iPhone 6S

iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus

iPhone 6S in Rose Gold
Codename	N71
Brand	Apple Inc.
Slogan	Since March 2016 "One powerful phone"[1] Until March 2016 "The Only Thing That's Changed is Everything."
Generation	9th
Compatible networks	GSM, CDMA, 3G, EVDO, HSPA+, LTE, LTE Advanced
First released	September 25, 2015
Units sold	13 million in launch weekend
Predecessor	iPhone 6 iPhone 6 Plus
Successor	iPhone 7 iPhone 7 Plus
Related	iPhone SE
Type	Smartphone (iPhone 6s) Phablet (iPhone 6s Plus)
Form factor	Slate
Dimensions	6S: 138.3 mm (5.44 in) H 67.1 mm (2.64 in) W 7.1 mm (0.28 in) D 6S Plus: 158.2 mm (6.23 in) H 77.9 mm (3.07 in) W 7.3 mm (0.29 in) D
Weight	6S: 143 g (5.0 oz) 6S Plus: 192 g (6.8 oz)
Operating system	Original: iOS 9.0 Current: iOS 10.1.1, released October 31, 2016
System on chip	Apple A9
CPU	1.85 GHz dual-core 64-bit ARMv8-A[2][3] "Twister"
GPU	PowerVR GT7600 (hexa-core) [4][5]
Memory	2 GB LPDDR4 RAM[6][7]
Storage	16, 32, 64, or 128 GB SK Hynix TLC NAND connected via NVMe[8]
Battery	6S: 3.82 V 6.55 W·h (1715 mA·h) Li-Po[7][9][10] 150 min charge time for an average of 8h 15 min use[11] 6S Plus: 3.8 V 10.45 W·h (2750 mA·h) Li-Po[12] 165 min charge time for an average of 9h 11 min use[13]
Display	6S: 4.7 in (120 mm) Retina HD, LED-backlit IPS LCD, 1334 × 750 pixel resolution (326 ppi) with Dual Ion Exchange strengthened glass and 3D Touch 6S Plus: 5.5 in (140 mm) Retina HD, LED-backlit IPS LCD, 1920 × 1080 pixel resolution (401 ppi), 500 cd/m2 max. brightness (typical), with Dual Ion Exchange strengthened glass and 3D Touch
Rear camera	Sony Exmor RS IMX315 12 MP (1.22 μm), true-tone flash, autofocus, IR filter, Burst mode, f/2.2 aperture, 4K video recording at 30 fps or 1080p at 30 or 60 fps, Slow-motion video (1080p at 120 fps and 720p at 240 fps), Timelapse with stabilization, Panorama (up to 63 megapixels), Facial recognition, Digital image stabilization, Optical image stabilization (6S Plus only)
Front camera	5 MP, Burst mode, f/2.2 aperture, Exposure control, Face detection, Auto-HDR, 720p HD video recording, Retina flash
Sound	Mono speaker, 3.5 mm stereo audio jack
Connectivity	All models: LTE (Bands 1 to 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17 to 20, 25 to 29), TD-LTE (Bands 38 to 41), TD-SCDMA 1900 (F), 2000 (A), UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSDPA (850, 900, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz), CDMA EV-DO Rev. A and Rev. B (800, 1700/2100, 1900, 2100 MHz), GSM/EDGE (850, 900, 1800, 1900 MHz), Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n/ac) (802.11n: 2.4 and 5 GHz), Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, GPS & GLONASS [14] Models A1633 & A1634: LTE (Band 30) [14]
Hearing aid compatibility	M3, T4
Website	www.apple.com/iphone-6s/

The iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus (stylized as iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus) are smartphones designed by Apple Inc. The devices were announced on September 9, 2015, at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco by Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook. The iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus jointly serve as successors to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus of 2014 and were the flagship devices of the iPhone series until September 7, 2016 when they were replaced by the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.^[15]

The iPhone 6S has a similar design to the 6 but updated hardware, including a strengthened chassis and upgraded system-on-chip, a 12-megapixel camera, improved fingerprint reader, and LTE Advanced support. The iPhone 6S also introduces a new hardware feature known as "3D Touch", which enables pressure-sensitive touch inputs.

The iPhone 6S and 6S Plus set a new first-weekend sales record, selling 13 million models, up from 10 million for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in the previous year.^[16]

History

Before the official unveiling, images of the iPhone 6S were leaked online. Although unofficial, the leaks confirmed several of the phone's features. Some of these leaked features included the iPhone 6S base model having 16 gigabyte storage, a new near-field communication processor, the new rose gold color, and fewer chips compared to the older models of the iPhone.^[17]

iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus were officially unveiled on September 9, 2015, during a press event named "Hey Siri, give us a hint."^[18] at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco.^[15][19] Preorders for the iPhone 6S and the iPhone 6S Plus started on September 12, 2015. Both devices became available in US stores on September 25, 2015, starting at US$199 and US$299 on a two-year contract, US$649 and US$749 off-contract.^[20]

Specifications

Hardware

The shell of iPhone 6S looks identical to the iPhone 6. However, there are changes that make the phone very durable including the use of a stronger, 7000 series aluminum alloy;^[21] the strengthening of "key points" in the rear casing, and the re-location of touchscreen ICs to the display assembly.^[21] It is available in gold, silver, space gray, and new for the 6S, rose gold-color finishes.^[22]

iPhone 6S is powered by the Apple A9 system-on-chip, which the company stated is up to 70% faster than Apple A8, and has up to 90% better graphics performance.^[22] iPhone 6S has 2 GB of RAM, more than any previous iPhone,^[6] and also supports LTE Advanced.^[21] The Touch ID sensor on the 6S was also updated, with the new version having improved fingerprint scanning performance over the previous version.^[23]

While the capacities of their batteries are slightly smaller, Apple rates iPhone 6S and 6S Plus as having the same average battery life as their respective predecessors.^[24] The A9 system-on-chip was dual-sourced from TSMC and Samsung. Although it was speculated that the Samsung version had worse battery performance than the TSMC version, multiple independent tests have shown there is no appreciable difference between the two chips.^[25][26] Although the device is not promoted as such, the iPhone 6S has a degree of water resistance because of a change to its internal design, which places a silicone seal around components of the logic board to prevent them from being shorted by accidental exposure to water.^[27]

Their displays are the same sizes as those of the iPhone 6, coming in 4.7-inch 750p and 5.5-inch 1080p (Plus) sizes. The iPhone 6S features a technology known as 3D Touch; sensors are embedded in the screen's backlight layer that measure the firmness of the user's touch input by the distance between it and the cover glass, allowing the device to distinguish between normal and more forceful presses. 3D Touch is combined with a Taptic Engine vibrator to provide associated haptic feedback.^[28] Although similar, this is distinct from the Force Touch technology used on the Apple Watch and MacBook, as it is more sensitive and can recognize more levels of touch pressure than Force Touch.^[29][30] Due to the hardware needed to implement 3D Touch, the iPhone 6S is heavier than its predecessor.^[31]

iPhone 6S features a 12-megapixel rear-facing camera, an upgrade from the 8-megapixel unit on previous models, as well as a 5-megapixel front-facing camera. It can record 4K video, as well as 1080p video at 60 and now 120 frames per second.^[32][33]

Another significant upgrade to iPhone 6S and 6S Plus over predecessor models is the use of NVMe to interface with their flash controller which drives some SK Hynix TLC NAND flash memory, resulting in a maximum average read speed of 1,840 megabytes per second.^[8][34]

Following the announcement of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, Apple changed the storage tiers of new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus devices sold, with the new storage tiers being 32 and 128 GB,^[35] instead of 16, 64 and 128GB storage tiers.

Software

iPhone 6S ships with iOS 9; the operating system leverages the 3D Touch hardware to allow recognition of new gestures and commands, including "peeking" at content with a light touch and "popping" it into view by pressing harder,^[28] and accessing context menus with links to commonly used functions within apps with harder presses on home screen icons.^[28] The camera app's "Retina Flash" feature allows the display's brightness to be used as a makeshift flash on images taken with the front camera, while "Live Photos" captures a short video alongside each photo taken.^[21][33]

Reception

The Verge described the 6S, in particular the Plus model, as "right now the best phone on the market...There just aren't other companies that can roll out a feature like 3D Touch and make it work in a way that suggests the creation of entirely new interface paradigms, and every other phone maker needs to figure out exactly why Apple's cameras are so consistent before they can really compete." ^[36] The Guardian commented that the phone "has the potential to be the best smaller smartphone on the market, but its short battery life is deeply frustrating" and described the camera as "not leagues ahead of the competition anymore."^[37]

The Register praised performance, noting that "we’re now using phones with the performance of current PCs," but described 3D Touch as "just a glorified vibrator" and "no good...it's not binary...and you still don’t know quite what’s going to happen until you try."^[38] AnandTech awarded the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus its second ever Editor's Choice Gold Award for a phone, based largely on the phone's performance and the addition of 3D Touch.^[39] An additional topic noted by journalists around the same time has been the better rate of security updates on iPhones compared to Android phones, with 90 percent of Android phones running insecure and outdated versions.^[40]

First ever iPhone sales decline

In the months following the launch of the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, Apple saw its first ever quarterly year-over-year decline in iPhone sales,^[41][42] attributed to a saturated smartphone market in Apple's biggest sales countries and consumers in developing countries not buying iPhones.^[43]

Hardware issues

Battery issues

On November 21, 2016 Apple announced that a "small number" of iPhone 6s devices manufactured between September and October 2015 have faulty batteries that unexpectedly shut down. Apple has stated that they will replace the batteries on affected devices free of charge at Apple Stores or official Apple Authorized Service Providers.^[44] Apple did stress that it was not a safety issue and was only affecting devices within a limited serial number range.^[45]

Timeline of models

Sources: Apple press release library^[46]

References

1. "iPhone 6s". Apple. Retrieved May 13, 2016.
2. "iPhone 6s customer receives her device early, benchmarks show a marked increase in power". iDownloadBlog. September 21, 2015. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
3. "A9's CPU: Twister - The Apple iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus Review". AnandTech. November 2, 2015. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
4. "iPhone 6S Review". GSM Arena. October 2015.
5. "Apple A9 / PowerVR GT7600". NotebookCheck. September 2015.
6. Cunningham, Andrew (September 14, 2015). "Xcode's iOS simulator reports 2GB RAM for iPhone 6S, 4GB for iPad Pro". Ars Technica. Condé Nast. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
7. "iPhone 6s Teardown". iFixit. Retrieved September 25, 2015.
8. Tokar, Les (October 4, 2015). "iPhone 6S Uses NVMe Storage – Performance Determined By Capacity". The SSD Review. p. 1. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
9. Sumram, Husain (September 9, 2015). "Apple's 3D Touch Video Confirms 1715 mAh iPhone 6s Battery". MacRumors. Retrieved September 11, 2015.
10. "Apple iPhone 6s Teardown". Teardown. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
11. Google Nexus 5X battery life test results are out
12. Clover, Juli (September 21, 2015). "iPhone 6s Plus Has Smaller 2750mAh Battery". MacRumors. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
13. iPhone 6s Plus posts excellent battery life, matches the Galaxy Note5 to the minute
14. "iPhone 6s specs". Apple. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
15. Rubin, Ben Fox (September 9, 2015). "Apple unveils iPhone 6S, 6S Plus, aiming to tighten grip on high-end smartphones". CNET. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
16. Benner, Katie (September 28, 2015). "Apple iPhone 6s Breaks First-Weekend Sales Record". The New York Times. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
17. "Leaked images reveal the inside of Apple's iPhone 6S". Retrieved 2015-09-27.
18. "Apple Events – Special Event September 2015". apple.com.
19. Tibken, Shara (August 27, 2015). "Apple will host next iPhone launch Sept. 9". CNET. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
20. Elliott, Matt (September 11, 2015). "How and when to buy the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus". CNET. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
21. Moynihan, Tim (September 9, 2015). "You Can't See the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus' Biggest Changes". Wired. Condé Nast. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
22. Rothman, Wilson (September 9, 2015). "Apple's iPhone 6S vs iPhone 6: The Key Differences". Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
23. H., Victor (2016-03-21). "Apple iPhone SE TouchID is the same as in 5s, slower than iPhone 6s fingerprint sensor". Phone Arena. Retrieved 2016-03-22.
24. Carnoy, David (September 10, 2015). "One spec Apple didn't improve in iPhone 6S: Battery life". CNET. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
25. Cunningham, Andrew. "Consumer Reports: "No 'Chipgate' problems" with iPhone 6S battery life". Ars Technica. Retrieved 19 October 2015.
26. "iPhone 6s 'Chipgate' Stirs Battery Fears". PC Magazine. Retrieved 22 March 2016.
27. "Apple's Clever Tech Makes the iPhone 6s Nearly Waterproof". Wired. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
28. Tyrangiel, Josh (September 9, 2015). "How Apple Built 3D Touch". Bloomberg News. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
29. McHugh, Molly (September 9, 2015). "Yes, There Is a Difference Between 3D Touch and Force Touch". Wired. Condé Nast. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
30. Bohn, Dieter (September 9, 2015). "iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus: hands-on with 3D Touch and the new cameras". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved September 9, 2015.
31. D'Orazio, Dante (September 12, 2015). "New aluminum alloy isn't to blame for iPhone 6S weight gain". The Verge. Vox Media. Retrieved September 14, 2015.
32. Dent, Steve (September 9, 2015). "Apple's iPhone 6s camera makes a huge leap in quality". Engadget. AOL. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
33. Ho, Joshua (September 9, 2015). "Hands On With the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus". Anandtech. Purch, Inc. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
34. Tokar, Les (October 4, 2015). "iPhone 6S Uses NVMe Storage – Performance Determined By Capacity". The SSD Review. p. 2. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
35. Broussard, Mitchel (September 8, 2016). "Apple Updates iPhone 6s Storage Tiers With New Options and Prices". Retrieved September 11, 2016.
36. Patel, Nilay. "iPhone 6S review". The Verge. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
37. Gibbs, Samuel. "iPhone 6S review: a very good phone ruined by rubbish battery life". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
38. Salinger, Tom. "iPhone 6s and 6s Plus: Harder, faster and they'll give you a buzz". The Register. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
39. Ho, Joshua. "The Apple iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus Review". AnandTech. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
40. Francis, Hannah. "9-out-of-10 Android phones are insecure". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
41. Opam, Kwame (July 26, 2016). "Apple's sales fall across iPhone, iPad, and Mac". The Verge. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
42. Goel, Vindu (April 26, 2016). "IPhone Sales Drop, and Apple's 13-Year Surge Ebbs". The New York Times. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
43. Goel, Vindu (July 26, 2016). "Apple's iPhone Sales Drop Again, but Services Are a Bright Spot". The New York Times. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
44. "Apple to swap 'faulty' iPhone 6S batteries". BBC. November 21, 2016. Retrieved November 21, 2016.
45. https://www.apple.com/support/iphone6s-unexpectedshutdown/
46. Apple Inc. (2004-2016). Press Release Library. Retrieved April 6, 2016.

External links

• iPhone 6S / iPhone 6S Plus – official site