With only a week to go before Apple finally introduces its latest generation iPhone in a much awaited media event on Sept. 9, it is not surprising to find the iPhone 6 mania in full swing.
No official details about the next iPhone have come out from Apple's headquarters in Cupertino, so naturally Apple fans took to the rumor mill to put together a legitimate picture of what the hotly anticipated iPhone 6 possibly looks like. And, as with every rumor cycle that has preceded the launch of a new Apple product, the rumors that surfaced this year have gone from off the mark to totally out of this world, including one about a wraparound display and a screen equipped with solar cells to eliminate wired charging altogether.
A number of these rumors, however, come from reliable sources and are backed by evidence. Let's take a look at the rumors that are most likely going to become reality on Sept. 9.
Two iPhones
After previously referring to 5.5-inch smartphones as "ridiculous," Apple is finally biting the bullet and is reportedly going to introduce a phablet-sized iPhone 6 this month, along with a smaller version with a 4.7-inch display. Apple has long been criticized for its small screens as consumers start preferring bigger screens that can accommodate more content and let them do more things.
Sapphire Glass
Apple already uses scratch-resistant synthetic sapphire for its iPhone 5S camera lens, so it's no surprise if it uses sapphire glass for the screen of the latest iPhone. The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple is working on creating its own synthetic sapphire at the company's new facility in Arizona. What else could this sapphire glass be for if not for the screens?
Mobile Payments
Apple is reportedly working with NXP, a Dutch chip company, to incorporate Near Field Communications (NFC) capabilities into the iPhone 6, which paves the way for a mobile payment system that uses the iPhone to pay for physical goods and services. Various reports from Re/code, Bloomberg and The Information say Apple has partnered with America's biggest three credit card companies such as American Express, Visa and MasterCard to create its own mobile payments system.
Top-of-the-Line Processor
The iPhone 6 is said to be the first Apple smartphone to be powered by Apple's latest A8 processor. Although not much has been said about the chip, Apple blogger John Gruber of Daring Fireball believes the processor could come with a secure enclave for storing sensitive information such as credit card data. This is already used in the A7 processor found in the iPhone 5S for storing user fingerprints.
iOS 8
By far, the only thing Apple has officially confirmed is the existence of iOS 8, the latest iteration of Apple's mobile platform, which comes with a number of improvements over iOS 7. At its WorldWide Developer Conference this year, Apple announced its HealthKit platform for keeping track of health and fitness data to come with iOS 8. Apple will also be taking a page out of Android by allowing users to reply to notifications right from the pop-up or drop-down alert. Lastly, iOS 8 comes with better integration across its platforms, including the OS X operating system, allowing users to sync their activities across all their Apple devices.
