iPhone 6 rumor round-up: design, specs, price, and release date

 You needn't consider yourself an iFan to be wholly intrigued by what Apple has in store for consumers around the globe year after year, especially if you're eyeing the flagship smartphone tier. The Cupertino-based company has been churning out iPhones like nobody's business, and there's no reason to believe that the upcoming iPhone refresh will be any less of a success. That, not at all coincidentally, is why we set out to curate and summarize the vast troves of intel we've obtained up to this point.

So do we have enough to label this library of leaks substantial? Sure, but there are obviously no guarantees until we see the actual iPhone come September.. That said, it would appear that we have one major part of the puzzle figured out, and that's where we'll start!

Design

Renders based on supposed iPhone 6 dummies by Martin Hajek

As became obvious with the iPhone 5c, you can trust that somebody, somewhere in Apple's supply chain, will take it upon himself to provide an early glimpse into the new iPhone. That certainly is the case with the upcoming iPhone 6, a device that has been suggested (to put it mildly) to come sporting a much larger, 4.7-inch screen. What's more, we've had quite a few leaks that seem to do dovetail on one particular aspect of the iPhone 6: design. 

At this point in time, it appears that different splinters of information agree on the exterior of the iPhone 6, which reminds a whole lot of the iPod Touch, the iPhone 5c, and even the new design language of the iPad Air and new iPad mini. In other words, the many dummies and schematics we've seen pop online so far, paint a more rounded design, and a noticeably slimmer body, which is rumored to measure in at anything from 5.58mm (0.22'') up to 6.1mm (0.24''). Regardless of which of these two extremes we take for granted, we're still talking about a significant slimming down when compared with the iPhone 5s (7.6mm, or 0.3''). As for the overall dimensions, one of several schematics that have been leaked suggests a 138 x 67 mm (5.4 x 2.6 in) config, and the rest don't really deviate significantly from those numbers. That's quite the (expected) growth compared with the iPhone 5s' dimensions of 123.8 x 58.6 (4.87 x 2.31 in).

And yet, despite these changes, what we've seen of the supposed iPhone 6 still is an iPhone at heart, and it actually completes Apple's design circle across all its iDevices. We still have the two distinct horizontal lines at the top and bottom when looking at the rear. The latest leaks suggest that the Touch ID fingerprint scanner will go through a small design upgrade, and come with a more pronounced chrome encasing this time around. In fact, one particular dummy that came to our attention had a surprisingly well-matching yellow edge surrounding the sensor. Another rather major difference is the new placement of the power button, which seems to have found itself a new home at the right side of the iPhone 6 -- a change that makes a whole lot of sense, seeing as reaching for the top of a larger device can be quite the nuisance. Lastly, and this is one of the least-likely rumors we've come across so far, it has been suggested that the new iPhone could be water-resistant. 

Rumored specs

With design out of the way, you'll be looking for some juicy details as pertain to the hardware specs of the iPhone 6. Unfortunately, we don't have as much in this particular area. Apart from rumors and some good use of common sense, that is. 

Display

Let's start with the display. Taking a larger, 4.7-inch display for granted, there's still the question of just how crisp that one that will be. As you probably know, Apple never was big on cramming as many pixels as possible in their iPhones, and has instead stuck with its so called 'Retina' approach. This has resulted in displays that work out to a smaller pixel density than competing flagships from Android land, but still high enough for the human eye, at least in Apple's opinion. In any case, one guess so far is the somewhat odd 966 x 1600 pixel resolution (16:10, 398 ppi) -- the exact resolution of a purported iOS 8 screenshot taken on the iPhone 6. On the other hand, Apple insider Sonny Dickson, who had a great run with iPhone 5s/5c leaks, disagrees with that number, and instead suggests a pixel density 389 ppi. Close enough. 

Further still, according to 9to5Mac, the new resolution could very well read 1704 x 960, or 416 ppi. There only ground for this assumption is Apple's rather pragmatic (and thus, predictable) approach to resolution bumping in the past, where it has always kept these upgrades simple enough for developers to be able to easily scale and migrate existing visual assets to the next level. In that sense, a bump to 1704 x 960 would entail a 3x bump of the base 16:9 resolution of 568 x 320 (which is half the current resolution of iPhone 5/5s).

Lastly, it's worth pointing out that Apple has been investing heavily into the development of sapphire glass for use in smartphones, and at this point it appears very likely that we'll see the company adopt the extremely tough material for use with its displays. Sapphire glass is already used to protect the iPhone 5s' camera and Touch ID sensor, as its harder to scratch than Gorilla Glasss (though more brittle). In fact, Apple actually patented a method of fusing a sapphire laminate layer with a device's screen, further corroborating the notion of a break-up with Corning.

Camera and Processor

Apple's legendary secrecy has so far helped with keeping camera samples off the internet, so it's a stretch to claim that we have the facts about the next iSnapper, even though we've had some rumors floating around, many of which tie in nicely with what we already know about the iPhone 6 and Apple in general.

For one, and as expected, Apple is again going to sit out on the megapixel arms race, and likely stick to an 8MP snapper, though a 10MP unit has also been suggested. Instead of pursuing pixel count, the iPhone 6 is instead said to improve on its photographic capabilities by offering a larger, 1/2.6'' sensor (vs. a 1/3'' one in the iPhone 5s), with larger, 1.75μm pixels, and wider, f/2.0 aperture. Lastly, we're told that despite initial rumors, the iPhone 6 will pass on Optical Image Stabilization, likely to avoid extra production costs and in order to keep thickness in check. Instead, the analyst-in-chief at ESM-China, Sun Chang Xu, claims that Apple will opt for Electronic Image Stabilization.

As far as the system chip that will power the iPhone 6 is concerned, we obviously still don't have anything that is confirmed. That said, the aforementioned Sonny Dickson has suggested that a 2.6GHz A8 chip could be what we'll find inside the iPhone 6. However, considering Apple's current track record, and especially its latest 1.3GHz, 64-bit A7 chip found in the iPhone 5s, we find it hard to believe that Apple will distance itself from its approach in such a drastic way. According to the folks behind 9to5Mac, the new silicon will introduce a relatively smaller performance boost, and will instead focus on bettering efficiency. Makes sense -- the current crop of iPhones sure isn't known for its longevity.

New HD audio earphones?

With Apple's pending, but somewhat official, acquisition of super-popular headphone maker Beats Audio, it's only natural that we'd start asking questions. So, for example, we're quite curious of Apple's plans for the company, especially as pertains to its mobile products. In the past, we've seen HTC make good use of the popular brand, so it's obviously possible that Apple will be pushing the envelope in the HD audio department, if only on the software side. That said, there are already rumors that Cupertino is prepping a new model of earphones for its new iPhone, though it's unlikely that it can assimilate Beats Audio's proprietary tech in time for the iPhone 6's release. 

iOS 8

As has become customary, it's likely a sure bet to expect the new iPhone to come packing the latest iOS update -- or what the industry has come to refer to as iOS 8 in the case of the iPhone 6. 

Beyond the addition of an extra forth column to the icon grid, quite a few new apps are being readied for release, including a pretty functional Healthbook hub app, and apps from the Mac's iWork suite, including Pages, Numbers, Keynote, iPhoto, iMovie, and even GarageBand. It should be noted that another trio of apps -- TextEdit, Tips, and Preview -- were also spotted in another purported iOS 8 screenshot. 

Unfortunately, out of all of these, we've only had a full disclosure when it comes to Healthbook. Judging by the leaked images, Healthbook will be Apple's answer to the growing fitness & wellness category, and it appears likely that a future iWatch will be required to take full advantage of the functionality offered by the app. 

On the whole, Healthbook will aggregate data from both an iPhone and a possible future wearable from Apple, in order to create what appears to be the most thorough take on the burgeoning niche. To that end, Healthbook will keep track of variables such as your blood pressure, heart rate, blood sugar levels, oxygen saturation, along with hydration and respiratory measurements. Healthbook will also double-up as a sleep-tracker, and provide information about the total hours of sleep you've had on any given day, and how much of that was "sound sleep". Again, it appears extremely likely that to unlock the full potential of Healthbook, an Apple wearable will be required to feed the required measurements and activity data.

On another note, it has been suggested that Apple will be upgrading its iTunes store to allow for HD audio streaming, and that would also entail changes inside iOS 8 as well. That makes sense, seeing as the stock iOS 7 music player is limited in its capabilities -- for example, 24-bit tracks with sample rate beyond 48MHz cannot be played, and even third-party solutions have a limitation on what they can do. It is rumored that iOS 8 will change that.