The big stuff first: The iPhone 7 is waterproof, no longer comes with a built-in headphone jack, and adds Jet Black to its color lineup. It’s the same size as the iPhone 6 and 6S, and there is no longer a 16 GB model – choices are 32 GB, 128 GB, and 256 GB, but […]
Tag Archives: iOS 10.3
Slightly bigger than the iPhone 6 Plus, the iPhone 6S Plus is the largest iPhone to date. It also weighs 0.7 oz. more than the 6S Plus.
Claiming that “the only thing that changed is everything”, Apple unveiled the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus on September 9, 2015. Well, not everything. The 2015 models look just like the 2014 iPhones at first glance, although there is a new rose gold color.
Considering how poorly Microsoft has been doing with its Surface, it’s quite remarkable to see Apple jumping into the same product category with the 12.9″ iPad Pro, which arrived in November.
The iPad mini 4 is faster, thinner, taller, and lighter than the iPad mini 3, boasting a 30% faster CPU and 60% faster graphics, which it replaces. That’s due in part to the 1.5 GHz A8 processor and in part to having 2 MB of system memory.
The 6G iPod touch is the first 64-bit iPod touch, following the iPhone 5S, 6, and 6 Plus in leaving behind 32-bit operation. It is also the first iPod touch with a 128 GB configuration, which is only available directly from Apple.
The big difference between the iPad mini 2 and iPad mini 3 is the addition of Apple’s fingerprint sensor in the Home button of the Mini 3. The small difference is the addition of gold to space gray and silver finishes.
In October 2014, Apple made the iPad Air thinner and gave it a more powerful processor, Apple’s A8X chip – the same chip found in the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. This was also the first time an iPad was available in gold.
With its 5.5″ display, the iPhone 6 Plus was very competitive with the largest Android smartphones and phablets, which had helped Android cut into into iPhone sales.
The iPhone 6 broke with Apple’s traditionally small displays to keep the iPhone competitive with the larger Android smartphones that dominated the market and were cutting into iPhone sales. The iPhone 6 moved to a 4.7″ display from the 4.0″ of the iPhone 5 family, while the 6 Plus was a substantial 5.5″.
At first glance, you’d think this was the original iPad mini, but the 2G iPad mini (unofficially iPad mini 2) runs Apple’s A7 processor and has a Retina Display. The 64-bit A7 takes performance far beyond that of the earlier A5-based iPad mini.
On October 22, 2013, Apple introduced the first 64-bit iPads, including a thinner, lighter version of the 9.7″ model. The iPad Air runs a 1.3 GHz 64-bit Apple A7 processor nearly twice as powerful as the A6X used in the 4G iPad.
Although the iPhone 5 had been a runaway success, there were some problems with the case bending, as well as battery issues with units built through January 2013 (see the iPhone 5 page for more details). The iPhone 5C was designed to address bending with its thicker plastic polycarbonate enclosure.
The iPhone 5S marked the beginning of 64-bit power. While the Android world was going with 4-core 32-bit processors, Apple raised the bar with its dual-core 64-bit A7, which has about twice the power of the A6.
Apple promoted the 4G iPad as having twice the performance, faster WiFi, and a new FaceTime HD camera. It was the first iPad with a Lightning connector, introduced with the iPhone 5 earlier in the year, and had improved 4G LTE support compared to the 3G iPad.
With the iPhone 5, Apple left behind the 3.5″ display every previous iPhone had used, replacing it with a taller (or wider – in landscape mode) 4″ screen displaying 1136 x 640 pixels, the same 16:9 aspect ratio of HD TV. That’s 18.3% more pixels.
The 5G iPod touch uses the same 4″ widescreen display as the iPhone 5 and the same dual-core Apple A5 CPU as the iPhone 4S. It was also the first iPod touch available in colors other than black and white and the first to use the Lightning port.
