New iPhones, iOS 9 and more!

Unless you have been living under a rock, by now you know the new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are were announced last week.  They will be available September 25th.  So, what is new?

Better cameras (a hard trick to do as the previous cameras were excellent).  The number of pixels rises 50% from 8 to 12 million!  Also, they can record ultra high definition (“4k”).  A new feature is Live Photos, where you get 1.5 seconds of video before and after each still photo - automatically (you can turn this feature off).  Amazing.  Also, much better selfie/Facetime cameras (5 million pixels, up from 1.2) and the display can act as a powerful flash for extremely high quality selfies, if that is what you are into.  Read more about the new camera here: http://www.apple.com/iphone-6s/cameras/

3D Touch.  This is a new feature of the touch screen that senses how hard you are touching it.  Based on how hard you touch it you get different responses.  For example in Mail, a normal tap allows you to Peek at an email without actually opening it.  You can read it, respond to it or save it, all without actually opening the message.  However, if you touch harder you actually Pop open the email.  You can actually Peek at texts, web links, photos in the camera app, locations in Maps and more!

Quick Actions is another feature of 3D Touch that allows you to direct an app to a simple task even before you open the app.  For example, pressing on the camera app allows you to select between selfie, video, slo-mo or normal photo, so the Camera app opens to that mode.  Another example is in Maps - directions home, mark my current location, send my location to a friend or search nearby.  Read all about the new 3D Touch here: http://www.apple.com/iphone-6s/3d-touch/

Other improvements include a faster TouchID (fingerprint) sensor, faster wifi and cellular data rates.

Prices are the same as the original iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.  Storage sizes are also the same (16, 64 & 128GB).  DO NOT GET A 16GB iPhone - it is just too little storage these days with iOS, apps and photos taking more and more space.  In a surprise move, Apple is still selling the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus (with prices $100 below their original).  You can even buy the iPhone 5S new from Apple, but I would not recommend it.

iOS 9 is being released Sept 16th - free for all modern iPhones (4S and newer) and iPads (iPad 2 and newer).  Settings > General > Software Update.  It is largely a reliability update to add stability and reliability to iOS.  However, there are a few new features like a new News app that you can customize, a much richer Notes app that includes checklists, photos and sketching and a Maps app that includes public transportation.

Also, depending on your device model, Multitasking, including Slide Over and Split View (seeing two apps at once on the screen) and Picture in Picture (PIP) where you can watch video or FaceTime while performing other tasks.

Siri gains even more powers in iOS 9.  For example, she can search your photos by location or tell you when you need to start leave to make an appointment on time.

On top of all that, iOS 9 can give you up to an hour more battery life on your existing device!  Read more about iOS 9 here: http://www.apple.com/ios/whats-new/

Also announced last week: new Apple Watch colors and bands, a new Apple Watch OS ("WatchOS 2") which is available Sept 16th for all current Apple Watches, a new Apple TV and a bigger, more powerful iPad - Pro.  They will be released later this fall.  I will write these items later.

So, go get it - at least iOS 9 if not a new iPhone 6s or 6s Plus.