iPhone 6: Top 10 features Apple must unveil on 10 September
NFC support, improved processor and a better camera vital to maintain advantage over Samsung and Nokia
The iPhone rumour mill is cranking into gear. Earlier this week we had the first serious tip-off about an unveiling taking place on 10 September for the new device, and this would mean just four weeks until that momentous day.
Much is at stake for Apple with its next iPhone. It's the first device that will have had no input from Steve Jobs and is the first to run on the new iOS 7 operating system, which could well prove a culture shock for long-time users of the iPhone.
The firm must also be seen to be innovating to keep pace with the work by Samsung on its Galaxy S4 and Nokia with its 41MP Pureview camera technology. All in all, Tim Cook has his work cut out.
As we count down to the unveiling, the V3 team has put together a list of features and functionalities we think Apple must include in the new iPhone to ensure it maintains its position at the top of the mobile market.
Honourable mention: The 'budget' iPhone 5C
Apple's philosophy right from the start of its existence has been to build the absolute best product possible, then think about the price. One could say the iPad Mini was the first example of Apple trying to appease the budget market, but that was still a supreme quality device in a slightly smaller shell.
The iPhone 5C is now all-but confirmed, and represents Apple having to respond to the competition. Android has run away with the mid-range and budget market, so Apple had no choice but to respond, albeit in a rather tardy fashion. As such, alongside the next full-feature iPhone a budget device should be unveiled too.
The 5C is rumoured to feature similar components to the current generation phones and should replace the two-year-old 4S, but will come in a slightly chunkier and perhaps more colourful package. Price points have yet to be confirmed, and while the device certainly won't set the world alight in terms of performance, it would represent an enormous departure from the norm for Apple.
iPhone 6: Top 10 features Apple must unveil on 10 September
NFC support, improved processor and a better camera vital to maintain advantage over Samsung and Nokia
10. Another head-turning design from Jony Ive
There's no doubt that one of the reasons Apple has performed so well in the market is purely on the basis the iPhone, since its inception, has looked so lovely.
Jony Ive (left) has rightly been lauded for the design work he's done at Apple and the iPhone is his crowning glory. However, all that falls by the wayside as we await the next iPhone - perfection is expected, again.
Furthermore, rivals Samsung, Nokia and Sony have all stepped up their game considerably over the years, to all produce slick, eye-catching designs. When Tim Cook first shows off the new device, it needs to re-stamp Apple's authority on the market when it comes to design.
9. Improved battery life, please
One thing that is increasingly becoming a bugbear among smartphone owners is battery life. While feature phones would last for a week or more on a single charge, smartphones with their multi-core multi-gigahertz-plus processors, multiple wireless radios and numerous graphic-intensive apps are a different matter.
Many iPhone users find that their handset often needs to be recharged at least once a day if they aren't to risk running out of juice just when they need the device.
While this experience is not atypical for smartphone users, the iPhone is beaten in this area by some Android devices, so this is one area that Apple should seek to improve on, especially as the firm insists on using embedded batteries that cannot be swapped for a fully charged spare.
8. Support for O2 and Vodafone 4G networks
The iPhone 5 only supports the 1800MHz spectrum, which means that at present only EE can offer any 4G services on the top device on the market. The mobile operator has said previously that 70 percent of its 4G customer base - some 687,000 people - are on the iPhone 5.
While O2 and Vodafone will be offering 4G services in the 800MHz and 2.6GHz bands, neither of these support the iPhone 5. As such, the new device must include support for these frequencies if it is to really take off in the UK.
It would be a huge shock if it didn't and no doubt there would be some cross words between the operators and Apple if 4G support across all network bands was lacking, but Apple isn't known for listening to others. No doubt executives at O2 and Vodafone will be watching with nervous anticipation next month.
iPhone 6: Top 10 features Apple must unveil on 10 September
NFC support, improved processor and a better camera vital to maintain advantage over Samsung and Nokia
7. Open GL support to boost developer capability
Google's Android 4.3 is the first mobile operating system to feature OpenGL ES 3.0 support. The technology is largely an underhood addition designed to make Android devices more appealing to developers.
It adds support for a number of API extensions that will help developers create much nicer-looking applications than before, letting them produce more detailed graphical textures and lens flares, and reflections.
As if that wasn’t enough, OpenGL ES 3.0 support also improves the OS compression powers meaning the improved graphics should theoretically require less processing power and memory when running than they would on older Android versions.
With all these added perks, Apple is going to have to add the support to its next software release and the iPhone if it wants to keep pace with its Google competition.
6. Multiple accounts to mimic key Android business feature
A feature that should arguably have been introduced in previous versions of iOS, multiple user accounts would certainly be helpful for many people.
This could range from systems administrators in businesses and schools which use iOS devices, as well as parents who (rightfully) don’t trust their children not to spend hundreds of pounds on fake coins on whatever the most popular game is at the time.
For SysAdmins the boon will really come when users share devices; perhaps not so much with iPhones which are generally used by one person at a time, but certainly on the next generation of iPads, having multiple accounts at a time would be great for organisations who use iPads for office or on-the-road tasks.
iPhone 6: Top 10 features Apple must unveil on 10 September
NFC support, improved processor and a better camera vital to maintain advantage over Samsung and Nokia
5. Improved chipset for even faster performance
Since the first iPhone was released all the way back in 2007, Apple's been as quiet as possible about the chipsets used, refusing to release their exact speed. This is because, according to Apple, the figure is a bogus representation about how fast the phone actually is and it's more about how well the component is optimised for the software.
Traditionally there has been a lot of evidence supporting this claim, with previous iPhones beating most top-end, on-paper more powerful Android competitors. However, in recent years, with the arrival of quad-core superphones like the HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4, the iPhone's lead in the speed race has been gradually diminishing.
Because of this, we hope to see the next iPhone packing an entirely new blisteringly fast chip, able to take on its Qualcomm Snapdragon and Nvidia Tegra competition.
4. GRAM support to ease battery burn
LG took the world by storm a few weeks ago when it unveiled its new G2 Android smartphone. While LG made a big noise about the phone's display and rear button placement, one of its most interesting features is its use of ‘Graphic RAM' (GRAM) to extend the device's battery life.
GRAM is actually a fancy term used by LG to describe Panel Self Refresh technology. The tech activates when no dynamic elements are being shown on the screen, for example when you're looking at a static bit of text. Once active the tech reduces the number of times the images being displayed are sent to the phone's GPU.
Theoretically the reduced communication levels reduce power consumption, boosting the phone's battery life by around 10 percent. While 10 percent sounds modest, considering the middling battery life of most iPhone's, GRAM could be a serious boon for Apple to add.
3. NFC support to cement technologies growth
Everyone thought the iPhone 5 would come with NFC support but it didn't. Perhaps Apple was right not to include it as while the technology has been around for a while, it is yet to seriously take off.
However, it is unquestionably growing in use. Visa and MasterCard are pushing the technology hard in their desire to rid the world of physical cash while numerous aspects of everyday life - like paying for a bus journey - can be done contactlessly.
If Apple were to include NFC in its new device, which we hope it does, the technology will have its status as mainstream, everyday technology cemented, and this could lead to yet more innovations in our lives, and open up huge potential for developers too.
iPhone 6: Top 10 features Apple must unveil on 10 September
NFC support, improved processor and a better camera vital to maintain advantage over Samsung and Nokia
2. Sandboxing for improved security capabilities
Mobile security is a growing problem for all businesses, with devices like the iPhone offering cyber criminals a new way into companies' networks. For this reason numerous smartphone makers have been beefing up their devices' inbuilt security features.
This kicked off earlier this year when Canadian company BlackBerry launched Balance on its BB10 OS. Balance is designed to improve BB10 smartphones' bring your own device appeal, letting users create a separate sandboxed area for work. The area offers a host of special features, including 256bit AES encryption for information stored in the space. Samsung has also joined the security race, rolling its custom Knox sandboxing service onto its Android Galaxy smartphones.
While there's yet to be a proven mobile malware incident on Apple's iOS, considering the popularity of the platform, it's only a matter of time before a criminal group successfully breaks into an iPhone. So if Apple wants to stay enterprise friendly, the next iPhone's going to need an equivalent service to BlackBerry Balance.
1. Better camera technology to keep pace with Nokia and Android handsets
Camera technology has been a hot topic in the smartphone community for several years now, with every manufacturer battling to market its camera tech as the best available.
This started when Nokia unveiled its custom Pureview camera branding on the 808 and continued this year with the likes of HTC and Sony, which touted their respective Ultrapixel and Exmor RS camera tech as image quality technology breakthroughs.
As a result, while the 8MP snapper on the iPhone 5 is still very good, it can't keep pace with the competition when tasked to do things like shoot images in low light, meaning if Apple wants to stay on top, the new iPhone's going to need an upgraded camera.