We know how ridiculous it seems, but we’re already well into iPhone 6s rumor season. The 6s (and 6s Plus) are assumed to be the follow-up to the massively successful iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. As has become Apple’s pattern, the iPhone 6s will have the same look and design as last year’s model, but will include a significant amount of software features and updates to convince people to update.
One of the biggest leaks about the new devices has come from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has historically been very accurate. His comments were obtained first by AppleInsider and we’ve put together the five rumored features about the forthcoming iPhone 6s that seem the most likely:
1. Force Touch
The biggest and most likely information that’s been leaked about the iPhone 6s is the Force Touch feature. Force Touch was first unveiled in the new MacBook that came out earlier this year. While it was presented as a design solution for getting around how thin the MacBook was, it also has a lot of really interested use cases.
Essentially, Force Touch on the iPhone would mean that a tap or drag on the screen has different levels of sensitivity, which can trigger different contextual options. iOS 9 will surely be putting a heavy emphasis on this feature and we’re excited to see what new things this will open up in the OS.
2. New Case Color
In the same way that the iPhone 5s got the new Gold, Space Grey, and Silver variants. With the iPhone 6s, the new leak reveals that it will come in a Rose Gold variant. The Rose Gold color is the same one that was available with the Apple Watch.
It’s not clear if the rose gold will just be a color variant made out of metal or if it will actually be made out of gold. All I know is that if a gold Apple Watch costs $10,000, I can only imagine how much a gold iPhone would cost.
3. Camera Upgrade
While camera upgrades are always on the books for new iPhone iterations, we just might get it this time. Considering how much Android phones such as the LG G4 and the Galaxy S5 have caught up in this area, I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple upped the game on the 6s and 6s Plus. Maybe the 6s will even get optical image stabilization. The primary rumor is that the 6s will get an upgraded 12-megapixel sensor.
4. A9 Processor and 2GB of LPDDR4
While these specs are fairly predictable, the increase in RAM to 2GB is somewhat interesting. The best reason for the extra RAM could be that it will be used for increased multitasking that could be available in iOS 9. This desire to do some extra multitasking has especially been asked for in the bigger iPhone 6s Plus.
5. No new 4-inch model
Everyone was wondering whether or not Apple would continue what it started last year with the “iPhone 5c”, which were year-old iPhone 5 models that were repurposed in colorful, plastic, variants. Sales didn’t do quite as well as Apple had hoped—and that might be a big reason why it isn’t planning on an iPhone 6c. Also, because of the size jump between the 5s and the 6, that wouldn’t make a lot of sense anyways.
Either way, people who were hoping Apple would continue to make 4-inch iPhones are probably going to be disappointed this fall—because as of now we’re just looking at an iPhone 6s and an iPhone 6s Plus.