Apple Unveils Larger Screen iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus [Update]

Apple unveiled the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus on Tuesday during its special media event. True to the rumors, the new models are available with 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch displays, plus Apple is keeping the 4-inch iPhone 5S in its lineup, too.

Apple's new iPhone lineup: iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 PlusApple's new iPhone lineup: iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus

The new iPhone models sport what Apple is calling RetinaHD displays with better color than previous iPhones, higher resolution than before, and dual-domain pixels for better viewing angles. The 4.7-inch iPhone 6 display clocks in at 1334 x 750 and 326ppi, and the iPhone 6 Plus comes in at 1920 x 1080 and 401 ppi.

The higher resolution makes for sharper text and Apple says the it added landscape view to more of the built-in apps, including the Home Screen view. Apple's Phil Schiller said, "Our team wanted to make them easy to use one-handed."

That one-handed support includes a new feature called Reachability that lets you slide the top of the screen down so you can reach icons that otherwise would've been out of touch.

The iPhone 6 is only 6.9mm thick and the iPhone 6 Plus is 7.1mm thick. The iPhone 5S, for comparison, measures 7.6mm thick.

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus sport a new Apple-designed A8 processor with a 25 percent faster CPU and 50 percent faster GPU, plus substantially better energy efficiency.

Battery life for the iPhone 6 comes in as good as, or in some cases, better than the iPhone 5S with 50 hours of audio playback, 11 hours of video playback, 11 hours of WiFi Web browsing or 10 hours on LTE. The iPhone 6 Plus offers 80 hours of audio playback, 14 hours of video playback, 12 hours of WiFi Web browsing or 12 hours on LTE.

The new M8 Motion Coprocessor adds the ability to estimate distance, and includes a barometric sensor for determining relative elevation, and Apple said third-party developers can access the sensor, too.

LTE support has been improved with 150Mbps, up from the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5S at 100Mbps, plus the iPhone now supports 20 LTE bands. Apple is supporting VoLTE, or Voice Over LTE, which offers better audio quality by moving conversations to LTE without taking away the ability to talk and surf the Internet at the same time.

WiFi got a boost on the iPhone 6 lineup with 802.11ac support, up from the 802.11n support on the iPhone 5S. The phones support WiFi calling, too, which lets them move voice calls to WiFi from cellular without dropping the connection.

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus got a camera upgrade from 5MP up to 8MP with improved sensors, and include True Tone Flash, like the iPhone 5S.

The new iPhone will come in silver, gold and space gray, just like the iPhone 5S, but finally gets a 128GB option. iPhone 6 pricing:

  • 16GB for $199 (with contract)
  • 64GB for $299 (with contract)
  • 128GB for $399 (with contract)

iPhone 6 Plus pricing:

  • 16GB for $299 (with contract)
  • 64GB for $399 (with contract)
  • 128GB for $499 (with contract)

Apple's new iPhone models will be available for pre-order this Friday, September 12, and will ship on September 19.

Apple's media event is still underway, so be sure to follow along with The Mac Observer's live coverage and you can keep up to date with our Twitter feed, too.