The 5.5in iPhone 6 Plus has been unveiled: Here's everything we know so far, including UK release date and specs
By Matt Egan | PC Advisor | 09 September 14
The all-new 5.5in iPhone 6 Plus was announced with the new iPhone 6, but what will the bigger iPhone be like? Here's everything we know so far, including iPhone 6 Plus UK release date and specs.
The iPhone 6 is one of the most highly anticipated smartphones of the year. And Apple spoilt us this year with two new iPhones (neither of which was the iPhone 5C). As well as the iPhone 6, we find the iPhone 6 Plus. This catches up with the Android world as a large screen 'phablet'. See also: iPad 6 release date rumours.
We've gathered together all of the evidence to bring you everything we know about the iPhone 6 Plus so far, so read on to find out what the iPhone 6 Plus looks like, when the iPhone 6 Plus is coming out, and what new features the iPhone 6 Plus has.
If you want to find out more about the iPhone 6, which arrived alongside the iPhone 6 Plus, visit our iPhone 6 release date, price and specs story.
What is iPhone 6 Plus? iPhone 6 Plus specs and features
The iPhone 6 Plus is a bigger version of the all-new iPhone 6. It has a glass front that curves around the side to meet seamlessly with the anondized aluminum back, complete with stainless steel Apple logo.
iPhone 6 Plus display
That display is what Apple refers to as 'Retina HD': albeit Retina Plus is 1920x1080, which on a 5.5in display equates to a pixel density of 401ppi - middle of the road for flagship smartphones. And, going back to build quality, Apple claims that the large-screen iPhone 6 Plus is a mere 7.1mm thick.
Apple says that the iPhone 6 Plus display has more than two million pixels, however. And Apple aims to differentiate its displays from the Quad HD screens we are now starting to see by saying that its colours are the key factor. Apple says the iPhone 6 Plus offerssRGB accurate colours. Apple also says the display has new, thinner backlights. And Apple says that the LCD is made with a tech called dual domain pixels, which allow it to have a very broad angle of view. The proof will be in the testing, of course.
iPhone 6 Plus new gestures
What we did see at the iPhone 6 Plus launch was that the big iPhone offers an iPad-like layout for apps and content. There's even a horizontal home screen view. If you're in Safari, you can move backwards and forwards by swiping back and forth. This is a brand new gesture specifically for the iPhone 6 Plus, called Reachability. Double touch the Touch ID button, the whole display slides down so you can reach the top without taking your hand off bottom of display. Existing apps will simply scale up to the bigger display, although app makers will be encouraged to design new home pages for their software.
iPhone 6 Plus: new processor
The iPhone 6 Plus comes with a new processors, known as the A8. This is a 20-nanometer 64-bit CPU with 2 billion transistors. Apple says it is 25 percent faster than the iPhone 5S' A7 chip, and offers significantly faster GPU performance. Consumers are likely more concerned that the iPhone is faster than Android and Windows Phone rivals. Again, we will test to find out. In a similar vein Apple also says power consumption is down, so battery life should be better. Indeed, Apple claims 80 hours of audio playback, and 12 hours of LTE browsing. Bold claims, but Apple is usually pretty honest with battery life. There's also a new version of the motion co-processor, the M8. This should help developers create more fitness apps. There's also a barometer.
iPhone 6 Plus: storage
In terms of storage you get the option of 16/64/128GB onboard. As ever with Apple there was no mention of expandable storage.
iPhone 6 Plus: wireless connectivity
Apple says that the iPhone 6 Plus enjoys new advanced wireless capabilities. The LTE in the iPhone 6 Plus is 150 Mbps LTE (compared to 100 Mbps). It now has support for 20 LTE bands, compared to 13 previously, more than in any other smartphone. It can take voice off 3G and move it on to LTE, which could make calls clearer sounding. It remains to be seen how much of this will work in the UK market.
iPhone 6 Plus: cameras
In terms of cameras the iPhone 6 Plus boasts an 8MP iSight camera, with True Tone flash, 1.5 micron pixels, f/2.2 aperture, and an all-new sensor. It has advanced facial recognition tech and - amazingly - optical image stabilisation. Pretty good for a smartphone. It captures 1080p video at 30 fps or 60 fps, and slo-mo video up to 240 fps. Expect to see a lot of slow-mo on Facebook. Around the front is an improved FaceTime HD camera.
iPhone 6 Plus release date: when is the iPhone 6 Plus coming out?
The iPhone 6 Plus will be available in the UK on Friday September 19.
iPhone 6 Plus UK price: how much will the iPhone 6 Plus cost?
As yet we know only that the iPhone 6 Plus will cost $299, $399, $499 in the US. We'll update this story with UK pricing very shortly.
iPhone 5s vs iPhone 6: Release date and price
The iPhone 6 will go on sale on 19 September (pre-order on 12 September) at £539 for the 16GB model, £619 for the 64GB and £699 for the 128GB. The iPhone 5s was £549 so that's a small price reduction and the now old generation iPhone drops to £459 and is only available in 16- or 32GB.
iPhone 5s vs iPhone 6: Screen size
The iPhone 5s has a 4in display, which for a flagship smartphone in 2014 is actually pretty tiny. Even mini versions of flagship phones from Samsung, LG and HTC have displays bigger than 4in. As expected, the iPhone 6 has a 4.7in display (the iPhone 6 Plus is even bigger at 5.5in). See also:iPhone 6 release date, price, specs & new features.
With a bigger screen comes a higher resolution - 750 x 1334. The iPhone 6 has 38 percent more pixel but the larger screen means the pixel density stays the same at 326ppi (that's what Apple calls Retina quality).
In terms of technology, the iPhone 6 has LCD tech called dual domain pixels, which allow it to have a very broad angle of view. The display also has higher contrast and a thinner backlight, according to Apple.
See also: LG G3 vs iPhone 5s comparison.
iPhone 5s vs iPhone 6: Design
As per the rumours, the iPhone 6 has a new style of design which is more rounded than before and somewhat matches up to the most recent iPads. The iPhone 5s is 7.6 mm but Apple has managed to slim the iPhone 6 down to 6.9 mm. The larger screen size means that the new iPhone is heavier at 129 g compared to 112 g.
Because the screen is bigger, the on/off button is now positioned on the side of the phone rather than the top. The iPhone 6 still comes in the same colours options: space grey, silver and gold.
Several allegedly leaked photographs of the iPhone 6's back seemed to suggest that the iPhone 6 would have an illuminated Apple logo on the back but that's not the case.
iPhone 5s vs iPhone 6: Features & specs
The iPhone 5s has a powerful A7 processor and, you've guessed it, the iPhone 6 has a new A8 processor. It uses a 20nm process and delivers 25 percent more CPU power and 50 percent better efficiency than the A7, according to Apple. It also add 50 percent on the GPU side of things. It's still 64-bit, of course.
The A7 comes with the M7 co-processor and the A8 comes with the new M8 co-processor which can identify what type of activity you're doing, estimate distance and - with the introduction of a barometer - knows details on elevation change.
Of course, there is 4G LTE support and Apple has added support for 20 LTE bands - the iPhone 5s has 13. A new feature is VoLTE (voice over LTE) which will be supported on EE in the UK.
We've heard rumours about a bigger and better battery in the iPhone 6, but some of that extra power could be used up by the iPhone 6's bigger display.
Rumours on the iPhone 6 appear to have been pretty spot on as the device now features, for the first time, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, a new 128GB option (no 32GB any more) and NFC. The latter will be used in conjuction with ApplePay which will launch first in the US in October with credit cards/debit cards from AmEx, MasterCard, and Visa.
In terms of battery life, Apple claims the iPhone 6 will provide 14 hours of talktime and 11 hours of video playback compared to 10 hours for both on the iPhone 5s. You can see the full set of theoretical numbers below.
iPhone 5s vs iPhone 6: Cameras
The iPhone 5s has an 8Mp camera with an f/2.2 aperture, and while rumours suggested Apple would boost things to a 10Mp camera, it did not happen. The iSight camera on the iPhone 6 remains at 8Mp does have a few improvements and new features.
For starters is introduces 'focus pixels' which means phase detection autofocus (something which has been on Android phones for a while). It also has digital image stabilization (the iPhone 6 Plus steps this up to optical). The new camera also allows users to record slo-mo footage at up to 240fps, twice that of the iPhone 5s.
The front facing Facetime HD camera has a new sensor, larger f/2.2 aperture and lets in 81 percent more light, according to Apple. New features include a burst mode and improved face detection.
iPhone 5s vs iPhone 6: Software
Both the iPhone 5s and iPhone 6 will run iOS 8, the update to the Apple mobile will be available to iPhone users (back to the 4S) on 17 September. One new feature which will come to the iPhone 6 is the landscape orientation homescreen (see below). Since the iPhone 5s lacks NFC, the ApplePay feature which we mentioned earlier will also be exclusive.
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