iPhone 6, Apple Watch, OS8 and U2. What a morning.
Anyone who has been on the Internet or watched TV or spoken to another human being in the past month knows that today was Apple's big reveal-a-thon. The Internet is awash with details of the details of the event, so we thought we'd bring you the basics, with a few handy pointers to some of the more useful details. Here's what we're getting from Apple this fall and winter:
iPhone 6
iPhone 6 Plus
OS 8
Apple Pay
Apple Watch
A new album from U2
Here's the when, where, what and how much of it:
iPhone 6
When: Available for pre-order September 12, shipping September 19
Where: Globally
How much (with a typical two-year contract):
$199 16 GB
$299 64 GB
$399 128 GB
We don't know the price without a contract yet, but it seems like it will be comparable to the price of the 5S when it was the next big thing.
What (this is the fun part):
Outside:
- 4.7" wide, 6.8 mm thin
- Retina HD display 1334 x 750 pixels
- Comes in gold, silver, space grey
- Soft-cornered body
- Power button on the side instead of the top
- A8 64-bit chip (this chip is 13% smaller in size than the one in the 5S, but, up to 25% faster, with 50% faster graphics)
- M8 motion processor (The phone can tell the difference between cycling and running, uphill and downhill, how far you've gone/ how many steps you've taken)
- Barometer that uses air pressure to measure relative elevation (Nike will be updating Nike+ accordingly)
- Battery: Sustained performance €”you can use it at full power longer without it getting hot (no more sweaty face phone calls!); 10-11 hours for video and browsing using Wi-Fi, 3G or LTE; 50 hours of audio; 14 of 3G talk; 10 days on standby
- 150 Mbps LTE, supports up to 20 LTE bands, voice over LTE
- Wi-Fi: 802.11ac
- NFC antenna for Apple Pay (see below)
- iOS 8
- "Reachability" feature lets you use half the screen to access buttons at the top of the home screen
- Wi-fi calling with T-mobile
- 8 MP camera
- True-tone flash
- 1.5 micron pixels
- f/2.2 aperture (81% more light)
- Panoramic photos up to 43 megapixels€”new gyroscope makes stitching nearly seamless
- iSight sensor: focus pixels for faster autofocus and faster face detection (more about this here)
- Burst mode can take up to 10 photos per second then detect smiles and blinks so it can recommend the best picture€”this works with the regular and front-facing camera
- Digital image stabilization
- Video at 1080p at 30 or 60fps with slow motion at 240fps
- Cinematic video stabilization
- Continuous autofocus works automatically
- Battery: 14 hours of video; 12 hours of browsing on Wi-Fi, 3G or LTE; 80 hours of audio; 24 hours of 3G talk; 16 days on stand-by
- Two pane display on horizontal, homescreen can work horizontally
- Touch cues similar to iPad, like a mini iPad mini
- Cut, copy, and paste keyboard cues
- Optical image stabilization (the camera moves the lens around to account for hand shaking, etc.)
- New messaging app for sending voice notes
- Improvements to notifications
- Activity app that measures physical activity throughout the day and makes suggestions, plus an exercise tracker, both of which will be accessible by third-party apps
- Works with NFC antenna in top of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus and the Apple Watch
- Uses a one-time payment number and a "dynamic security code" so card numbers are not given to the merchant
- Point your phone at a device (soon to be at cash registers nationwide) and it instantly pays
- Can use card on file with iTunes
- OR use camera to photograph card then take some steps to verify it and use that
- Secure Element encrypts all related information
- Credit information not stored in phone, so you don't have to cancel your card if you lose your phone can suspend all payments using the Find my phone service
- "Apple doesn't know what you bought, where you bought it, or how much you bought it for."
- Starting in US with Amex, MasterCard, and Visa
- One-touch check out online without entering credit card information, billing address, etc.
- Organized in Passbook
- Sapphire display (A flexible retina display laminated to a single crystal, the hardest transparent material after diamond)
- Dial on the side that looks like a winder for old watches, called a €œDigital Crown€, used to navigate
- Sensors on the back to collect pulse data
- 3 lines€”Apple Watch, Apple Watch Sport, and Apple Watch Edition
- Interchangeable bands in leather, polymer, metal mesh, stainless steel, and silicon (Sport collection) with stylish magnetic closures
- 11 face options come on the device
- Two sizes of watch face
- Accelerometer
- Heart rate sensor
- Uses GPS and Wi-Fi from your iPhone
- Taptic engine that vibrates to alert you of notifications
- Magsafe wireless charging€”no word yet on the battery life
- Tiny, water-resistant computer that makes the whole thing work
- Requires iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 5, iPhone 5C, or iPhone 5S (it is not entirely clear how close to your phone you need to be)
- Syncs w/ universal time standard
- Fitness trackers like the ones for OS8
- Watch turns on the display when you raise your wrist
- Voice reply to messages
- Watches can communicate with each other
- All sorts of widgets
- Understands questions in messages and gives you possible answers that you can just tap to respond, or you can send emoji or dictate, no typing option
- Siri
- Photos that you favorite on Mac or iPhone (and probably iPad) are available in the photo app on the watch
- In maps, vibrations indicate left or tight turns
- A friends list lets you send drawings, emoji, or€¦your heartbeat (as a vibration) to other people€™s watches
- 3rd parties will be making apps for the watch using WatchKit SDK
- Walkie talkie function
- Controls apple TV
- Viewfinder for iphone camera
- Works with Apple Pay