the iPhone 5's 1,440mAh. Newly leaked information out of China suggests the iPhone 6 will have a battery cell rated between 1,700mAh and 2,000mAh, with the former reportedly being the more likely outcome. As well as this lower-rated option being pushed by rumour sources, it also makes sense in terms of how previous battery upgrades have progressed. A 2,000mAh rating would have been quite a signifcant jump and could have added considerable bulk to the handset.
Sources for the leak also suggest the new battery may hint at the iPhone 6's new design format - connector pins are in a different location on the battery cell, which could mean internals have been moved around. Amongst the possible changes, this may include the much-rumoured larger display.
iOS
The move from iOS 6 to iOS 7 was seen as one of the most significant overhauls to Apple’s software platform in years, so it seems unlikely that iOS 8 will see too many major changes to design and functionality. However, there are questions about what Apple might do with its Touch ID fingerprint scanner, as well as other technologies rumoured to be in-development.
Certainly, iOS 7 as it stands on the iPhone 5S is as robust as iOS has ever been with a significantly improved UI, more useful menus for multitasking, notifications and settings, and new services such as iTunes Radio.
With iOS 8, we may see Apple leverage the Touch ID scanner to do more than just unlock the phone and allow iTunes purchases, it could be expanded into wider retail capabilities which has the potential to be massive for Apple - as big a business shift as when it first started licensing music. Certainly Apple will continue Touch ID on the next iPhone either way.
There’s also talk of Apple implementing eye-tracking technologies to allow you to control your phone with a glance – similar to Samsung’s Smart Scroll on the Galaxy S4, but perhaps better...somehow.
Camera
Another area where Apple’s made loads of friends is in its improvements to the iSight camera hardware aboard the iPhone 5S. It’s still rated at 8-megapixels, like its predecessor, but the sensor has been tweaked for greater sensitivity (wider sensor, f/2.2 aperture), Apple’s software has been enhanced so that it starts adjusting for the best image quality before you take a snap, and the dual-LED flash, which uses both amber and white LEDs to adjust for the most natural colour achievable in a given lighting scenario.
How could Apple improve on this? Well, it could add a larger sensor at 13-megapixels, but it made such a big deal of not doing this with the iPhone 5S it’s backing itself into a similar corner as the Retina display argument. Another option would be to add optical image stabilisation (OIS) and/or a wider f/2.0 aperture. But, generally the iPhone 5S’ imaging is pretty stunning and without any pretention to take on goliaths like the Lumia 1020 toe-to-toe, so perhaps a repeat of the same stuff will occur.
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