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Apple’s A8 processor found in the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus can reportedly handle 4K video playback

A8

When Apple debuted the A8 processor that would be used in its iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, it appears the company decided to omit one big detail: the chip, according to a new discovery by the developers behind the app WALTR. Using that app, they found that it was possible to load 4K videos onto an iPhone 6. Not only that, but the device managed to play it back without any issues.

Of course, there’s not much of a reason to actually load such high-res video onto an iOS device at this time. Neither iPhone 6 has a high enough resolution to actually display the full quality image, and the files are so huge that it would be impractical to keep them stored on the phone without any discernible quality increase.

Still, if you’d like to put some 4K video onto your iPhone 6 or 6 Plus, you can use the free WALTR app to do just that.

And more importantly, it shows that if Apple wanted to create a 4K Apple TV, it could. Easily.

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Comments

  1. coinaphrase - 9 years ago

    They are most probably waiting for the related standards to be fully baked. I’m expecting the Blu Ray 4K Ultra standard to announced at CES in January. Whether or not you plan to use that future media, it will still be a tipping point for broad support of the related standards (HEVC V2, and encapsulation and streaming protocols). It makes sense for Apple to be consistent and compatible with the standards that are the next gen of what they currently support.

  2. patstar5 - 9 years ago

    Does the iphone 6 or 6+ even record 4k video?

    • Michal Kos (@haXis) - 9 years ago

      No. It has only 8-megapixel camera. 4K is 12,7-megapixel

    • PMZanetti - 9 years ago

      What kind of question is that? Read the article

    • standardpull - 9 years ago

      Nope. But the iPhone can produce a 4k video easily.

    • charilaosmulder - 9 years ago

      Why would anyone want to record 4K video on a camera so small it can still improve significantly on 1080p recording?

      If you think resolution isn’t just harmless to picture quality, but the only measurement of quality overall, then I’m glad you don’t work at Apple or any company involved in making camera’s.

  3. aukermania - 9 years ago

    It probably has something to do with AirPlay. That way it can stream or AirPlay 4K content to a TV or screen. Also, could make it a nice chip for the next $99 Apple TV. Spring launch to make the chip cheaper?