iPhone 6: pre-orders begin for Apple's 'beautiful' handsets

The Apple Store is back online after a brief outage this morning as the company stocked its virtual shelves with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
The two new phones, with 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch screens, are now available for pre-order, with deliveries expected to begin next Friday. Prices will start at £539 in the UK, for a 16GB iPhone 6, rising to £789 for a 128GB iPhone Plus.
Demand is expected to be high for the iPhone 6, which represents the most substantial upgrade and redesign of Apple's flagship phone for several years.
Even though extensive leaks of photographs and video had removed any element of surprise from the big reveal, most early reviewers have heaped praise on both the iPhone 6 and its bigger brother, the 6 Plus.
The phones are larger but slimmer, and present a softer, rounder profile than their sharp-edged predecessors.
"The wafer-like metal design and curved lines feel, in many ways, like previous iPod Touch models and a little like the iPad," says CNET. "The metal HTC One M8 feels bulky by comparison."
Investors reacted coolly to the new phones, sending Apple shares down by 0.38 per cent by the end of the launch event, but among Apple fans – and the tech press assembled in California – there was no such moderation.
"Apple's Tim Cook told the whooping crowds at the Flint Center in Cupertino that the new iPhone 6 is 'the most beautiful phone ever made'," writes Matt Warman in the Daily Telegraph. "I'm trying hard to be objective, but I think he’s right.

• The iPhone 6 at a glance:
• It will come in two screen sizes, 4.7 inches for the iPhone 6 and 5.5 inches for the iPhone 6 Plus. That compares with the four-inch screen of the iPhone 5S.
• The frame of the iPhone 6 will be 6.9mm thick, and the iPhone 6 Plus 7.1mm thick. 
• The design is a departure from recent models, with rounded sides replacing the sharp-edged, flat-sided iPhone 5S. 
• The iPhone 6 screen resolution will be 1,334x750 pixels, which Apple describes as Retina HD; the iPhone 6 Plus will feature a full HD resolution of 1,920x1,080 pixels
• The screen will be protected by ion-strengthened glass (but not the much-discussed sapphire crystal)
• The iPhone 6 has improved camera specs. Although the sensor remains at eight megapixels, a new focusing and exposure system should improve image quality. The iPhone 6 Plus also has optical image stabilisation.
• Both models can take slow-motion video at 240 frames per second. 
• The larger screens will allow multi-tasking, allowing the user to see an email inbox and message at the same time, for example. The app dock can also be moved to the side of the screen, instead of the bottom.
• As expected, the handsets will come a Health app that will integrate with Nike's fitness app.
• They will also include a built-in barometer.
• Both iPhones will be available from 19 September in the UK,
• British prices are yet to be confirmed, but the Daily Telegraph says the iPhone 6 will cost £539 for the 16GB model, £619 for 64GB and £699 for 128GB.
• The iPhone 6 Plus will cost £619 for the 16GB model, £699 for 64GB and £789 for 128GB, the paper says.

iPhone 6 design

The revamped design met with near unanimous praise.
"The first thing I noticed was that it feels a lot thinner than the 5s and 5c, and its rounded edges suggest you're holding a very small iPad mini rather than a larger iPhone," writes Nate Lanxon, the editor of Wired.co.uk. "The chassis has a satisfying curvature as the rear shell folds around to the front, and meets the glass of the display in a way that feels nearly seamless."

Larger screens

Wired is also impressed by the sharpness of the "Retina HD" screens on both phones, but particularly the larger model. "The 6 Plus's pixels are so tiny they're hard to see no matter how close you get your face," he says.
As well as raising the pixel count, Apple has improved the displays in other ways too, says The Times. "The screens are brighter, have crisper colours and are covered by stronger glass," the paper says. "They have also been designed for easier navigation using one hand."
However, there was no sign of the super-tough sapphire crystal screens, which some commentators had expected to see in the new phone. The camera also remained at eight megapixels, but reviewers were impressed with the improved functionality it offered.

Improved camera

"The main improvement seems to be the Focus Pixel feature, which is Apple's take on phase-detection autofocus," reports Engadget. What that means is that if you're training the camera on something in the foreground and it moves away from you, the lens will refocus automatically.
"This was demonstrated in Apple's stage presentation," Wired's reviewer says, "and I was pleased to see it works exactly as well when I tested it."
The new operating system, iOS8, also allows for greater camera control. "Until now the only way to adjust the exposure of a photo before taking a shot was to tap on the screen to tell your device from where to take the exposure reading," says the BBC's Mark Blank-Settle. "In iOS 8 the camera lets you adjust the exposure much more precisely: tapping on the screen now brings up an icon of the sun and, by moving a slider up and down, the image will get brighter or darker."

Battery life

If technology journalists had any complaints, they focused on doubts about the battery.
"Both iPhones will be powered a new A8 processor that is 25 per cent faster than the previous iPhone and 50 per cent more power efficient for increased battery life," The Guardian reports.
But on stage, Apple had only promised that battery life would be at least equal to its current models – which are frequently criticised for their lack of power reserves.
"Take your phone out for a busy day of GPSing, mobile browsing, texting on the go and whatnot, and you can drain an iPhone to zero in just a couple of hours," writes Forbes's Mark Rogowsky. And Apple "basically told the world that experience will be the same with the iPhone 6".
He blames the company for prioritising form over function, leaving limited room for the battery by cramming all the components into a slim frame with rounded edges.

Live: Apple launches iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus

9 September
7.20pm: Tim Cook returns to the stage to walk us through the next revelation of the evening, the Apple Watch.
6.55pm: Apple confirms that it will be introducing a payments system that will work in 220,000 locations around the world including, naturally, Apple Stores. The system works in partnership with American Express, Mastercard and Visa, and allows users to pay for goods by holding the iPhone 6 against a reader, as if it were a contactless payment card. Transactions are authorised using the phone's fingerprint reader. "Cashiers don't see your name, your card number or your security code," Forbes reports.
6.30pm: In a flurry of superlatives, the Apple demonstrator says the iPhone 6 will be larger, thinner and faster than its predecessor. But the promise on battery life - that it will be equal or better - dashes hopes of a big leap forward on that front.
6.15pm: The Daily Telegraph reports that "these phones are thinner than anything Apple has ever made: 6.9 mm"

6.10pm: Tim Cook, Apple's chief executive, arrives on stage a little late, but he breaks with company tradition and goes straight to the big news: Apple is launching two new phones, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Cook's predecessor, Steve Jobs, always started with routine announcements and saved the biggest unveiling until last.
Does Apple slow old iPhones before a new release?

iPhone 6: what to expect

9 September
As the world's technology press descends on Cupertino, California, for the launch of the iPhone 6, the Apple rumour mill has gone into overdrive. In the year since the relatively low-key launch of the iPhone 5S and 5C, rumours have come and gone about the new specs and features likely to find their way into its successor.
While some of it seems to be based on wishful thinking, much is likely to prove well founded. Here is our round-up of the most frequently discussed iPhone 6 specs, and how likely they are to make it into production.
iPhone 6 launch date: Analysts are expecting two versions of the iPhone 6, but it is unclear whether both will make an appearance tonight. It'll be a huge surprise if Apple doesn't produce a 4.7-inch device, but some analysts also expect to see a larger, 5.5-inch handset. Others think that the bigger iPhone 6 will not appear until later in the year. It's also unclear when the new phones will go on sale, but 19 September is the date most frequently predicted.
iPayments: Recent reports suggest that Apple is working on a mobile payments system that will be unveiled alongside the iPhone 6 on 9 September. "Apple has reached an agreement with American Express to work together on its new iPhone payments system," Re/code reported, and Bloomberg later added that Visa and Mastercard have also signed up. The system is likely to use near field communication (NFC) technology, which transfers data to be transferred between a device and a reader when the two are held against each other. The iPhone 6 would therefore work in the same way as the contactless debit and credit cards which have recently entered circulation.
Sapphire crystal: the use of sapphire crystal (also known as sapphire glass) for the iPhone 6 screen has been one of the most persistent rumours about the new handset. Apple is known to have invested heavily in the super-strong manmade material, which is resistant to scratching and bending, but recent reports suggest that it has been having trouble making it in sufficient quantities – and at sufficiently low costs – to furnish an iPhone production run of 100 million units or more. The Guardian recently suggested that Apple may end up using a blend of glass and sapphire crystal.
A Liquidmetal shell: As Apple strives to make the new handset as slim and strong as possible, some commentators have speculated that it may turn to Liquidmetal, an alloy that's stronger than aluminium. In theory that would mean the handset could be lighter and slimmer without skimping on strength or build quality, but in practice it seems unlikely. Although one of the inventors of Liquidmetal predicted two years ago that Liquidmetal cases would be possible by mid-2014, its use has so far been limited to small components.
Liquidmetal components: This is much more likely. Documents published by Apple-watching website MacRumors, suggest that the alloy could be used in buttons and switches in order to toughen up what have often proved to be weak points on previous iPhones.
Aluminium frame: Although Liquidmetal may be off the cards, most of the leaked images and technical drawings suggest that Apple will adopt an all-metal rear frame for the iPhone 6. Previous iPhones have made either extensive or decorative uses of glass, but this year's preview shots appear to show a rear panel fashioned entirely from aluminium – with a cut-out for the Apple logo.
Super-slim frame: Whatever it's made from, most commentators expect the iPhone 6 to be noticeably slimmer than its already svelte predecessor. A few months ago some were predicting a depth of just 6mm, but specs supposedly leaked by Amazon in recent weeks suggest we can look forward to a 7mm iPhone. The slender dimensions are apparently causing problems for component-makers: the difficulty of making a battery that's just 2mm thick has reportedly led to production delays.
A8 chip: Concerted speculation that the new device would include a revamped processor has been "confirmed" by Venturebeat. "The A8 will run at a frequency of 2.0 GHz per core and will create noticeably faster response time and graphics rendering in the new phones," its source says. "By comparison, the A7 chips in the iPhone 5 run at only 1.3GHz per core." Even if those details prove wide of the mark, a newer, speedier chip is a safe bet: Apple is unlikely to build an all-new phone around old technology.
13-megapixel camera: There has been comparatively little speculation about the iPhone 6 camera, but tentative reports out today suggest that Apple may build in a 13-megapixels sensor capable of recording high-resolution 4K video. "Apple is well-known for investing millions into its camera sensor, though the company has always refrained from entering the megapixel count race because adding more megapixels tend to have an negative effect on the low-light performance," Tech Times says. But the website sounds a note of caution: "The original source comes from a Chinese web forum, which may not be the best place to find legitimate iPhone 6 leaked information."