Here are the things that will make the iPhone 6s amazing
Luckily for those who can't wait, the leaks have been coming thick and fast over recent months but there is, as always, an element of mystery surrounding Apple's latest iPhone, most likely dubbed the 6s. The iPhone 6 brought vast improvements to the iPhone family including a larger screen, better camera and new design. While these updates are appreciated, we are still far away from the Perfect Phone and, if Apple does it right, the 6s may bring us one step closer.
Here's everything Apple should include in the iPhone 6s.
Battery
It's common knowledge amongst iPhone users that the battery life is poor - and none more so than the iPhone 6. Last year, the 6 Plus, the larger model, received an enormous 2,915mAh battery which can last for almost two days of use. The 6, alas, received no such upgrade and was stuck with a 1,810mAh battery which, according to tests, is far inferior to its competitors.Battery technology is the poor cousin to many of the "sexier" innovations that happen to smartphones - waterproofing, TouchID, millions-of-pixel displays - which is a shame because a decent battery is essential to the usefulness of a smartphone.
Hopefully Apple will realise this with the 6s and add some of the innovations that the 6 Plus received that help it achieve such stellar battery life.
Siri
The event includes the tagline "Hey Siri, give us a hint" which could indicate a focus on Siri but could, equally, be misdirection from Apple.Launched in 2011, Siri has been incrementally improved over the past few years. predominantly by adding more and more data sources. Whereas at launch Siri could only send texts and open apps, now it can tell you sports scores, weather and has become more useful as a whole thanks to partnerships with Yahoo, ESPN and more.
iOS 9, the next generation of Apple's mobile software, has focused on Siri as one of the core components of the operating systems, allowing it to index applications and perform core tasks that reduce the amount of tapping a user has to do. Asking Siri to "Show me photos from June 9th" no longer kicks the user into the Photos app, for example, as Siri can handle that itself.
While it's unlikely we are going to see "Her"-like intelligence, Siri is getting smarter and smarter and the September 9th event, paired with the new tech in the 6s, could be a good time for it to shine.
Sturdiness
Everyone knows someone with a smashed or battered iPhone, and it's high time Apple did something about it. Of course, there is very little Apple can do to prevent catastrophic damage when the phone is dropped from 6 feet beyond building it out of Vibranium but there are ways to sure it up, like using stronger materials, which is the avenue Apple has chosen.Reports have suggested that Apple is opting for 7000 series aluminum for the body of the iPhone 6s, a material that is "60% stronger than most aluminum and one-third the density of stainless steel."
Force Touch
One of the coolest additions to recent Apple devices - first the Apple Watch and then the new MacBook - is Force Touch, a technology that allows a flat surface (i.e. a screen) the ability to feel multiple levels of touch pressure. On the Apple Watch, the most comparable use-case to an iPhone, different levels of force - currently a "tap" and a "hard press" - can mean different things, accessing different features within an app.The applications of Force Touch on an iPhone are currently unknown and the addition of the technology could create a Renaissance in app development as new and exciting ways to input things are discovered, just as TouchID has done to an extent. Also, it's a neat trick that no other manufacture has.
Storage
Using an iPhone with 16GB of storage is, in 2015, virtually impossible - and yet Apple sells a phone with exactly that much storage.The current iPhone storage options run from 16GB to 64GB to 128GB with no 32GB option available on the 6 or 6 Plus. With the 6s, Apple should fix this issue and start iPhone storage options at 32GB giving users with less cash (at present the difference in price between the 16- and 64GB iPhones sits at a not inconsiderable £80) the ability to have a pleasant experience devoid of deleting apps to install software updates.
Virtually all other manufactures, from Samsung to HTC, either start sizing options at 32GB or offer a MicroSD card slot that can expand storage.
Wireless Charging
One of the more "moonshot" features it would be nice to see in the iPhone 6s would be wireless charging. Other handsets, such as Google's Nexus devices, have had wireless charging as an option for a few years and Apple, a company that prides itself on simplicity, could do well to include a charging function that doesn't require a cable.Of course, wireless charging is complex - making electricity jump through the air safely is, without a doubt, something that needs to work 100% of the time - and current examples require the device to be placed in a specific spot which negates the ease of use that should come from not needing a cable. Apple will likely want to work on a way to make wireless charging work in a general area not when placed on a pad.
Nevertheless, this would be a cool feature to have and, if Apple gets behind it, wireless charging may become more widespread.
Camera
Every year the iPhone camera gets that much better, and 2015 looks to be the same. Mark Gurman of 9to5Mac reports that the main camera is going to receive a large upgrade with a new 12 megapixel sensor and lens technology while the front camera could, if the report turns out to be true, gain a flash - permanently changing the way humans take selfies forever.Thanks to an updated A9 chipset, likely to make the iPhone 6s work far faster, the camera will now also be able to capture 4K video, a leap forward for amateur video recorders everywhere. Over the years the iPhone has brough a decent camera to millions of people and the iPhone 6s looks set to continue this trend.
Performance
As mentioned above, the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus will likely receive an updated A9 processor, a generation on from the A8 that the current models have. With this comes the associated benefits of another year of innovations in technology that mean your next phone will be much faster while using less power.According to reports, the new chipset is meant to be incredibly fast and also incredibly efficient, meaning that the iPhone 6s will be no slouch and the A9 could, hopefully, help preserve battery if a bigger unit is not included.
iOS 9 also comes with various associated performance improvements which, when paired with the new processor, will create what will likely be the fastest phone on the planet, just as the iPhone 6 was last year.