Apple will be on stage tomorrow at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco to announce several new products, including the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, iPad Pro, iPad mini 4, fourth-generation Apple TV and new Apple Watch bands and finishes. The keynote should also provide updates about iOS 9 and watchOS 2.
MacRumors will be providing live blog and Twitter coverage of the "Hey Siri" media event, which commences at 10 AM Pacific on Wednesday. Below is a roundup that previews what to expect at the keynote based on previous reports from MacRumors, 9to5Mac, TechCrunch, Re/code, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and other sources.
iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus
The ninth-generation iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus will look virtually the same as the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, retaining 4.7" and 5.5" ion-strengthened glass displays respectively with similar exterior designs.
It has been rumored for a few years that iPhones will eventually switch to sapphire crystal displays, but well-informed KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently claimed the material has yet to pass Apple's internal drop tests.
Watch on YouTubeApple has addressed bending issues by designing the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus with Series 7000 aluminum, which is stronger and marginally thicker compared to Series 6000 aluminum used on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
The rear shell will still have a layer of anodization to protect against corrosion and allow for different color options, including space gray, silver, gold and a new rose gold color. The new color should look similar to the rose gold Apple Watch Edition.
Force Touch
A headline feature of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus will be Force Touch, pressure-sensitive technology that can distinguish between a light tap and a deep press on the screen. Force Touch on iPhone will allow for shortcut gestures within apps.
While the Apple Watch can detect two levels of pressure, Force Touch on the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus will likely be called "3D Touch" and be able to distinguish between three levels of pressure: a light tap, a press and a deeper press.
A9 Chip and 2GB of RAM
The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus will feature an Apple A9 chip with 2GB of LPDDR4 RAM for improved performance and faster graphics. Comparatively, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have an A8 chip with 1GB of RAM.
Camera Improvements
The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are expected to have a 12-megapixel rear-facing camera and 5-megapixel front-facing camera, compared to the 8-megapixel rear-facing camera and 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera found on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
The new cameras will be able to take higher-resolution photos with 4K video recording and 240 FPS slow-motion capabilities. The front-facing 5MP camera is also likely to adopt several features from the rear-facing camera, including flash, panoramas and 720p slow-mo video recording.
Other Features
Apple is expected to offer the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus in 16GB, 64GB and 128GB storage capacities, alongside the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. While the new iPhones should once again start at $199 on contract, it is believed that Apple will emphasize carrier financing plans.
New Apple TV
The fourth-generation Apple TV is set to be a major upgrade to the set-top box, with rumored features including a faster A8 chip, App Store, Siri, deeper HomeKit integration, a redesigned user interface and a new motion sensitive remote control.
New Remote Control and App Store
The new Apple TV is rumored to feature a redesigned motion sensitive remote control with multi-axis sensors, a touchpad on the top, physical buttons on the bottom and a microphone for Siri. The new remote control is reportedly targeted at the casual gaming market, taking on the likes of Nintendo in the living room. It is said to be black and include a rechargeable battery.
Watch on YouTube
Apple should provide another look at iOS 9 and announce a release date for the software update, which is likely to be Wednesday, September 16. The final golden master (GM) beta version of iOS 9 should be seeded to developers following the keynote.
