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Apple tweaks camera in iPhone 6

The newly-released Apple iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus come with some enhancements to what Apple describes as he ‘world’s most popular camera’, but keep the same 8-megapixel resolution as the previous model.

AppleWhile it’s still just 8 megapixels, the sensor has been improved, with its 1.5 micron pixels matching many digital compact cameras. It uses phase detect pixels for faster autofocus – Apple says twice as fast as the iPhone 5s. Contrast, detail and sharpness have also been improved, as have face, smile and blink detection. HDR shooting has been added. The lens has an f2.2 aperture and five elements.

Exposure adjustment of up to four stops is via a slider on the preview pane, and panoramas of up to 43 megapixels can be captured in Pano mode.

Selfies can be captured in bursts of 10 frames per second with the 1.2-megapixel FaceTime HD front-facing camera, which also boasts an f2.2 aperture and ‘now captures over 80 percent more light with a new sensor.’

Shooting video, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus can shoot 1080p at 30 and 60fps, with slow-motion video at 120 and even 240fps (at 720p).

The Apple Retina screen resolution is 1334×750 (326ppi) for the 6 and 1920×1080 (401ppi) for the 6 Plus.

Besides the larger screen size (5.5-inches versus 4.7 inches), the iPhone 6 Plus features optical image stabilisation, the ordinary old 6 doesn’t.

The iPhone 6 comes in gold, silver or space grey, and will be available in Australia for an RRP of $869 for the 16GB model, $999 for the 64GB model and $1129 for the new new 128GB model. The iPhone 6 Plus comes in gold, silver or space grey, and will be available in Australia for an RRP of $999 for the 16GB model, $1,129 for the 64GB model and $1,249 for the 128GB version.

Apple is tempting sticker shock with its pricing, especially as the trend is to lower-priced smartphones and away from plans. The next few months will tell whether it has finally overestimated its potential customers’ willingness to overpay for its products. Mobile technology pundit house Telsyte had these comments about the pricing strategy:

‘In today’s world of sub-$300 smartphones, the biggest challenge might be Apple’s local pricing. Of the new iPhone 6 configurations only the iPhone 6 16GB comes in below $999. This might impact demand, particularly for outright purchases (ie, not on contract or a payments plan). Apple might be creating a new ‘luxury’ category – or maybe ‘ultra-premium’ – given it is going against overall industry downward pricing trends.

‘High purchase prices also increase the importance of contracts and MRO payment plans, likely to be a key strategy of the carriers to lure customers, amongst other incentives.

‘The price shock might put off some of those who intended to purchase an iPhone 6. To put it into perspective, an iPhone 6 128 GB ($1129) will cost more than a MacBook Air 11-inch 128 GB ($1,099).’

Sales begin in Australia on September 19, with pre-orders on September 12.

 

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