Also, there’s support for LTE Category 4 with carrier aggregation, which is a faster mobile network standard that’s beginning to appear in Australia, starting with with Vodafone.
A maximum transfer speed on a Cat 4 network is 150Mbps, so this is certainly a good thing. Twenty LTE bands are now supported, compared to the iPhone 5’s 13 bands.
VoLTE, or Voice Over LTE is also included, but we haven’t seen this feature supported by Australian telcos yet.
The iPhone 6 also marks the inclusion of the long-awaited mobile wireless payment technology called NFC, or Near Field Communication.
This, in combination with the Fingerprint ID sensor, and a new security chip, should help drive adoption of mobile payments using your phone, rather than your credit card.
The larger batteries in the iPhone 6 models will be a welcome addition to many.
While Apple hasn’t said exactly what the battery sizes are, we suspect the 4.7in model will get the rumoured slightly higher capacity 1,810mAh, a small increase over the 1,560mAh battery in the iPhone 5s, while the the iPhone Plus gains the rumoured considerable bump to a 2,915mAh version, though we’re checking with Apple to see if we’re on the money with both.
Claimed times are 14 hours talk and 10 days standby for the iPhone 6, while the iPhone 6 Plus apparently manages 24 hours talk and 16 days talk-time, but this will be different in real life depending on how heavily the phone is being used. Apple also quotes 1o hours of LTE browsing time for the iPhone 6 and 12 hours for the Plus.
On the memory front, the iPhone 6 provides 16, 64 and 128GB choices, with the iPhone 6 Plus following suit. Seems that 32GB has been dropped.
The new iPhones come loaded with Apple’s latest iOS 8 operating system, which includes many enhancements and new features.
Where, when and how much?
Following Apple tradition, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will be available 10 days from launch in the US, and Australia is one of the international launch countries that will also see the phone appear in shops on the 19th of September.
iOS 8 will be available to download to older iPhones on September 17th in the US.
Prices start from $869 with the 4.7 inch iPhone 6, available in space grey, gold, or silver for $869 for 16GB, $999 for 64GB, and $1129 for the 128GB model, while the much bigger iPhone 6 Plus starts at $999 for 16GB, and hits $1129 for 64GB and $1249 for 128GB.
And yes, you’re reading that right: there is no 32GB iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus. We suspect this is to sway you over to the 64GB or 128GB sizes.
You can also expect all the local major telcos to have the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, but given the high price of the iPhone, don’t expect all deals and contracts to be particularly cheap.
Valens Quinn attended Apple’s launch in California as a guest of Apple.
after reading about the cost of iphones in the USA i cannot believe people here would pay what they do in the states the 6 starts at $199 and the 6plus is $299, here they are $869 and $999 so wow how about that for a ripoff are they worth that much extra iphone devotees must think so.
If I recall, the $199 and $299 prices in America weren’t outright prices, but rather with a phone contract, so you can’t exactly compare them.
yeah i saw that looked up and saw the 6 was $649 outright for 16gig and 6plus saw the outright price cant remember it and no i know apples phones are good tech i bought the 3s outright years ago the thing that annoyed about apple is you have to use everything apple the bluetooth i had at the time couldn’t use it and i like to have the choice to use what i want to so that is why i will stick with win phones android is everywhere so it didn’t grab me so no i am not ranting at apple as such its all about choice for me.