Shatterproof and water-resistant? Full iPhone 6 spec list contains surprises

By

iphone 6 back cover (1)

Bad news for anyone in the cellphone repair business!

A full list of the iPhone 6 specs we’ve received from a source in China says not only is the iPhone 6 water-resistant but that the screen is shatterproof.

Not “scratch-resistant” or even “scratch-proof,” but “shatter proof,” which suggests the new iPhone is nearly indestructible and could put a few repair shops out of business.

As far as we can tell, the spec list below is the most comprehensive list of features published to date.

No surprise, the spec list says the iPhone 6 — due to be officially unveiled by Apple at a big media event Tuesday — will be available in two models (4.7-inch and 5.5-inch screens) and come in three colors — gold, silver/white and space gray.

Both models will feature sapphire screens. The biggest surprise is the water-resistant and shatterproof claims. While a sapphire screen has been widely rumored, early tests suggest it might be a disappointment.

Various third-party tests on YouTube suggest the sapphire is scratch-resistant but prone to shattering, especially if dropped. However, these tests could all be compromised in one way or another. Some use screens not made by Apple, and none test the screen inside the iPhone’s housing, which could provide crucial protection to make it shatterproof.

Other surprises? The spec list says the 4.7-inch iPhone will have a 1,810 mAh battery, which is smaller than previously rumored. That seems awfully small for a device with a high-res, 4.7-inch display, especially when compared to Android handsets with similar-size screens. Last year’s Nexus 4 had a 720p 4.7-inch display with a 2,100 mAh battery, and its battery life was considered pretty poor.

The list also says 2GB of RAM for the 5.5-inch. A leaked logic board obtained by Feld & Volk had only had 1GB, but that was on the 4.7-incher, so maybe the iPhone Plus (or Pro or whatever it’s called) will get extra RAM as another differentiating factor.

Other specs include a dual-core A8 chip — previous rumors say quad-core. There’s also mention of “TV-out,” which might just refer to Apple’s wireless audio/video transmission system known as AirPlay.

The full iPhone 6 spec list supposedly came from some marketing materials or product packaging. We received it from a source close to Apple’s supply chain, and while we trust the source (for reasons we can’t specify), we can’t vouch for its veracity. Proof of the iPhone 6’s waterproof features has been slim, beyond a leaked power button with a rubber seal. However, it looks plausible and nothing jumps out as obviously fake.

We were also furnished some new photographs of the iPhone 6 in three colors, wrapped in protective plastic. Again, they could be fakes or mockups. The only reason we are publishing them is that they come from a trusted source.

iphone 6 back cover (2)

Full iPhone 6 specs

Here are the full iPhone 6 specs, straight out of China (the only changes we made were formatting tweaks to make it easier to read):

4G LTE: all models
Sim: Nano-SIM
Announcement: Sept 9th
Release: Sept 19th
Dimensions: 137.5 x 67 x 7 mm (5.41 x 2.64 x 0.28 in)
Weight: 113 g (3.99 oz)
TouchID: 500 dpi pixel density fingerprint sensor (Touch ID on all models)
Display: LED-backlit IPS LCD, capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
Size: 960 x 1704 pixels, 4.70 inches / 5.5 inches (~416 ppi pixel density)
Multitouch: Yes
Protection: Shatter proof sapphire crystal glass, oleophobic coating – water resistant
Sound: Alert types Vibration, proprietary ringtones
Loudspeaker: Yes
3.5mm jack: Yes
Memory Card slot: No
Internal: 16/32/64/128 GB, 2 GB RAM
Data GPRS: Yes
EDGE: Yes
Speed: DC-HSDPA, 42 Mbps; HSDPA, 21 Mbps; HSUPA, 5.76 Mbps; LTE, Cat6, 300 Mbps DL; EV-DO Rev. A, up to 3.1 Mbps
WLAN: Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi hotspot
Bluetooth: v4.0, A2DP
NFC: Yes
USB: v2.0
Camera: Primary 8 MP, 3264 x 2448 pixels, autofocus, dual-LED (dual tone) flash. Features Simultaneous video and image recording, touch focus, geo-tagging, face detection, HDR panorama, HDR photo
Video: 1080p@60fps
Secondary: Yes
OS: iOS 8
Chipset: Apple A8
CPU: Dual-core 2 GHz
Sensors: Accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass
Messaging: iMessage, SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email
Browser: HTML (Safari)
Radio: No
GPS: Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS
Java: No
Colors: Space Gray, White/Silver, Gold
– Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic
– AirDrop file sharing
– Siri natural language commands and dictation
– iCloud cloud service
– iCloud Keychain
– Twitter and Facebook integration
– TV-out
– Maps
– iBooks PDF reader
– Audio/video player/editor
– Organizer
– Document viewer/editor
– Photo viewer/editor
– Voice memo/dial/command
– Predictive text input
Battery: Non-removable Li-Po 1810 mAh battery (6.91 Wh)

Newsletters

Daily round-ups or a weekly refresher, straight from Cult of Mac to your inbox.

  • The Weekender

    The week's best Apple news, reviews and how-tos from Cult of Mac, every Saturday morning. Our readers say: "Thank you guys for always posting cool stuff" -- Vaughn Nevins. "Very informative" -- Kenly Xavier.