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iPhone 6

798 'iPhone 6' stories January 2013 - September 2014
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The iPhone 6 ($199 and up from the Apple Store) is quite possibly the most popular product Apple currently sells. Equipped with a 4.7″ Retina HD display, the iPhone 6 has 1334×750 resolution at 326PPI, boasting increased color accuracy and a wider viewing angle than prior iPhones. Three capacities (16/64/128GB) and three colors (gold/silver/space gray) are available.

Apple has upgraded the iPhone 6 with a second-generation 64-bit A8 chip, delivering 25% faster CPU performance and up to 50% faster graphics than the iPhone 5s. Despite the superior processing and a thinner body, the iPhone 6 improves a little upon the battery life of the iPhone 5s, though not to the extent of the (much larger) iPhone 6 Plus. Apart from battery, screen, and small camera differences, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have identical hardware: 802.11ac Wi-Fi support, Voice over LTE with Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and others abroad, and Wi-Fi calling using T-Mobile in the US. It also has a Touch ID sensor with full support for secure Apple Pay transactions, both in retail stores and online.

The 8MP iSight camera has been improved. Although the 1.5µ pixels and ƒ/2.2 aperture aren’t hugely different from before, there’s an all-new sensor that improves focus, face detection, and digital image stabilization. The iPhone 6 lacks an optical image stabilization feature found in the iPhone 6 Plus, but camera performance is extremely similar. Video can be recorded in 1080p at 30 or 60fps, with slo-mo video at 120 or 240 fps. Small hardware improvements to the front-facing camera come from a new sensor and a larger ƒ/2.2 aperture, as well as H.265 video support for much smoother FaceTime calls.

Even with a larger screen and improved hardware relative to the iPhone 5s, the iPhone 6 measures only 6.9mm thick, versus the iPhone 5s’s 7.5mm and the iPhone 6 Plus’s 7.1mm. It is easier to fit in a pocket than the iPhone 6 Plus, which some users will like.

Photo by freestocks.org on Unsplash

Major Chinese business paper claims iPhone 6 won’t go on sale in China this year – reliability unclear

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Sep 16 2014 - 5:43 am PT
10 Comments
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Bloomberg is quoting a report from the major Chinese business paper 21st Century Business Herald that the iPhone 6 may not go on sale in China this year due to regulatory delays. Apple was unable to confirm a launch date in the country.

Apple may have to wait until next year to get approval for new iPhones in China after failing to reach agreement with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology this month, the 21st Century Business Herald reported today, citing an unidentified person close to Apple.

Carolyn Wu, a Beijing-based spokeswoman for Apple, said she couldn’t provide a date for the China release. “China is a key market for us and we will get here as soon as possible,” Wu said in an e-mail today …


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Apple begins shipping iPhone 6 Plus units out of China

Avatar for Stephen Hall Sep 15 2014 - 3:24 pm PT
57 Comments

We can confirm via several different people who ordered the device—including some of the 9to5Mac staff—that Apple has begun shipping iPhone 6 Plus units to customers. As expected, looking up these shipments with their UPS tracking numbers (or, in this case, reference number) reveals expected delivery dates of September 19th, the very same day that the phone is expected to start appearing in stores across the US.


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Apple joins secure chip standards and NFC group GlobalPlatform ahead of Apple Pay release

Avatar for Zac Hall Sep 15 2014 - 1:27 pm PT
12 Comments
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Ahead of Apple’s entry into the mobile payment space next month with the release of Apple Pay for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users, Apple has joined the GlobalPlatform, the non-profit association focused on standards for secure chip technology across various industries, as a full member.

Existing members of GlobalPlatform include various Apple partners and competitors alike with carriers AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon being members as well as handset makers Samsung and BlackBerry. More importantly, Apple Pay partners American Express, MasterCard, and Visa are also members; Discover, which is not yet an Apple Pay partner but has said it is discussions over participation with Apple, is also a member.
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Verizon offers two-month early upgrades alongside iPhone 6 launch starting today

Avatar for Jordan Kahn Sep 15 2014 - 10:03 am PT
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To go along with the launch of iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, Verizon is allowing early upgrades for any customers eligible for an upgrade over the next two months. That means that customers eligible for an upgrade on or before November 15 2014 will be able to upgrade immediately to a new device, including the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Here’s details on the promo straight from Verizon:

As a special thank you to our existing customers, all Verizon customers who would be eligible to upgrade on or before November 15th have had their upgrade dates changed to become upgrade eligible immediately.  These customers can now upgrade to any device currently in our lineup, with new two year contract. Customers should check My Verizon to confirm upgrade eligibility.  


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9to5Toys Last Call: Retina iPad mini from $275, Brother laser printer (refurb) $60, Mac App Store games sale, more

Avatar for Sep 15 2014 - 9:01 am PT
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Be sure to follow 9to5Toys to keep up with the best gear and deals on the web: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call Updates:

Apple iPad mini w/ Retina display 16GB $75 off or $125 off w/ .edu email, deals as low as $275 shipped

Brother wireless printers: Monochrome Laser (refurb) $60 (orig. $150), Inkjet All-in-One w/ AirPrint $60 (Reg. $100)

Amazing Games Mac App Store sale: BioShock $10, Rayman Origins $5, GRID $10, Batman Arkham Asylum $10, more

 

iPhone 6 deals:

Small States: Grovemade stays true to themselves w/ its handmade tech accessories, giveaway worth $306 + 15% discount

Other new deals:

More tech deals still alive:

Home/fashion/magazines/games:

New products/ongoing promos:

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Apple giving retail employees iPhone 6… posters

Avatar for Mark Gurman Sep 15 2014 - 8:43 am PT
22 Comments

In celebration of the launch of the iPhone 6, Apple Retail Store employees will each be given posters of the iPhone 6, we’re told. Not actual iPhones, but posters. The posters show a black phone with one of the colorful flower wallpapers from iOS 8. Steve Jobs gave out original iPhones to all employees back in 2007, but Apple hasn’t given out the latest hardware since that time. For 2015, perhaps they’ll get Apple Watches. Hopefully the gold ones.


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iLife/iWork iOS apps to come pre-installed on 64GB and 128GB iPhone 6/6 Plus

Avatar for Sep 15 2014 - 8:20 am PT
25 Comments

You’ll notice a few new apps (and less available storage) on your new iPhone 6 or 6 Plus later this week when you fire it up for the first time. According to an internal Apple Retail training document (seen below), iOS 8 compatible iLife and iWork apps will come pre-installed on iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

This includes iMovie, GarageBand, Keynote, Pages, Numbers, and iTunes U. Owners of the 16GB models of Apple’s newest smartphones will still have access to these apps for free, but they must be downloaded from the App Store manually or via an App Store prompt. It remains unclear as to whether or not GarageBand in-app purchases will also be available at no additional cost.

Just over a year ago, Apple announced that all new iOS devices would be allowed to download these apps for free alongside the release of major updated versions of each app.
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Apple’s employee reservation system seemingly excludes iPhone 6 Plus, lends weight to short supply rumors

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Sep 15 2014 - 5:43 am PT
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Apple has advised store staff that those working overnight or morning shifts on Friday will be able to reserve an iPhone 6, but not a 6 Plus, if a tweeted photo is genuine (and we have evidence it is). This would lend further weight to longstanding rumors and overwhelming evidence that the 5.5-inch model would be in short supply … 
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Apple announces record 4 million preorders for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in first 24 hours

Avatar for Benjamin Mayo Sep 15 2014 - 5:38 am PT
73 Comments
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Apple has just announced that preorders for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have topped all previously set records, achieving 4 million sales in the first twenty-four hours. In the press release, Cook said he is thrilled that customers love them “as much as we do”.

Apple® today announced a record number of first day pre-orders of iPhone® 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, the biggest advancements in iPhone history, with over four million in the first 24 hours. Demand for the new iPhones exceeds the initial pre-order supply and while a significant amount will be delivered to customers beginning on Friday and throughout September, many iPhone pre-orders are scheduled to be delivered in October.


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Part one of Charlie Rose’s full interview with Tim Cook now available online

Avatar for Benjamin Mayo Sep 13 2014 - 5:58 pm PT
24 Comments
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The first half of the Tim Cook interview with Charlie Rose is now available to watch — in full — on the CharlieRose.com website. Cook discusses the thinking behind the Watch, purchasing Beats, partnering with IBM, how he and Steve Jobs discussed Cook becoming CEO and much more. Bitesize highlights were posted a few days ago. The video is embedded below, although may not be available to view in all countries.


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AT&T boasts record-breaking iPhone sales following first night of preorders

Avatar for Mike Beasley Sep 12 2014 - 7:14 pm PT
49 Comments

AT&T announced in a press release today that last night’s iPhone 6 and 6 Plus preorders had set a new record for iPhone sales. As usually happens when a new Apple device goes on sale, the carrier’s backend was so overwhelmed with incoming orders that in stopped responding for most customers, forcing Apple to move to a reservation system that waited several hours until the carrier systems were available before completing many orders.

Unfortunately the company hasn’t given any indication of exactly how many units were sold during last night’s frenzy. Apple reportedly ordered a combined 80 million iPhone 6 and 6 Plus units, which was then distributed to Apple Stores, carrier outlets, and other retailers. That 80 million figure is in and of itself a new record, and supplies of the 6 Plus had started running dry at most carriers and Apple’s own store only a few short hours after the phone became available.
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Apple notifying iPhone 6 customers w/ reservations due to carrier issues to complete purchase within 24 hours

Avatar for Zac Hall Sep 12 2014 - 10:39 am PT
36 Comments
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Pre-order sales for Apple’s newly announced iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus kicked off last night at 3:01 AM EST with the larger 5.5-inch model quickly seeing ship dates slip, but some customers were unable to complete the pre-order process on Apple’s online store due to issues reaching carrier systems.

Rather than receiving a purchase confirmation, these customers were issued reservation numbers for the iPhone model attempting to be pre-ordered with the promise that the order can be finalized with carrier systems were able to be accessed again. As of this morning, Apple has begun notifying these customers that the transaction for their desired pre-order device is ready to be completed as carrier systems have stabilized.
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AT&T says it will roll out WiFi Calling for iPhone in 2015

Avatar for Zac Hall Sep 12 2014 - 9:06 am PT
16 Comments
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As Apple’s SVP of Marketing Phil Schiller introduced WiFi Calling support coming with the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, and other iPhones with iOS 8 on supported networks earlier this week, it was noted that only T-Mobile and EE will provide support for the new feature at launch. WiFi Calling will allow users to take advantage of home or office WiFi connections, for instance, to improve call quality in otherwise potentially low network zones. Telecommunications site LightReading reports, however, that AT&T plans to add WiFi Calling support for its subscribers beginning next year.

Speaking Friday at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference, he said the carrier would use WiFi calling in 2015, but only as a complement to voice-over-LTE and 3G voice. […]

“We’re very focused on making sure it’s a great experience for customers, but we see it as a complement, not a replacement,” he said. “We feel good about a great nationwide network with unlimited talk and text.”


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Wondering what it cost Apple to give away that U2 album to every customer?

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Sep 12 2014 - 6:57 am PT
32 Comments

If you were wondering how much it cost Apple to give away a copy of U2’s Songs of Innocence album to every customer, the answer, according the the New York Times, is more than $100M.

To release U2’s album free, Apple paid the band and Universal an unspecified fee as a blanket royalty and committed to a marketing campaign for the band worth up to $100 million, according to several people briefed on the deal. That marketing will include a global television campaign, the first piece of which was a commercial that was shown during the event.

Yep, that album that ended up on many people’s iPhones uninvited cost Apple whatever the royalty fee is for half a billion downloads plus a further $100M spend on marketing it. Nice. Perhaps the band will be donating a portion of it to Project RED?

Bono and Cook joked around about the cost during the keynote, with Bono telling Cook “you would have to pay for it, because we’re not going in for the free music around here.”

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Why Apple timed things perfectly with the launch of Apple Pay

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Sep 12 2014 - 5:53 am PT
32 Comments

After years of annual rumors that each successive iPhone would feature NFC, there was understandable skepticism when the rumor rolled around again this year for the iPhone 6. It was looking like Apple might have put all its short-range communication eggs in one basket with Bluetooth LE.

Instead, of course, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus got NFC as the mechanism for Apple’s contactless payment service, Apple Pay. Pando suggests that the company’s timing may not be entire coincidental.

While U.S. banks have so far ignored the more secure chip-and-pin cards used in Europe, sticking doggedly to magnetic strips and signatures, all that will be changing next year. As of October 2015, banks are switching to chip-based cards – and that means merchants will need to upgrade their payment terminals.

You can still get chip-reading terminals without NFC, but it’s likely that the vast majority of stores will opt to go contactless at the same time. Which means that instead of the 220,000 places you can use contactless payment today, there will be much closer to nine million outlets by this time next year – and you’ll be able to pay with your iPhone 6 at any of them.

U.S. card issuers are already pushing Apple Pay, MasterCard running a full-page ad in today’s New York Times (via Business Insider).

Poll: So which iPhone 6 did you get?

Avatar for Seth Weintraub Sep 12 2014 - 2:00 am PT
74 Comments
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We polled you before the iPhone 6 announcement and we know things change at the last moment so we want to know which iPhone you got (if you got through):

Which color and GB size?…
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iPhone 6 and 6 Plus already selling out, 5.5 inch model quoting 3-4 weeks shipping

Avatar for Benjamin Mayo Sep 12 2014 - 1:09 am PT
129 Comments
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Update 2: AT&T says demand is higher than iPhone launches from the last two years (via Recode): “Demand for the new iPhones is higher than that seen in either of the past two years, AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel told Re/code.”

Update: All models of the 5.5 inch iPhone 6 Plus are now quoting 3-4 weeks shipping. Apple is still stocking most models of the iPhone 6, however.

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus launch has not been smooth, to say the least. Many people are still unable to access the Apple Online Store to purchase Apple’s newest devices. Despite availability issues, many models are already selling out. Carrier websites are the first to be affected, naturally, as they always get less supply than Apple itself.

Both AT&T and Verizon are quoting three week shipping delays for the Plus, meaning customers buying now won’t get their phones until around the 7th of October. At the time of writing, the iPhone 6 is still available. At Apple’s own store, it seems like the 64 GB iPhone 6 Plus and the 128 GB iPhone 6 Plus is now also unavailable. However, the exact nature of supply is unclear due to the ongoing website issues.


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iPhone 6 and 6 Plus now available for pre-order through Apple and cell carriers

Avatar for Mike Beasley Sep 12 2014 - 12:33 am PT
81 Comments
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As expected, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are both now available for pre-order on Apple’s online store and carrier websites, at least for some users. As the stores start to catch up to the load, more and more and customers should be able to get in their orders. Initial buyers seem to have the most luck on carrier websites as well as the Apple Store App. The store is almost an hour late in opening.

You can get the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 starting at $199 for the 16 GB model. Unlike previous years, there is no 32 GB option, which was replaced by a larger 64 GB model at $299 and a new 128 GB version for $399.

The iPhone 6 Plus sports the same internals as the smaller model accompanied by a 5.5-inch display and a camera with optical image stabilization. You can get the larger version of the phone in 16 GB for $299, 64 GB for $399, or 128 GB for $499 with a 2 year plan.


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iPhone 6 vs iPhone 6 Plus: Which one should you buy?

Avatar for Dom Esposito Sep 11 2014 - 10:57 pm PT
60 Comments

It’s iPhone buying season again and this year we’re faced with a very tough decision. Apple recently unveiled the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus at its press event on Sept. 9, 2014 and as many rumors indicated, we now have a 4.7-inch model and a 5.5-inch model. Normally our choice would be narrowed down between color and capacity, but this year it’s much more than that…


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Apple to offer in-store pickup option for iPhone 6 preorders

Avatar for Dom Esposito Sep 11 2014 - 12:39 pm PT
68 Comments

Pre-orders for the iPhone 6 will start at 12:01 a.m. PDT and will be available to purchase in Apple Stores on Sept. 19th, 2014, but what isn’t widely known is that it looks like Apple is kicking off Personal Pickup availability starting with preorders as well. This means that you’ll be able to preorder an iPhone 6 and select a store in your area and pick it up on launch day….


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9to5Toys Last Call: TP-LINK WiFi extender $20, 2-pack Chromecast $55, Mophie iPhone 5/5s battery case $45, more

Avatar for Sep 11 2014 - 9:02 am PT
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Be sure to follow 9to5Toys to keep up with the best gear and deals on the web: Twitter, RSS Feed, Facebook, Google+ and Safari push notifications.

Today’s can’t miss deals:

Last Call updates:

TP-LINK 300Mbps Universal Wi-Fi range extender $20 shipped (orig. $35)

Two Google Chromecasts for $55 shipped ($15 savings)

Mophie Juice Pack Helium 1500mAh iPhone 5/5s battery case $45 shipped (Reg. $80)

$100 Staples gift card for $85: save 15% on electronics, office supplies, more

iPhone 6 deals:

Small States: Myro:Air wants you to have your high quality audio and AirPlay too, giveaway worth $599

Other new deals:

More tech deals still alive:

Home/fashion/magazines/games/media:

New products/ongoing promos:

Most analysts satisfied with Apple’s announcements, think AAPL stock will climb

Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Sep 11 2014 - 7:16 am PT
8 Comments
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Big-name analysts seemed satisfied with what they saw and heard during Apple’s launch of the iPhone 6, Apple Watch and Apple Pay, reports Forbes. Summarising investor notes from a dozen major companies, Chuck Jones found the general feeling was that Apple had delivered what was expected.

The overall average of AAPL stock price targets was $109, against the current price of just over $100. Analysts pointed to a range of factors in forming their views, among them … 
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