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12 MP rear camera, 'Live' photos, 4K videos and the A9 chipset that aid faster CPU- and GPU-intensive tasks. Apple's latest iPhone iterations, the 6S and 6S Plus, come with dollops of wow factor, says Himanshu Juneja.
But if you are an Indian in India, you will have to wait for its India release.
The much awaited models of the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus were unveiled on Wednesday at a buzzing event in San Francisco. The newer models incorporate some fresh tricks as usual, but the vibes were more of an evolutionary product than a revolutionary one.
Not too much to complain here as the 'S' line up from Apple denotes just that.
Both the phones will run the iOS 9, and are powered by Apple's A9 chipset. The M9 co-processor is present as well. According to Apple, the new models have an advantage of 70 per cent in CPU intensive tasks and a 90 per cent speed bump in GPU intensive tasks.
The new iPhone 6S measures 5.44 x 2.64 x 0.28 inches in dimension and sports a 4.7-inch retina display.
The 1334 x 750 pixel resolution results in a ~326 ppi density. The phone weighs 143 gms.
The iPhone 6S Plus in contrast measures 6.23 x 3.07 x 0.29 inches and comes with a 5.5-inch retina display screen. with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels, the ppi in question turns out to be ~401. This 6S Plus weighs 192 gms.
The added heft is a result mainly due to the incorporation of the 3D touch technology from Apple. This basically turns the screen into a pressure sensitive unit, allowing the user to execute numerous actions based on the amount of force applied.
For example a light touch will allow the user to take a peek inside the contents.
A full-fledged tap will lead to old school viewing process.
A simple press from the home screen will make the 3D touch bring up the shortcuts for the most frequently performed tasks.
Both the phones will carry a 12 MP rear camera, which now supports shooting of 4k video. The front camera now is a 5 MP unit.
As a new gimmick, the display will act as the flash for the front camera. The display will brighten itself up over three times to accomplish this. Apple calls this as the Retina flash mechanism.
Another interesting feature, and something which might catch on, is the introduction of 'Live Photos'. This feature allows the user to record concise videos, with sound, lasting 1.5 seconds on either side of the shot taken.
As for connectivity options, the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus brings Advanced LTE, Wi-Fi (802.11 ac), Bluetooth (ver 4.2), and NFC. GPS and GLONASS is present as well, and so is the Wi-Fi calling feature.
Apple Pay makes its appearance again, and the TouchID also has been improved upon, and is now twice as faster as it was before.
Rendered in custom aluminium alloy designed by Apple, the new iPhones will be offered in four colours, space grey, gold, silver, and the new rose gold.
The phones will start selling from September 25, across 130 countries with pre-orders starting from September 12. The regions where the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus will be available at launch are Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, UK and USA.
While there is no word on the Indian launch as usual, the American pricing of the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus remained unchanged when compared to their predecessors.
The iPhone 6S will be available in 16 GB, 64 GB and 128 GB versions. The pricing for these would be $649, $749 and $849 respectively. Onboard storage memory wise, the iPhone 6S Plus will be available in exact same models, and will be priced at $749, $849 and $949 respectively.