So Apple announced three new devices yesterday, including the much-anticipated watch. I’m pretty excited about these devices (I’m leaning towards the larger iPhone 6Plus right now), though a bit disappointed that the camera is remaining at 8 megapixels, while other phones have gone up to 12. Of course, megapixels aren’t everything and the sensor in both new phones are a major improvement, especially with autofocus and low light shooting. The native camera also has a burst mode for selfies.
IGN News on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus
What I like about both phones is that not only does it have a larger screen size (4.7″ for the iPhone 6 and 5.5″ for the iPhone 6Plus) but it FINALLY has NFC, which is great for payments (my last Blackberry had NFC, for goodness sakes) as well as connecting to other devices (I have a camera attachment that can connect via NFC or Bluetooth). Resolution is very good, at 1334 x 750 for the iPhone 6 and 1920 x 1080 for the iPhone 6 Plus. According to the Wall Street Journal, it’s 38% and 185% more pixels than the iPhone 5S respectively. At the event today, Apple also announced its own mobile payment system, but I am unsure when this would be available in Canada.
The new phones are also a bit thinner (of course), with the smaller iPhone 6 measuring at 6.9 mm and the iPhone 6 Plus at 7.1 mm. Battery-wise, it doesn’t look like it’s improving ALL THAT MUCH. The smaller phone will have 10 hours of continuous web browsing time, while the larger phone will be at 12. In other words, those of us who run a lot of apps will likely need to charge it daily, like we do with our current phones. The 32 GB phone has been cut, replaced with a whopping 128 GB model. Colours are the same as last year – silver, space grey and the tacky gold phone. The phone will be available for pre-order this Friday, September 12 in Canada, the US, the UK, Australia and a few other jurisdictions.
As for the watch, I was actually a little surprised that they weren’t using the iWatch name. I guess it sounded a bit too creepy. I am interested in getting one (according to Gizmodo and the official Apple website, it will be available in early 2015), but with my smaller wrists, even the smaller (38 mm screen) watch might be a bit too overwhelming. There is also a sports model, which is much lighter and more “fun” looking, especially in terms of band colours. Both versions can be used to keep track of fitness, including distances walked (or through running), calories burned, how long one is standing (!!) as well as other vital statistics. It easily pairs with one’s phone. However, one thing I don’t think I’ll be using is its GPS. Watch screens are much too small to deal with maps. I’ll just have to take out my phone just so I could see things properly.
