New iPhones! Apple introduced the new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s+. They look just like the iPhone 6 and 6+ but there are some significant advances. This is led off by the newly renamed “force touch” to “3D touch”. This is Apple’s proprietary multi-touch and pressure sensitive technology that senses how hard you are pressing on the screen to activate new software features. This is a pretty amazing engineering advancement. It is used with iOS 9 on the new iPhones to access shortcuts, preview content and other “peek and pop” things to dip in and out of your content without losing your place. You press lightly for a peek and deeper to pop into the full content. The new Taptic Engine gives you subtle tactile feedback to let you know when you have pressed enough.
The camera was also updated, now with a 12MP iSight camera and 4k video. This is pretty amazing for the tiny camera in the iPhone 6s. One new feature that I think is pretty cool is Live Photos. Basically, when taking a 12MP photo you are taking a snippet of video before and after the actual photo so that when you use 3D Touch to press on a photo it comes to life with movement. The FaceTime or Selfie camera is 5MP and the iPhone 6s display acts as a flash, too.
It is a faster iPhone, too, with Apple’s new A9 chip with up to 70% faster CPU and 90% faster graphics performance. The latest version of the Touch ID is said to be faster, too. They have improved the aluminum alloy used and introduced a new Rose Gold color.
Apple also revealed some new cases in silicon and leather and iPhone lightning docks in colors that match the iPhone 6s and 6s+. The iPhone 6s starts at $199 with a 2-year carrier contract and the iPhone 6s+ starts at $299. They are available on Sept. 25.
The iPhone 6 and 6+ as well as the iPhone 5s remain in Apple’s line-up, too.