Which one to buy? The lavish iPhone 6s or the cheaper iPhone 6?

With Apple pricing the iPhone 6s at a steep Rs 62,000 for the 16 GB variant in India (even if 16 GB is just not enough today), and going up to a jaw-dropping Rs 92,000 for the iPhone 6s Plus 128 GB, price-conscious Indian customers have a tough choice to make. Do the new 6s and 6s Plus justify their price tags or should prospective iPhone customers wait for prices to fall–which is unlikely to happen soon. Or should they simply go for the year-old iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, which come at significantly lower prices?

For instance, the current e-commerce bonanza in India is seeing the iPhone 6 selling for as low as Rs 24,999 after discounts and an exchange offer, a massive difference as compared to the Rs 62,000 price tag on the 6s 16 GB.

Based on a little under a day of using the new iPhone 6s, here’s a quick overview of the some of the notable features of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus and how they stack up against the iPhone 6.

So I'd say according to specs the iPhone 6s is the winner... But considering the price, I'd say only the successful people... Oh I mean only the 6sful people can afford it....
So which one to buy, completely depends on your bank balance, or you could try smuggling it...

Of Course Its faster!

The A9 chip is Apple’s third-gen chip with 64-bit architecture and Apple claims CPU performance is up by close to 70 percent compared to the A8 chip powering the iPhone 6. Graphics performance is reportedly up 90 percent compared to A8. And the M9 motion coprocessor integrated into the A9 chip ensures that Siri is always on. Just say “Hey Siri” for Siri to come alive. But the iPhone 6 is no laggard either on the speed front.

Built tougher

The iPhone 6 faced Bendgate, though admittedly, it wasn’t like every second phone got bent. Apple learnt its lesson though and the 6s and 6s Plus use 7000 Series aluminium alloy, which is blended with Zinc to make it tougher. 7000 Series aluminium is used in the aerospace sector.(Well I copy-pasted that part!)

According to Unbox Therapy’s literal pressure tests, the iPhone 6S chassis is much tougher than the chassis of the 6 --- it didn’t start to bend until exposed to pressure of 80 lbs. The 6 chassis started to bend at 30 lbs of pressure. So, the 6s is clearly far tougher and better built than the 6 and hence it is slightly heavier too.

Futuristic 3D Touch

3D Touch is perhaps the coolest feature on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. The original iPhone borrowed gestures like pinch and zoom, but now has broken ahead of the pack by introducing Peek and Pop. The iPhone 6s senses how much pressure is applied to screen and it responds with subtle feedback. So not only will you see the results of a press on the screen—you will actually feel it.

Image: CNET

Pressing an icon brings that icon into focus while the background becomes hazy and you can select the sub-menu from the home screen itself. For instance, by pressing the camera icon, you get options like Take Selfie, Record Video, Record slo-mo or Take Photo. Conceptually, it’s a bit like clicking on the right button of a mouse. In a mailbox, it can definitely improve productivity because a push will get you a peek into an e-mail and options like Archive or marking it unread, and a further push will actually take you into that email. The Peek part gives you a look and you don’t need to click back to go back to the mailbox, thus eliminating an action and improving productivity.

Some app developers like Instagram have already started leveraging 3D Touch–no more clicking on a photo and clicking back to go back to the previous screen. It makes for a noticeable and welcome UI enhancement in games too and many, many iOS developers will leverage 3D Touch in the coming months.

From the perspective of future iPhones, 3D Touch is a big milestone on the way to an iPhone without the home button. But that’s perhaps a generation or two away. From the apps perspective 3D Touch will start making an increasing impact, but for the immediate future if your iPhone doesn’t have 3D Touch you would perhaps just miss the coolest futuristic tech on an iPhone in the recent past.

Live Photos

Falling somewhere in between a still image and a video, Live Photos–on by default–is about the iPhone 6s capturing a photo but also 1.5 seconds of video before and after with sound. Click on a Live Photo and it comes to life. File size is around twice of a regular photo but Live Photos is a superb addition and is perhaps a step towards the journey where we may not have still images shot as a still anymore but always as part of a video. You can view Live Photos on any iOS device running iOS 9, but to create one, you need an iPhone 6s. And apps like Facebook may soon enable playback of Live Photos too increasing its reach. Thanks to Apple’s market penetration, expect Live Photos to become a big trend soon.

Camera

The camera is bumped up from 8 MP on the iPhone 6 to a new 12 MP sensor with new pixel technology on the 6s. Apple claims that its new image signal processor on the iPhone 6s works with iOS 9 to provide far better pictures. Front camera has been bumped up to 5MP from 1.2 MP and includes Retina Flash for better lit selfies—the screen flashes three times brighter than usual, combined with True Tone technology to account for location colour tone and lighting. But DxOMark, an industry standard for camera and lens image quality measurements and ratings, says the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are left behind by seven Android-smartphone cameras, including the Sony Xperia Z5 and the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge and Galaxy Note 4. The reviewers are blunt, saying, “…those looking to upgrade from the iPhone 6 Plus might not find it (the camera on the 6s and 6s Plus) appreciably compelling.”

What’s great though is 4K video recording (and with optical image stabilisation on the 6s Plus). And the A9 processor makes for some deft video editing using iMovie.

Instantaneous Touch ID

One thing I noticed was the near instantaneous working of TouchID, which integrates a fingerprint scanner into home button and does away with the need for punching in a 4-digit password. Apple made security unobtrusive with TouchID on the iPhone 5s and the 6s takes it one level higher, and it’s definitely another productivity win for Apple.

Battery Life, Won't last you Longer!

While the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus reportedly have slightly lower capacity batteries as compared to the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, battery life has been reported to be the same by most reviewers and by Apple too, thanks to software enhancements. So perhaps nothing to worry about there, though bigger is always handier when it comes to battery life.

So I'd say according to specs the iPhone 6s is the winner... But considering the price, I'd say only the successful people... Oh I mean only the 6sful people can afford it....
So which one to buy, completely depends on your bank balance, or you could try smuggling it...

Well its affordable only by the 6Sful people... #TheGud1 https://t.co/qSglPth2Mg

— Bhavish Shah★ (@iamBhavish) October 15, 2015

 I'll be reviewing the phones soon... So Stay tuned!!

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Apple Stores finally coming to India

The Apple Store is coming to India — or at least a few counters are, along with those signature wooden tables. They will be debuting in India in partnership with Tata-owned consumer electronics chain Croma, which will host Apple at six of its locations as a pilot.

"We are proud to partner Apple to launch the Apple Store in India and extremely bullish about it," said Avijit Mitra, CEO of Infiniti Retail, which owns Croma. "These stores will be modeled on the global design and will offer the best experience to consumers, showcasing the entire range of Apple products."

The Apple space will be 400-500 square feet in area and will be set up at five Croma stores in Mumbai — Malad, Juhu, Oberoi Mall, Phoenix Mall and Ghatkopar. In Bengaluru, this will be at Croma in Jayanagar. They are set to open by Diwali next month.

The store design, furniture, fixtures and lighting will the same as that used in Apple stores globally and the sales staff will also be trained by the company. In India, Apple sells through premium resellers who run exclusive brand stores under the franchise model. Devices are also available at multi-brand mobile and consumer electronics retail chains and some of the larger neighborhood phone stores.

Apple hasn't been able to set up its own stores because of mandatory local-sourcing norms for single-brand foreign direct investment in retail, it is said. Going the Croma route gives Apple the opportunity to control the consumer experience without jumping through the bureaucratic hoops.

To be sure, this could also be a precursor for a possibly stronger retail presence.

CEO Tim Cook is said to have suggested an easing of the sourcing rules when he met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the US recently, according to two persons with knowledge of this. Croma said it has 97 stores across the country with 3.8 million customers. Apple owns more than 460 stores in 17 countries — more than half in the US. The company has significantly increased its retail presence in the country in the past year with five distributors as India has become one of the fastest-growing markets for Apple.

It's also accelerated the launch of new phones. Sales of the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus will start on October 16, just three weeks after the US. It also plans to launch Apple Watch in India by Diwali.

Apple sold 1.7 million iPhones in India between October 2014 and September 2015, the company's financial year, compared with 1.1 million units in the year-earlier period, according to market tracker Counter-Point Research.

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iPhone 6s, 6s Plus available for pre-order at over Rs 1 lakh in grey market: Reports

Apple announced its latest flagship smartphones – the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus on 9 September. India wasn’t on the initial list of countries to get the device. Neither have official launch dates for India been released.

However, it is estimated that Apple could launch the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus by Diwali to cash in on the festive season in India. Seizing the opportunity, the grey market in India has begun taking pre-orders.

According to a report in the Economic Times, a mobile store owner at Mumbai’s Heera Panna market said the price of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus will be around Rs 1 lakh. Although that seems like an astronomical sum for a smartphone, the grey market would be able to command such prices only for the short duration between the US rollout and the launch in India.

The report adds that the iPhone 6s would sell at an average selling price between Rs 70,000 and Rs 80,000. The iPhone 6s Plus would selling at an average price between Rs 80,000 and Rs 90,000. The Rose Gold edition of the device seems to come at an added premium of Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000.

If you believe that’s a high sum, consider that the prices rise even higher in China’s grey market. According to a report in the South China Morning Post, “The asking price for a 16 GB iPhone 6S (as the new model is expected to be called) is between 8,900 and 9,250 yuan (US$1,300-1,450) while prices for larger-screen 128 GB iPhone 6S Plus ran as high as 21,000 yuan (US$3,300).” $3300 works to approximately Rs 2,20,000!

TheNational reports that the latest iPhones would hit the UAE grey markets within 2 weeks. Quoting a retailer in Abu Dhabi, the report says, “People have been asking when we’re going to sell the iPhone 6S for at least the past 10 days. I expect we will get it a day or two after it becomes available in the UK and the US.”

The report adds that last year the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus sold for a premium of over Dh 1,000 (Rs 18,000) on the retail selling price.

While reports emerge that premium smartphones continue to witness a dip in sales, the sky rocketing prices commanded by these devices in the unregulated market suggests the high level of interest in them.

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iPhone 6S, Apple TV 2015 and iPad Pro: All the stuff Apple announced today

Damn, Apple just dropped a ton of new hardware today, including new iPhones, iPads and a brand new Apple TV. There were a lot of goodies snuck into today’s event at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, so here’s a recap of everything Apple unveiled that you need to know about.

Much of what we saw today builds on the developer rollouts made back in June. The biggest is the new version of the operating system for the iPhone and iPad, iOS 9, which has been in public beta since July and brings with it improved battery life, public transit information, improved search through Spotlight and Siri and an improved keyboard. iOS 9 also buffs up supporting iPads with a side-by-side view, picture-in-picture video, an app shortcut bar and two-finger cursor control while editing text.

But there's plenty that's new: Here are the highlights.

As always, and like all companies, Apple bolsters its announcements with testimonials and numbers selected to paint a rosy picture of its current lineup, such as the 97 percent customer satisfaction rating for the Apple Watch and the availability of 10,000 Watch apps. That said, the stock market seemed unimpressed.

This was one of the most third-party-demo-filled Apple events I've seen; it felt more like an E3 press conference. And buried in a demo email, OS X El Capitan might be shipping September 30. IOS 9 arrives September 16.

iPhone 6S and 6S Plus:

Both the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus use the same body design as their predecessors, but come in a new rose gold aluminum finish; the aluminum is a new alloy, and they use new, stronger glass on the screens.

Apple has evolved multitouch into 3D Touch, what Apple's calling the multitouch interface used by its Force Touch technology. Different degrees of pressure perform different levels of operation, analogous to tap vs. tap-and-hold, using vibrational feedback. In some ways, it performs the same functions of devices with wraparound screens, like the Galaxy S6 Edge. It does look like there will be a bit of a learning curve.

The chip jumps to A9 with an M9 motion coprocessor that's built in (for fitness trackers, for example) that's always on -- as is "Hey, Siri" -- for much better performance. The updated Touch ID is also faster.

The new iSight camera bumps to 12 megapixels with more focus pixels for (theoretically) faster, more accurate focus. The photodiodes use something Apple calls Deep Trench Isolation Technology to minimize crosstalk; it looks like there are gaps between the wells to keep electrons from leaking into neighboring wells and contaminating the colors.

As expected, Apple rolls out 4K video (best for editing or playing back on a large screen). The FaceTime camera bumps up to 5MP, and Apple uses the phone display as the flash with better white balance.

Live Photos lets you press on a photo to animate it. It captures a couple seconds before and after the shutter press to capture extra data, a popular feature in standalone cameras. The format will be supported by the Facebook app later this year.

Wi-Fi is faster, as is the cell networking. And there are new accessories, including a color-matched charging dock.

The prices run the same or less as the previous generation, but they're muddied because of the disappearing two-year contract There's a new upgrade program, $32 per month for 24 months, which allows for new iPhone every year. Preorders start September 12, available September 25 in a variety of places, including US, UK and Australia.

Apple TV

Apple dropped a redesigned Apple TV Wednesday and while the box itself hasn’t changed much, with a new app store, OS and multitouch remote, it’s obvious that the company is fully revisiting its “hobby” device

Tim Cook says that Apple believes the future of TV is apps, so they spent most of the event talking Siri and OS as opposed to the hardware. Apple unveiled tvOS with some insanely powerful Siri support. Want to see “that one Modern Family episode with Edward Norton”? Well, now Siri can find it.

Apple TV's new interface

Apple is putting more of an emphasis on casual gaming than ever with the new Apple TV. They showed off a few couch-friendly games. These obviously aren’t going to be tackling console gaming anytime soon but the new remote has some Wiimote-style motion controls (thanks to a gyroscope and accelerometer) that look to add a new dynamic to iOS gaming.

Apple TV's Touch Surface Remote

The hardware star of the new Apple TV is definitely its new Siri-powered touch surface remote. The Bluetooth 4.0-powered remote allows users more advanced control thanks to its variety of inputs.

iPad Pro

Apple unveiled the ultimate powerhouse tablet today with the iPad Pro, starting at $799. This behemoth sports a beautiful high-def 12.9″ screen with enough screen real estate to allow split, “full-screen” multitasking. Apple also introduced a couple of wild new hardware peripherals for the iPad Pro.

Specs:

• 12.9″ screen rocking a 2,732 x 2,048 display
• 6.9mm thin, weighs 1.57 lbs
• Starts at $799 for the 32GB model, comes in
• Powerful new A9X chip that’s 1.8x than the A8 before it.
• 10-hour battery life
• 8MP iSight camera
• Touch ID
• Powerful four speaker audio

Apple Forgot the iPad Mini 4

Apple didn’t give a shit about discussing the changes to the new iPad mini 4. At the event they brushed over that they’ve updated the mini’s internals and that the device is now rocking the same power as the iPad Air 2.

Apple Surface iPad Keyboard

Unlike past iPads, the iPad Pro is really gunning to be a content creation machine, to do that Apple wanted it to have a physical keyboard to handle text entry. What they dropped today is pretty much a Microsoft Surface keyboard clone. Apple was relatively light on details but said the keyboard utilizes new Apple dome switches (?) and also takes advantage of the new magnetic connector on the iPad Pro. It costs a whopping $169!

Precise Apple Pencil

The rumored stylus exists, and its dubbed the Apple Pencil. It emits signals from two locations to make shaded strokes, and the system scans twice as fast to capture them. It recharges off the Lightning connector, which plugs right into the tablet. Rather than pressure, it tracks tilt and pressure, which one-ups most iPad styluses, Apple claims it's more precise, and it's supported by many apps out of the box. 

Apple is really working hard to make the iPad a content creation gadget,

The Pro also runs Microsoft Office apps, in split screen, no less. Adobe demonstrated Adobe Comp; a new app called Adobe Photoshop Fix, formerly Project Rigel, which has facial feature detection built in and which will ship in October; and Photoshop Sketch with specific support for the Pencil.

 New Apple Watch 

The Apple Watch was not forgotten at today’s event, in fact, the device gained some new gold and rose gold finishes for the Apple Watch Sport, stylish new designer bands from Hermes and others, and a host of new apps.

Image: Engadget

Starting with a recap of the June Watch OS 2 announcements, it then moved into the availability of Facebook Messenger, GoPro control and iTranslate apps. We heard about a bunch of new Watch apps, like the AirStrip app health app for physicians to communicate health data and schedule in real time and well as monitor patients at home.

Watch OS 2 will be available September 16.

The whole show closed with some live tunes from OneRepublic.

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Apple to launch new iPhones on 9 September; will discontinue iPhone 5c

In line with reports earlier this month, Apple is all set to host its next-gen iPhone launch event on September 9. The company will be live streaming the event on Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and also for PC users.

The company has started sending invites to some media houses for the event to be held at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, California. The event image reads, “Hey Siri, give us a hint.”

The company has ensured that Siri is a part of its media invite this time. Take a look below:

Image: MacRumors

This year, the Cupertino company is expected to launch the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus. The company was also rumoured to launch a cheaper variant – iPhone 6c – at the event. However, a new report by 9To5Mac claims otherwise. Citing sources related to the matter, the report says that Apple is working on the 4-inch device but it is not yet ready to ship.

“Apple has also internally prototyped a new, smaller iPhone with a 3.5-inch display, the same size of the iPhone’s screen from the first model in 2007 to the iPhone 4S in 2011, but it does not appear that the company plans to move forward with actually releasing such a device,” the report further adds. It further adds that the company plans to discontinue iPhone 5c, but the iPhone 5s, 6 and 6 Plus sales will continue.

Image: MacRumors

Besides the new iPhones, the company is also expected to launch the long-time rumoured and much talked about 12.9-inch iPad dubbed iPad Pro. The large ‘12.9-inch iPad’ first hit headlines way back in 2013. Earlier this year, reports claimed that Apple will delay the start of production on the larger iPad Pro until around September due to problems involving the display panel supply.

The list of new products to be launched at the September event also includes the new Apple TV. Reports earlier this month hinted at Apple’s talks with ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox ‘rapidly gaining momentum. The company had earlier planned to launch the Apple TV at WWDC. However, the plan was canned as Apple didn’t want to take away the focus from its new OS or music streaming service.

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