Mobile Technology

What to expect from Apple's iPhone 6S event

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Tomorrow CEO Tim Cook will take the stage and Apple will (almost certainly) announce new iPhones, iPads and a revamped Apple TV
simulated/remixed image
Tomorrow CEO Tim Cook will take the stage and Apple will (almost certainly) announce new iPhones, iPads and a revamped Apple TV
simulated/remixed image
The iPad Air 2 with keyboard cover; Apple is expected to announce a larger iPad Pro with a keyboard of its own this week
Will Shanklin/Gizmag
A next-gen version of the Force Touch tech we saw on Apple's latest MacBooks will likely show on the new iPhones
Will Shanklin/Gizmag
The new iPhones (that's last year's iPhone 6 Plus pictured) will reportedly discern between three levels of pressure
Will Shanklin/Gizmag
The iPad Pro is rumored to have a stylus accessory, perhaps similar to the one in the Surface Pro 3 (pictured)
Will Shanklin/Gizmag
The new iPhones' rear cameras are expected to jump to 12 MP resolution, with the option of recording 4K video
Will Shanklin/Gizmag
Last year's iPad mini update was a throwaway; this year's is expected to be more significant
Will Shanklin/Gizmag
Tim Cook announcing the current Apple TV's price drop back in March
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If you're a big Apple fan, then you could look at tomorrow as the kick-off of a holiday season. The company will announce new iPhones (among other things), followed by the familiar rituals of either pre-ordering or waiting in line at an Apple Store; the festivities will culminate with the unwrapping of the new products. Whether you're a hardcore Apple fan or just a mildly curious observer, let's take a quick look at what the rumor mill is forecasting for tomorrow's big event.

You can bet that the centerpiece of Apple's event will be new iPhones. This is an S-series year (same exterior, with internal upgrades), so assuming Apple sticks with its familiar naming conventions, then we'll be looking at the "iPhone 6S" and "iPhone 6S Plus."

The new iPhones (that's last year's iPhone 6 Plus pictured) will reportedly discern between three levels of pressure
Will Shanklin/Gizmag

Noted source of Apple rumors 9to5Mac has published numerous leaks on the upcoming iPhones, painting a specific picture of what to expect. According to those leaks, the new models will look exactly like the iPhones 6 and 6 Plus, but will have upgraded A9 chips, better cameras and a next-gen version of the Force Touch tech that we saw on the Apple Watch and new MacBooks.

The pressure-sensitive tech on those products can differentiate between two different touches – a regular touch and a touch with pressure. But the version in the new iPhones (perhaps called "3D Touch") will reportedly discern among three pressure levels: tap, press and deeper press.

A next-gen version of the Force Touch tech we saw on Apple's latest MacBooks will likely show on the new iPhones
Will Shanklin/Gizmag

Similar to Force Touch on the Apple Watch's display and latest MacBooks' trackpads (above), the deeper touches on the iPhones will bring up menu options that would usually require extra taps. Examples include Force Touching a point on a map to immediately navigate to that spot, or deep-pressing on the Phone app icon to jump straight into the voicemail tab.

The new iPhones' rear cameras will also reportedly get their first resolution bump since the iPhone 4S in 2011, jumping from 8 MP to 12 MP, along with other improvements in image quality. The camera is also rumored to get 4K video recording capabilities.

The new iPhones' rear cameras are expected to jump to 12 MP resolution, with the option of recording 4K video
Will Shanklin/Gizmag

Higher-resolution photos will make zoomed and cropped shots look sharper, but the resulting bigger files from both stills and videos could cramp an already dicey storage situation if Apple sticks with 16 GB in the entry-level iPhones.

That 16 GB tier is already pretty tight for many iPhone owners, as app file sizes have grown through the years; the larger camera files could only accentuate that. If Apple does indeed stick with 16 GB in its base models, this could be a selling point for rivals like Samsung that start at the 32 GB tier in their latest flagships.

The iPad Air 2 with keyboard cover; Apple is expected to announce a larger iPad Pro with a keyboard of its own this week
Will Shanklin/Gizmag

In past years Apple has launched iPads at a separate October event, but this year it looks like Apple will be lumping them into the iPhone event. Expect a 12.9-inch iPad Pro, the closest thing to a Surface Pro rival Apple has made, along with the real iPad mini upgrade we didn't get last year.

The iPad Pro is rumored to be a rethinking of the iPad, giving it more of a productivity focus that will pit it almost directly against MacBooks. The large screen can reportedly run two full-sized apps side-by-side (or at least apps that would be full screen on a 9.7-inch iPad), and the device will have optional keyboard and stylus accessories. It's also expected to include Force Touch tech, which its stylus will play nicely with.

The iPad Pro could not only give the iPad a renewed focus in commercial/industrial settings; it could also make Apple's tablet more of a PC replacement than ever before.

Last year's iPad mini update was a throwaway; this year's is expected to be more significant
Will Shanklin/Gizmag

As for the iPad mini 4, expect (more or less) an iPad Air 2 in mini form. Last year's iPad mini 3 was basically a throwaway update, just an iPad mini 2 with a Touch ID sensor. But the new model is expected to get lighter and thinner (matching the iPad Air 2's razor-thin build), while adding either an A8- or A9-series system-on-a-chip.

With the first-gen Apple Watch having just launched earlier this year, it isn't surprising that the rumor mill isn't expecting new wearables this week, though Apple could make a quick mention of new band options.

Tim Cook announcing the current Apple TV's price drop back in March

The Apple TV is likely to get its biggest update yet at tomorrow's event, with the addition of apps, a faster A8 chip and a new remote control (including touchpad and microphone for Siri control) along with a new focus on gaming, including the support of third-party MFi controllers.

As a set-top box, the Apple TV has more competition than ever, with Roku, Amazon and Google all competing for your TV and movie streaming needs. But the new Apple TV could be just as much a rival to the PS4 and Xbox One – albeit a lower-cost, lower-powered rival.

On the software front, Apple will almost certainly recap the final features in iOS 9 and OS X El Capitan, with public releases quite possibly happening later in the day.

As always, you'll want to take the rumor mill with a few healthy grains of salt, though it's also worth noting that there have been very few major surprises from Apple's events in the last few years. Stay tuned to Gizmag for coverage of Apple's biggest announcements on Wednesday.

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4 comments
christopher
When, & where does this take place, and how do international folks watch it?
Ramon Verhoeven
How deep the world has sunk. As a bunch of addicts people are looking at something that is coming like a next shot of drugs. Just to show of to others, most of them. Combination of clever ordering in China where exploitation is daily news, clever marketing so everybody is addicted, clever profit mainipulation so pay less taxes. Who is getting better from this, very few stakeholders.
George W. Groovy
Whatever it is I expect it to be insanely great! Tim Cook is a rock star. He's like Steve Jobs, only with more hair.
Paul Sheriff
main hate with iphones is the greed same now with samsung no sd card slot i have the galaxy s5 with 32gig sd card perfect why do these company bring phones out without this option it's so they can charge you hundreds more from 16 to 32 gig with more apps and better cameras . my daughter iphones c5 8 gig with in no time and hardly anything on it there was no room on the phone even to update . sure these new phones may look better s6 beautiful phone but now we have a phone that's not water proof with no sd card how is that better same with all the new iphones it's just about paying extra cash