fbpx

What changed on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus?

Now that Apple has officially announced the new iPhone 6 and its big brother, the iPhone 6 Plus, it’s time to take a closer look at the improvements that Apple made on their new handsets compared to the iPhone 5S.

Design and Construction

Yugatech 728x90 Reno7 Series

In terms of its design, Apple still kept most of the design language on their new iPhones, albeit made the edges of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus more rounded and trimmed some of the excess fat to make it nominally thinner than its predecessor.

Because of the bigger screen found on the new iPhones, Apple had to reposition the power button which is now located on the right flank of the phones, thus making it easily accessible using the user’s right thumb or left index finger (when held upright).

As for the paintjob, there’s an off-colored pinstripe that divides the back portion of the handset into three sections, similar to the previous model. However, Apple dropped the use of a two-tone color for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus’ back panel, and instead painted the top and bottom portions of its posterior with the same color as the middle portion of the handsets.

Display

One of the more notable changes that Apple made on the two new iPhones is the screen size. Since the debut of larger Android smartphones, consumers can’t help but criticize the lack of improvement on the iPhone’s screen size. So the Cupertino-based company answered back by releasing two new iPhones that has a 4.7-inch screen (iPhone 6) and a 5.5-inch display (iPhone 6 Plus).

In keeping with their age-old tradition of providing crisp display, Apple also had to increase the resolution of the display to match its size. From 1136 x 640 on the iPhone 5S, the new iPhone 6 now has a 1334 x 750 screen resolution which equates to Retina-grade pixel density of 326ppi.

The iPhone 6 Plus, on the other hand, is equipped with a 1080p display to match its fairly large, 5.5-inch display, putting in the same league as the other flagship Android smartphone in the market.

Imaging

If you look at each of the new iPhone’s spec sheet, there’s not a lot of improvements on the hardware used for its camera. Both handsets are still equipped with an 8-megapixel rear iSight camera with an accompanying True Tone Flash, similar set up found on its predecessor.

So what changed? Honestly speaking, most of the improvements that Apple made on the imaging department are intangible and can only be appreciated when you actually start shooting with the new iPhones. First up is the new imaging sensor which, unfortunately, was not discussed in details during the launch event.

What was highlighted, however, is the addition of Optical Image Stabilization which will come in handy for users with shaky hands and for long-exposure shots. It minimizes the blur caused by changes in the camera’s position while shooting.

Another thing that Apple put emphasis on was the revamped autofocus feature (pixel focus) of the new iPhones. It uses a similar technology as phase-detection autofocus which, in theory, should be a significant improvement on the last generation in terms of its ability to lock in on the subject.

Video recording

Apart from improving the new iPhone’s imaging capabilities, Apple has also revamped its video recording features. With the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, users can record Full-HD clips at 60 fps, as well as do slow-motion video at 120fps and all the way up to 240fps.

Processor

As with the previous model, the company also announced the new processor that will do the heavy-lifting for their two new smartphones – the Apple A8 System-on-Chip.

Again, the company was not that keen about the details of their new chip, but here are some of the things that was mentioned during the announcement:

1. The Apple A8 was built using 20-nanometer process and has 2 billion transistors.
2. Compared to its predecessor, the new processor boasts a 25% improvement on CPU performance, and 50% mark up on GPU performance.
3. Despite of the claimed performance improvements over the previous generation, the new A8 processor is said to be 50% more power-efficient than the Apple A7.
4. An accompanying co-processor dubbed as M8 will come with its own Barometer which will allow it to calculate distance travelled and elevation. Oh, and it can also determine the difference between running and cycling.

Here’s the breakdown of all the changes that Apple made on the new iPhones (in table form):

ModeliPhone 5SiPhone 6iPhone 6 Plus
Display4-inch, 640×1136 pixels, 326ppi4.7-inch, 1334 x 750, 326ppi5.5-inch, 1920x1080, 400ppi
ProcessorApple A7 w/ M7 co-processorApple A8 w/ M8 co-processorApple A8 w/ M8 co-processor
RAM1GB2GB (TBC)2GB (TBC)
Storage16, 32 and 64GB16, 64 and 128GB16, 64 and 128GB
Cellular DataLTELTELTE
Wi-Fi802.11 b/g/n802.11ac802.11ac
Rear Camera8MP iSight rear camera w/ True Tone Flash8MP iSight rear camera w/ True Tone Flash8MP iSight rear camera w/ True Tone Flash
Front Camera1.2MP front cameraFacetime HD camera w/ f/2.2 lens Facetime HD camera w/ f/2.2 lens
Video Recording (rear)1080p @ 30fps1080p @ 60fps, Slow-Motion capture up to 240fps1080p @ 60fps, Slow-Motion capture up to 240fps
Battery1560mAh1810mAhTBC
OSiOS 7iOS 8iOS 8
Dimension123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 mm138.1 x 67 x 6.9 mm158.1 x 77.8 x 7.1 mm
Weight112g129g172g

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 975 other subscribers
Avatar for Ronnie Bulaong

This article was written by Ronnie Bulaong, a special features contributor and correspondent for YugaTech. Follow him on Twitter @turonbulaong.

15 Responses

  1. Avatar for jerkwad jerkwad says:

    1810mAh and it’s LTE! I am rally laughing my butt off! HAHAHA

  2. Avatar for loui loui says:

    I think keeping it at 8mega pix is great. My iphone 5s’ cam is already awesome! High mp is just a mktg hype & people dont need it 4 a smartphone unless u want ur pictures printed for billboards! Less MP means smaller file size, easier to upload to social netwrking sites & less data usage. With it being dual core, honestly I dont know how it works internally on the phone but my 5S is super fast and have not experienced any lag or being slow compared to other quad core smartphones my friends are saying. With the design, I bet the 5S (esp the Gold one) is still the most gorgeous iphone ever! :)

    • Avatar for Dwight Dwight says:

      Basically you knew nothing about hardware. Quadcore versus dual core is no-comparable if your device had different processors.

  3. Avatar for Yugs Yugs says:

    wala dapat yun 32GB, puro Cop&Paste kasi eh !

  4. Avatar for aypon aypon says:

    nung nag release ang samsung ng note 1, sang katerbang lait galing sa mga isheep kasi malaki daw at mahirap gamitin.

  5. Avatar for technomarine technomarine says:

    as usual nothing new. since owning a 4 and a 4s for several years. done with apple… widgets and keyboard ? kidding me? even the old gingerbread already had widgets LMAO.. but of course iSheeps will consider this breathtaking

  6. Avatar for Tanga ng writer Tanga ng writer says:

    Eto link oh: http://www.apple.com/iphone/compare/

    Ayusin mo table mo

  7. Avatar for haiphone haiphone says:

    no word on IP57/58 certification? or hanggang rumor lang yun?

  8. Avatar for Name: Name: says:

    For storage, there is n 32GB option in favor of 128GB

  9. Avatar for LC LC says:

    Storage for iPhone 6 and 6 Plus dont come in 32Gb!

  10. Avatar for HiPhone HiPhone says:

    the only thing that stays the same is the battery. #lol

  11. Avatar for Mirror Mirror says:

    one thing is the same, poor battery life! i have this feeling that apple is willing to barter battery’s extended life to the comfort of a lighter device. hopefully the 6+ comes with a 3500mah capacity.

  12. Avatar for Miss Call Miss Call says:

    Of course, Apple’s strength is always in their hardware as it is a hardware company first. They are always coming up with really good SoC’s although this does not really mean much to the average Joe.

  13. Avatar for Miss Call Miss Call says:

    While I do not find anything wrong with the 4.7″ and the 5.5″ (400ppi) screen size, remember how the 4.0″ screen was marketed: (from the Apple 5s page)

    “4-inch retina display, it’s not just bigger, it’s just right”

    “iPhone 5 features a 4-inch display designed the right way: it’s bigger, but it’s the same width as iPhone 4s. So everything you’ve always done with one hand — typing on the keyboard, for instance — you can still do with one hand”

    “This isn’t just a larger display. It’s a larger Retina display. At 326 pixels per inch, it has a pixel density so high, your eye can’t distinguish individual pixels.”

  14. Avatar for Silverfilter Silverfilter says:

    Wala ng 32gb diba?

Leave a Reply
JOIN OUR TELEGRAM DISCUSSION

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *