Apple Unveils iPhone 6, Apple Pay, Apple Watch

In a big media event today Apple announced the latest version of the iPhone and a new product called the Apple Watch. The iPhone 6 and 6 plus will both be larger than their predecessors and feature camera and processor upgrades. They will also both allow for a new Apple payment system that is expected to be supported by major banks and retailers. The Apple Watch will come out in 2015 as a support device for the iPhone. It will feature a small touch screen, biometrics sensors and a variety of apps.

Video Transcript: Hi, this is Gary with MacMost.com. Today Apple announced the iPhone 6, the Apple pay system, and the Apple Watch. Let's take a closer look at each.
The iPhone 6 is going to come in two sizes. Both sizes will be larger than the current iPhone 5 and 5S. The two sizes are the iPhone 6 at 4.7 inches diagonally, and the iPhone 6+ at 5.5 inches diagonally. Now the screen ratios are the same so the apps will basically scale up to fit the screen size but a lot of the built-in apps, like say Messages, will have new modes and new ways of showing things that will take advantage of the larger screen size.
In addition, just about everything inside has been upgraded. There is a new processor, the A8 processor, to make it faster. There is a new motion chip in it that will be able to measure things like small changes in altitude. There is a better camera in it, both on front and back, that is capable of doing things like having more frames per second and slow motion. Also taking better pictures using HDR, using focusing, and the iPhone 6+ is actually going to have optical image stabilization meaning the optical lens actually moves as opposed to doing it all in software.
Both models are going to come with three different storage sizes: 16 gig, 64 gig, and 128 gig. The prices will be 200, 300, and 400 dollars for the iPhone 6 with a two year contract by a US carrier. Add a hundred dollars to those prices if you are getting the iPhone 6+.
In the United States and a few other countries you will be able preorder on September 12th and they will start shipping on September 19th. 
Incidentally iOS 8, which will come in all these new iPhones and has been in testing for a long time now, will be released on September 17th, just two days before the iPhones come out. So these phones, of course, will come with iOS 8 but current users of more recent iPhones, the iPhone 5 and 4S, will be able to upgrade to iOS 8 at that time and probably iPad users as well although iPad wasn't specifically mentioned today.
Apple also announced a system called Apple Pay and this is something that will be on the iPhone and you will be able to store your payment information with Apple which most of us already have with iTunes. You will be able to wave your iPhone 6, which has near field communication ability, over a device at a checkout counter at major stores and it's kind of like swiping a credit card except you never pull out a credit card and you don't even need to have it with you.
They announced lots of stores that are going to have this and also lots of payment systems like major credit cards and bands.
Apple announced a whole new product today, the Apple Watch. This has been rumored for a long time but finally we get to see what it really looks like. It's a small, squarish sized device that fits onto your wrist and it has a touch screen that also text force as well as just plain touch and also has a dial on the side as well as a button and a microphone for input so you can talk to it and ask things. It is connected to Siri. So you can have a variety of information displayed on the screen and it will communicated with your phone for some of this but it appears also that some of it will be stored on the watch.
In addition to those input devices there are also sensors on the back that will do things like detect your pulse so you can use it for a lot of health oriented things for working out and recording information about your workout.
Apple showed off a variety of apps running on the Apple Watch. Things like Maps that give you directions. One of the cool things I thought was that you can even get feedback from the watch through vibrations. So you can ask for directions and get turn by turn directions that tell you whether to go left or right as you are walking by sending vibrations into your wrist. So you don't actually have to glance at the screen.
They also showed messaging a lot. In addition to being able to send text messages and audio messages you actually will be able to send touch messages and drawings and things. We're going to have to see how that actually works once we get the devices.
So a big concern when dealing with small devices like this is battery life. How long will the battery last before we have to recharge it. It looks like one of the ways Apple is dealing with this is noticing when you raise your wrist up to be able to see it and it will activate things. So, for instance, the clock may not actually be displayed when your wrist is down but when you raise it up you will see it. Also when you get notifications it may just be a small vibration but when you raise your wrist up then it will actually turn on the display.
An important part of today's announcement was that third party's will be able to develop apps for the Apple Watch. This is going to be great as we can see what third party's do with the screen and with all the different sensors and inputs that the Apple Watch has.
Now that we know about the Apple Watch we are still going to have to wait awhile before we can get one. The release date is just generally sometime early in 2015 and the only price we got today was the price of the base model, 349 dollars. So we're going to have to wait to see how much more the expensive models cost. They are even ones that are made with real gold so those will probably cost a little bit more. There are different bands that you can get for it as well. So there will probably be extra cost for those as well. So we're going to have to wait until after the New Year, probably, to find out anything more about Apple Watch.

Comments: 44 Responses to “Apple Unveils iPhone 6, Apple Pay, Apple Watch”

Robert

10 years ago

No mention of an OS X release date?

Gary Rosenzweig

There were no Mac-related announcements at all today.

sergio

and what about OS X? :(

As I mentioned, no Mac-related announcements.

Becky

Will there be a watch for left-handers who wear I on their right wrist and so the dials will be on the left?

There was no mention of this. But it is possible that you could just flip the watch around and attach it to the band the opposite way. Then the crown would be on the other side. That's assuming that the screen flips too. We'll have to wait and see.

Zadiemay

Does anyone know if they will make watches for lefty's? Being a lefty. I would wear my watch on my right wrist, so the crown would be more difficult to operate if still on the right, I'm thinking.

See my comment above.

Linda de la Rosa

Will I be able to trade up my iPhone 5 to 6+. If so what will be the cost of the iPhone 6+ with a trade in? I want apple pay and the larger screen. Can I order an iPhone 6+ if I plan to do a trade in?

Apple doesn't do trade-ups like that, at least not in the U.S. Your wireless carrier may offer something, but you'd have to contact them to ask. Typically, people resell their old iPhones using sites like Gazelle or Amazon's program. That gets you some money back to spend on your new iPhone.

Marsha Avery

Will the IPHone 6 have the ability to print out text messages? I currently have a 4S and I know of no way to do it other than to take a screen shot, email it to myself and then print it. Is there a way to do this I don't know or does it require 3rd party software?

The camera is improved but I need some measuring stick for the difference (to the naive user) regarding 16GB, 32GB etc. Does that mean I can do a 5 minute video, 20 minute video etc. relative to size of phone (GB) purchased?

There's no way to print messages directly, no. But you don't need that many steps to do it now. Just take a screen shot, go to the Photos app, and print from there. No need to email it to yourself.
I'm not going to do the math, but the nature of video isn't changing, just the quality of the camera hardware. A 1080p video of ducks in a pond is still a 1080p video of ducks in a pond, so it will still take up the same space. It just may look a little sharper or some other quality improvement with an iPhone 6.

Penelopa

9 years ago

Very interesting. Thanks for tips

Comments Closed.

Apple Unveils iPhone 6, Apple Pay, Apple Watch

Comments: 44 Responses to “Apple Unveils iPhone 6, Apple Pay, Apple Watch”

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