iPhone 6L release date, price and design
The iPhone 6 will almost certainly be the biggest phone launch of the year, but in a sense it's not one launch but two, because Apple is also heavily rumored to be working on a larger model currently dubbed the iPhone 6L (or should that be the iPhone Air?)
Either way there may be more differences between this and the main iPhone 6 than just the screen size and while the iPhone 6 will likely secure the most sales, the 6L is a bigger departure for Apple and if rumors are to be believed it may also be slimmer and more powerful.
Cut to the chase
- What is it? A larger 5.5-inch version of the iPhone 6
- When is it out? Likely September 9 2014 alongside the iPhone 6 in all likelihood
- What will it cost? Probably at least £563 / $966 / AU$1030
iPhone 6L release date
The iPhone 6L will almost certainly launch in September; actually, we'll go one better and say that it will probably launch on September 9.
Word on the street is that that's when the iPhone 6 will launch, not least because the last few iPhones have launched in September and Apple is having an event at the same time this year... you don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to see what's coming.
Originally it looked like the iPhone 6L might be pushed back from this event due to manufacturing difficulties, but those problems seem to have been solved, so we're expecting the two handsets to launch side by side.
TechRadar's sources have also suggested that both models will launch together, making us even surer that Apple will launch a duo of handsets in September.
iPhone 6L price
It shouldn't come as any surprise to hear that the iPhone 6L will probably be expensive, or that it will in all likelihood be even pricier than the iPhone 6.
While no UK, US or AU prices have been revealed yet, the possible Chinese pricing has, with the iPhone 6L apparently likely to start at around 5998 Yuan (£563/$966/AU$1030) for a 16GB model and as those are based on Chinese prices they won't account for local taxes.
To give you a little perspective the same source claims that the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 will start at 5288 Yuan (£496/$851/AU$911) so if that pans out the 6L will be significantly more expensive.
iPhone 6L design
Most of the design rumors have been focused on the 4.7-inch iPhone, but that's okay because we're expecting that and the iPhone 6L to look much the same.
Specifically, going by what we've seen and heard, we're expecting them both to have a far more rounded design than the iPhone 5S and for them to have lines running around the top and bottom sections, probably to improve reception.
Other than that it's looking like the home button may have moved to the side of the handsets, to make it easier to hit with the bigger screen size and shots of a plastic Apple logo have led to rumors that the opening could house an NFC chip or even that the logo might light up to alert users to notifications.
The NFC element looks nailed on, since Apple has been strongly rumored to be launching a payment platform with partners such as Visa, which would use contactless technology.
All of that applies to both models, but we also have some information specifically relating to the iPhone 6L. A leaked schematic for example suggests that the iPhone 6L will be 77mm wide and just 6.7mm thick, which might make it even slimmer than the main iPhone 6 and explains to some extent why the name iPhone Air has been thrown around.
We can do better than figures though, as an image supposedly showing the iPhone 6L's chassis has been posted by BestTechInfo and although it's not side on you can still see that it's very slim indeed.
There's also an image, this time from Taiwanese actor Jimmy Lin, giving you a good sense of the iPhone 6L's overall size, or at least the size of what appears to be a dummy unit.
But Sonny Dickson has outdone both of these, by snapping it side by side with an iPhone 6 mock-up, so you can see how the two compare. As you can see there's quite a substantial difference, with the 6L likely to rival the largest Android handsets.
Unfortunately we haven't yet seen a final store-ready version of the iPhone 6L, but we may have seen a finished iPhone 6 courtesy of Feld & Volk and the iPhone 6L is likely to look a lot like this, just larger and possibly slightly slimmer.
iPhone 6L screen, power, camera and more
iPhone 6L screen
Apple has acknowledged that consumers want a larger screen after an internal slide was revealed in its court battle with Samsung entitled "Consumers want what we don't have" and the company sure is doing something about it with the iPhone 6L.
While the main iPhone 6 is likely to be packing a 4.7-inch screen, the iPhone 6L is reportedly coming with a 5.5-inch display.
So it's set to be a lot bigger than the 4.0-inch iPhone 5S, but it could also be a lot thinner thanks to big improvements in LED backlight technology to reduce the thickness.
We're not so sure what the resolution will be. Some recent resolution rumors come from insiders who claim that Apple has been trying out a pixel-tripling display which would have a resolution of 1704 x 960, but even if Apple was testing that it doesn't necessarily mean it's what we'll get.
That also wouldn't quite be full HD, which is a shame, but it would allow the phone to retain the iPhone 5S's 16x9 aspect ratio and give the 5.5-inch iPhone 6L a pixel density of 355 pixels per inch, which would trump the 326ppi screen of the iPhone 5S.
Based on information found in the iOS springboard it's also possible that the next iPhone will have either an 828 x 1472 or a 1242 x 2208 resolution according to 9to5Mac. Either way it should equal or match the iPhone 5S's pixel density despite the substantially larger screen.
But we may get full HD after all, in fact we may get something even better, as Apple employees have apparently been quoted as saying that the iPhone 6 will have a QHD resolution (2560 x 1600) - the same as you find on the LG G3. That would be mighty impressive, but it's also mighty unlikely in our opinion as it would be a huge jump.
As well as being bigger and higher resolution, the iPhone 6L's screen may also be stronger than that of the iPhone 5S, as numerous rumors point to a sapphire display and there are even reports of Apple placing orders for furnaces designed to manufacture huge numbers of sapphire screens.
But despite the fact that this rumor won't die we're not totally convinced by it. For one thing a video was posted where a supposed iPhone 6 screen had sandpaper used on it and it came out the worse for wear, which if it was truly sapphire it shouldn't have.
Then there's the fact that sapphire screens are very expensive and could push the price up too much. However while sapphire is still looking iffy it does seem as though one way or another Apple has probably strengthened the screen, so while we wouldn't take a hammer to it the iPhone 6L may be able to survive scratches and falls better than the iPhone 5S.
iPhone 6L power
The iPhone 6L will be rocking a brand spanking new A8 processor and the name of the game here is efficiency. Sure it will almost certainly be more powerful, possibly a lot more, but Apple is reportedly focused on minimising the hit on the battery.
As for how fast it will be, recent rumors suggest Apple will use a dual-core chip clocked at 2GHz. The iPhone 5S is dual-core too, but it's only 1.3GHz. The extra speed should help it run even more beautiful games than we're seeing now, as well as leading to faster response times.
There's been little talk on how much RAM the iPhone 6L will come with, but KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reckons it will have 1GB, just like the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5S before it, which would be a bit of a shame.
However while all these rumors refer broadly to both the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6L, it's actually possible that the 6L will be even more powerful than the 4.7-inch handset, as according to AppleInsider supply chain checks from analyst Timothy Arcuri suggest a more powerful processor will be included in the 5.5-inch handset.
Unfortunately this is the only time we've heard this and there's no word on how much more powerful it will be, so take it with a pinch of salt.
4G power
Either way it's likely to support fast data, as the iPhone 6L is rumored to have a Qualcomm MDM9625 chip, which supports LTE-Advanced speeds of up to 150Mbps, however that chip doesn't use Cat 6 and in theory Cat 6 LTE-A devices will be able to download data at up to 300Mbps, so that seems like a bit of a missed opportunity.
The iPhone 6L might have the iPhone 6 beat for storage, as apparently we might get a 128GB version of it, while the 4.7 inch model will possibly be capped at 64GB.
The battery could be getting a boost too, as IT168 reports that the 5.5 inch iPhone 6L will have a 2500mAh juice pack, which is a massive 60% increase over the iPhone 5S and in all likelihood an increase on what the standard iPhone 6 will offer too.
Of course it's a certainty that the iPhone 6L will also run iOS 8, complete with Apple's new Health app, which may also mean we'll be in for a sensor-laden device.
iPhone 6L camera
It's looking likely that the iPhone 6L will have the same camera as the iPhone 6, though exactly what that will be is a subject of some debate.
Some rumors point to a 13-megapixel sensor, but the China Post reckons that the iPhone 6L will stick with an 8MP sensor like the iPhone 5S and other reports point in the same direction.
That may not be such a bad thing though, as apparently the iPhone 6L will have an f/2.0 aperture and improved image processing, so the overall quality of pictures should be substantially better even if the megapixel count doesn't change.
Sun Chang Xu, the chief analyst at ESM-China, has also claimed on Weibo that the iPhone 6L will have 1.75 um pixels, compared to the 1.5 um pixels on the iPhone 5S.
That will allow more light in and improve performance in poor lighting but if Apple is increasing the pixel size then that further suggests that it won't be increasing the number of megapixels.
There are other possible improvements too. For example the iPhone 6L may have optical image stabilisation. Though we're more inclined to believe that it will use will use Electronic Image Stabilisation (EIS) which is smaller and more 'in fashion' for top phones, as reported by Sun Chang Xu.
That's a software alternative to Optical Image Stabilisation (OIS), which uses software algorithms rather than moving parts. In the past EIS hasn't proved quite as effective, but it has been improved a lot over the last year or so to almost rival (and possibly even surpass) OIS.
However while an 8MP lens is looking likely, it's still possible that we'll be in for a pixel increase, as G4Games claims a 'source with a great track record' has pointed to a 13MP sensor.
Either way, in a surprising move the camera lens may protrude slightly from the handset, according to a schematic shared by apple.club.tw, which shows an iPhone 6 with a camera lens which sticks out either 0.67 or 0.77mm. We're not convinced by this though as it seems rather inelegant.
iPhone 6L NFC and Touch ID
It's looking increasingly likely that we might see NFC in the iPhone 6L. For one thing Apple has partnered with China UnionPay to add its banking service to Passbook and apparently users will also be able to make payments on China UnionPay's QuickPass machines, which use NFC.
On top of that we've seen an image of an iPhone 6 logic board which according to Nowhereelse.fr proves the presence of NFC, and a leaked schematic, which seems to show an NFC chip.
We even know where that NFC chip might be hiding, as there are images showing a cut-out where the Apple logo would be, so it could well be that NFC will be embedded into the logo.
Touch ID is obviously going to be back, but it could be getting a little better, as apparently Apple is making the sensor more durable.
iPhone 6L haptic feedback and more
According to a rumor out of China the iPhone 6L might have improved haptic feedback, allowing it to vary the vibration far more than existing handsets, to deliver a different strength and sensation depending on the need.
We've also seen a reversible Lightning USB cable, which may well debut with the iPhone 6 and 6L. It's exactly what it sounds- a USB cable which can be plugged into a power adapter or computer either way up to hopefully avoid the ridiculous USB dance of flipping it over time and again trying to get it in, or is it just us who do that?
- We're expecting a new iPad Air later this year too.
