iPhone 6: The revolution will not be televised

I don’t understand the hubbub around these iPhone launches. Each year, Apple releases a new device that’s slightly faster than the last one. Yet people still go crazy. The iPhone 6 is no exception to that rule.

Today’s keynote came with very few surprises. The new iPhone 6 will come in two models. A vanilla version with a 4.7” screen, and the Plus, which has a 5.5” screen.

The resolution has been bumped up to 1336×750 for both versions, retaining the same pixel density as the iPhone 5S. The larger Plus has a 1080p display, bringing it into line with its Android contemporaries.

The phone itself has taken some ques from the original, with an aluminum back and rounded edges. The camera protrudes slightly from the case, which is an odd design choice. However, it’s probably the accommodate the slimmer form factor.

Under the hood, the iPhone 6 will have an A8 processor, naturally. It will be accompanied by the M8 motion co-processor. Apple didn’t discuss any specs, only saying that the CPU is about 25% faster than the A7, while the GPU is 50% faster. The question on everyone’s mind is how much memory it has. We’ll have to wait for iFixit to do one of their patented tear downs to find that out.

Somewhat surprising, and frustrating, Apple has decided to keep a 16GB model for both new phones alive. Though with this thing capable of doing 1080p video at 60fps, we wonder why they even bothered. It’s quite obvious they want to push customers to the larger 64GB and 128GB versions.

Pricing has gone  up as well, with off contract phones going for $749 to start here in Canada, an increase of $30. The iPhone 6 will retail at $199 and $299 on contract respectively, both for the 16GB model. Cost goes up $100 for each memory tier as usual. They will go on sale September 19th.

Probably more interesting is the Apple Watch, formally known as the iWatch. Wearable technology seems to be the in thing today, even though the public has been lukewarm to it at best.

Apple basically took the old iPod Nano, spruced it up a bit, and added inter-connectivity with the iPhone. Siri integration isin there too.

There’s really nothing in here that Android developers haven’t already been doing. In fact it seems like a direct answer to rival Samsung’s Galaxy Gear. I don’t believe Apple when they say the watch has been in development for years.

The internet’s initial reactions to the Apple Watch haven’t been overwhelmingly positive. A lot of people don’t even wear watches anymore. Those that do, like myself, prefer high quality analogue ones.

The price isn’t settling well with the public either. Apple is asking $349 for the iWatch. Which is about $200 more than the Galaxy Gear, and the same price as a classic piece from companies like Citizen or Seiko.

It also requires either at minimum an iPhone 5 to work, so you cannot just buy the Apple Watch separately. I’m sure it will sell but I don’t think it will be as popular as Apple seems to think it will be.

The whole launch today struck me as being very underwhelming on the hardware end. Lack of a new iPad is also a bit annoying, though I expect that will come later on this Fall.

Source: ArsTechnica