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- Apple iPhone 6 preview
Sunday, 24 August 2014
Absolutely everything we think we know about the iPhone 6. Tempted?
The iPhone 6 remains (somewhat) shrouded in mystery - but that hasn't
stopped the rumour mill from enthusiastically grinding away, and some
whispers do have a ring of truth about them.
So then, what are the web's commentators saying about the iPhone 6? Well…
So then, what are the web's commentators saying about the iPhone 6? Well…
Makeover time
It's almost guaranteed that the iPhone 6's appearance will be different enough from the iPhone 5s to earn it its all-new number.
Traditionally, ‘s’ devices have kept the same design as their predecessors, with major differences appearing on the insides, and Apple will get a lot of flak if the iPhone 6 turns out to be a 5s with faster innards.
The video above, courtesy of YouTube user iCrackUriDevice, shows off one of these rear cases, and it clearly shows off Apple's new design in all its glory.
It's immediately obvious that the iPhone 6 will likely arrive with a bigger screen. The case is larger than the iPhone 5s, and its thinner, with a much rounder design.
One big change is the relocation of the power button from the top to the right hand side, where it will be easily accessible with your thumb, Samsung Galaxy-style.
Looking at the rear, the pill-shaped flash cutout has been replaced by a circular one, suggesting that Apple has either ditched its dual two-tone LED flash, or it's managed to cram both LEDs into a circular space.
The volume buttons however, have appeared to do the reverse. They are now a thinner pill shape, falling in line with the iPod Touch, as opposed to the circular buttons currently found on the iPhone 5s.
Looking at the internals of the case, we can see a slight recess over the Apple logo cutout. This, combined with the fact that previous Apple logos weren't left as cutouts, suggests that the logo will light up, like the ones found on its MacBook brothers.
This is supported by previous photos leaked by uSwitch (with the aid of famed Apple leaker Sonny Dickson), which show off the rear housing of an iPhone 6, with a plastic panel that's thin enough to let line shine through it.
Apart from attracting moths, the logo could be used as a blinking notification light - a handy function if the device is face down.
Back in June, GSM Arena snaffled a picture of the phone alongside its likely main rival, the Samsung Galaxy S5.
The image shows off the expected larger screen, along with a clearly visible power switch on the right edge.
Another iPhone 6 dummy leak courtesy of G for Games also emerged, this time apparently of a non-working dummy model.
The first image above shows it next to an iPhone 5s and HTC One (M8). As you can see, it's not far off the size of the latter.
The photo matches up with all previous iPhone 6 leaks, although the exact size is hard to determine without a regular iPhone 5s for scale.
iPhone vendor Feld and Volk has released more photos of the iPhone 6 case. A close-up of the volume buttons show that they're recessed, which could reduce the chances of accidentally adjusting the volume while it's in your pocket.
Android-matching screens
April saw an iPhone 6 manufacturing mould leak, pointing to at least one larger iPhone in the works. French site Nowhereelse.fr scaled up the image using the iPhone 4s for comparison, and it suggests that we could be looking at a 4.7in screen size, which fits in with all of the previous rumours we'd seen up to that point.
In June, Italian site Macitynet posted images of an iPhone 6 dummy unit alongside the iPhone 5s and a Samsung Galaxy S5. The pictures support rumours of a taller, wider iPhone 6, with rounded edges and an all-black anodised aluminium finish. Also notable is the protruding camera array, similar to the design of the current iPod Touch.
Lin shared pictures of an allegedly genuine iPhone 6 on Chinese site Weibo, after previously leaking images of the smaller 4.7in model, which he stated was a beta unit for testing purposes.
His latest picture showed off the larger size of the 5.5in iPhone 6 against what appears to be an iPhone 5s being repaired.
It's hard to tell whether or not the unit is genuine, but given Lin's past leaks, we could be looking at the real deal.
More leaked shots from Feld & Volk show off a close-up of the iPhone 6's rear Apple logo, which is apparently made from an extremely scratch-resistant material, which could be liquid metal, though there's no way to confirm this at this stage.
Apple could be set to end USB aggravation with a Lightning cable that sports a reversible USB connector.Nowhereelse.fr have shown off snaps of the accessory, which sports a USB connector in the centre of its metal housing – meaning that you can plug it in either way up. Adding fuel to the fire, Apple filed a patent in 2013 for a reversible USB connector. The connector differs from the similarly reversible USB Type-C connector announced last week; the rumoured Apple connector should fit into current Type-A receptacles.
The screens will also apparently taper off towards the edges, thanks to some curved glass magic, which should make the new iPhones feel even thinner.
The rumour came straight after leaked model photos of the iPhone 6, iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3, which indicate that all three devices will sport Touch ID Home buttons. No surprises there.
Super Sapphire
Nothing short of a diamond can scratch pure sapphire, so this is promising news for scratch-phobic gadgeteers.
More recently, YouTuber Marques Brownlee scratch-tested a reportedly genuine iPhone 6 screen, and although it was still marked by sandpaper, it held up noticeably better than the iPhone 5s' display.
This could be due to the fact that the iPhone 6's screen is a sapphire display hybrid, as opposed to a pure sapphire screen. This is supported by the visit of MIT's Kevin Bullis to GT Advanced technologies, where he saw a machine slice of a micro-thin layer of sapphire, which could then be laid over a regular glass panel.
This would explain the iPhone 6 screen's improved (but not invincible) scratch-resistance.
The best look at the iPhone 6 yet (sort of)
The 4.7in iPhone 6 model is only slightly smaller than the 5in Galaxy S5 and HTC On (M8) rivals, implying that the 5.5in version might be uncomfortable to use one-handed for people with regular-sized hands.