MacRumors

Apple today announced that opening weekend sales for the brand-new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus have exceeded thirteen million units, breaking the previous record of ten million units sold by the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus last year.

“Sales for iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus have been phenomenal, blowing past any previous first weekend sales results in Apple’s history,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “Customers’ feedback is incredible and they are loving 3D Touch and Live Photos, and we can’t wait to bring iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus to customers in even more countries on October 9.”

The company claims, as with previous years, that demand for the new smartphones is at an all-time high, and confirmed that the new iPhones will be coming to 40 additional countries beginning on October 9, including Italy, Mexico, Russia, Spain and Taiwan.

- October 9: Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Isle of Man, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Maldives, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan

- October 10: Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates

- October 16: India, Malaysia, Turkey

The company has stated it plans to have the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus in over 130 countries by the end of the year.

MacRumors has made a few hands-on videos showcasing some of the newer and upgraded iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus features, including Live Photos, 3D Touch, and Touch ID. As more and more customers received their orders over the weekend, the first impressions of the new devices began to roll out, leading to a large consensus of a noticeably faster experience that feels largely different than most "S" generation iPhones.

The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus was just released in first-wave launch countries around the world last Friday, but a few new rumors about the 2016 "iPhone 7" have begun to surface online this morning. According to a source from the Chinese social media site Weibo (via Mac Otakara) [Google Translate], the next version of the iPhone will have a strengthened, waterproof frame and may ditch a metallic casing altogether.

This strengthened body would certainly follow in the footsteps of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, which bolstered the weak points of its predecessors and moved to a stronger 7000 Series aluminum alloy. According to today's rumors, however, the so-called iPhone 7 will find its strength in a focus on a waterproof and dust-proof body that would allow iPhone users to worry less about dropping their smartphones in liquids.

This big new upgrade to the iPhone 7 would call for a new frame and casing material, and according to one of the postings on Weibo, Apple is in fact planning on adopting an entirely new material next year for the iPhone 7. If this turns out to be the case, the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus would be the last in the iPhone line to include a metallic casing for the smartphone.

Mac Otakara also received news from reliable sources stating that the upcoming iPhone would have a "completely flat" LCD screen, but, as with all of today's rumors, it should be taken with a grain of salt given that we're just now under a year away from Apple revealing the device. These aren't the first rumors of the iPhone 7, either, with reports dating back to March concerning the 2016 iPhone's possibility of adopting Intel LTE Chips, including glass-on-glass touch panels, and being the thinnest iPhone yet.

When Apple announced the iPhone 6s, they didn't mention that the new iPhones carry 2GB of RAM, an increase from 1GB on the iPhone 6. The 2GB RAM was later confirmed in Xcode and benchmarks. This increased RAM allows the iPhone to keep more Apps and data active in memory.

iDownloadBlog recorded this video showing the difference between the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s after loading several websites in Safari:

The iPhone 6s is able to keep more websites active in memory without requiring a reload when returning to the tab. The additional RAM should also allow more apps to remain active in memory without relaunching.

The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus just launched on Friday.

The standout new feature of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus is 3D Touch, which Apple is billing as an evolution of Multi-Touch. The new feature allows the display to sense how much pressure is being applied, opening up new ways for users to interact with their phones. We went hands-on with the 6s Plus and explored what the feature is capable of.

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3D Touch can be used both in and out of apps. Outside of apps, on the Home Screen, a user can press down on an app's icon to quickly interact with the app. This feature is called Quick Actions. For instance, pressing on the Phone app allows you to quickly call a recent contact. Or, pressing down on the Camera icon allows you to quickly take a selfie.

Inside of apps, 3D Touch allows users to "Peek" and "Pop" into their content. For instance, within the Messages app a user can press down on a contact's message thread to see their latest message and then press down harder to Pop into the thread to reply. Finally, 3D Touch can be used to turn the keyboard into a trackpad.

Apple notes that creating 3D Touch was "unbelievably hard", and that the company had to work with Corning to create a new pliable iPhone cover glass. When the glass is pressed, the 96 sensors embedded in the backlight display to measure microscopic changes between it and the glass. The measurements are combined with the touch sensor to sync finger motion with images on the screen.

On first impression, users are enjoying 3D Touch. MacRumors forum member jsmith189 said he thinks it could become an integral part of navigating an iPhone.

I really enjoy the 3D Touch - while there aren't too many apps that use it right now, I can definitely see it becoming part of my everyday 'without thinking about it' navigation.

Other users, like forum member Boardiesboi, note that the feature does take getting used to and that he adjusted the sensitivity on the feature so that it responds to lighter touches.

Users who prefer to use screen protectors on their devices shouldn't hesitate to purchase one for the iPhone 6s or 6s Plus, as Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller confirmed in an email to 3D Techtronics that screen protectors would work with the new display technology as long as they comply with Apple's design guidelines.

While 3D Touch is mostly compatible with Apple apps so far, third party companies are likely to embrace the new functionality in their apps in the near future. Today, Twitter updated its app to take advantage of the feature, allowing users to quickly access search or compose new tweets from the home screen.

One of the brand new features for the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus is Live Photos, which captures an additional 3 seconds of video around a still image and plays it through when a user 3D Touches the photo. We went hands on with the new feature and experimented with it.

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To use Live Photos, a user just has to take a normal photo when the "live" icon in the upper center of the screen is lit up. The iPhone automatically captures 1.5 seconds of video before and after the photo and stitches it all together. Because Live Photos combines video and still images, the new format takes up double the space a regular photo would.

While reviewers were largely positive on Live Photos, first impressions from users haven't been as kind. MacRumors forum member kungxpao said that he turned the feature off after a few test shots. However, some users see potential in the feature, like fellow forum member Conan86.

Live Photo is a great feature when you create them intentionally. I hope Apple would allow us to remove accidental "live" portions of a photo as I probably wouldn't hold 3 seconds to take a photo every single time.

Only the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus can create Live Photos, but they are viewable on all iOS 9 devices and Macs running OS X El Capitan. Eventually, Live Photos will also be shareable on social media services like Facebook and Instagram.

With the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, one well-known hardware feature got a substantial upgrade: Touch ID. Apple improved the Touch ID sensor, allowing it to recognize fingerprints faster than it could previously. We went hands-on with the brand new iPhone 6s Plus and compared its improved Touch ID sensor to the one in the iPhone 6 Plus.

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The 6s Plus' Touch ID unlocks the phone almost instantaneously, taking a user straight to their Home Screen when they rest their finger on it. Comparatively, the speed of the 6 Plus' Touch ID makes it seem like a two-step feature, first waking up the display and then taking a user to the Home Screen.

On first impression, some users think the new Touch ID is too fast, however. Reddit user MasterofLuiz notes that it's so fast it affects how he usually uses his phone.

I can't even click the home button to check the clock without it automatically unlocking the phone. It's crazy

MacRumors forum member mykaluk has attempted to best the speed of the new Touch ID, attempting to tap the Home Button so quickly that it doesn't read his fingerprint. However, he notes that the Touch ID is able to read the fingerprint every time.

Be sure to check out the iPhone forum to join the discussion about the two new phones and their new features, or visit the iPhone accessories forum to see how the new cases look on the new devices, or whether existing cases fit the new devices. If you'd like to find out which apps take advantage of 3D Touch, make sure to check out the iOS Apps forum.

Earlier this month, Tim Cook sat down for an interview with Stephen Colbert, where discussion turned to Aaron Sorkin's upcoming "Steve Jobs" film and Alex Gibney's "Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine" documentary.

Though Cook has not seen either film, he called Jobs an "amazing human being" and suggested he hated the movies being made about Jobs. "I think a lot of people are trying to be opportunistic and I hate this," he said. "It's not a great part of our world."

Aaron Sorkin gave a scathing response to Tim Cook's comment in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter calling out Apple's Chinese factories and telling the interviewer that he and other top executives on the project had taken pay cuts to get the film made.

"Nobody did this movie to get rich," he said. "Secondly, Tim Cook should really see the movie before he decides what it is."

"Third, if you've got a factory full of children in China assembling phones for 17 cents an hour you've got a lot of nerve calling someone else opportunistic."

Aaron Sorkin's Steve Jobs film, which stars Michael Fassbender as Steve Jobs and Seth Rogen as Steve Wozniak, is set to premiere next month. It's already been screened at the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado, where it received rave reviews and led to buzz about a possible Oscar nomination for Fassbender's performance.

The movie is based on Walter Isaacson's best-selling biography and follows Jobs at three product launches, giving a behind-the-scenes look at the way Steve Jobs interacted with friends, colleagues, and family, including his daughter Lisa. In the past, Tim Cook has said the biography was a "tremendous disservice" to the Steve that he knew because it focused on "small parts of his personality." "The person I read about there is somebody I would never have wanted to work with over all this time," he said.

Apple launched its iPhone Upgrade Program today in the U.S., enabling customers to purchase the iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus with AppleCare+ coverage included for 24 equal payments of between around $30 and $45 per month depending on the model. After at least 12 monthly payments, the customer can upgrade to a new iPhone and restart the 24-month payment cycle.

Apple stipulates that the iPhone Upgrade Program is available to qualified customers only with a valid U.S. personal credit card, since the program is based on a 24-month installment loan with a 0% APR from Citizens Bank. For customers with good credit, most did not expect this requirement to be an issue. But, as launch day unfolds, some customers have had frustrating experiences.

MacRumors user onujpt writes that he was declined from the program, despite having good credit and an Apple Barclaycard with a $4,000 available balance, in the iPhone Upgrade Program Experience Thread in our discussion forums. Many other users shared similar experiences in the thread.

Signed up for a reservation. Got there. Front of the line quickly. Got the phone and began the checkout process and notified them I wanted to do the iPhone Upgrade Program.

I have a 724 credit score, a Barclaycard through Apple, and a $4,000 available balance on that card with a combined household income of over $80,000.

I was declined. At first everyone was getting declined. Then some started to work. Mine didn't. They attempted 3 or 4 times with absolutely no luck.

It immediately added a hard inquiry to my credit score. Although we attempted four times, for now it appears that it only hit my credit score once.

I'm beyond upset and will anxiously be awaiting my letter from the bank to find out why I was declined. I personally believe it was a system communication error. And that maybe I was approved but the system just didn't show it. I'm tempted to go back and try again tomorrow just to see if it was a launch-day-8-am issue or not.

MacRumors user inkyoto echoed similar frustration in his thread Nightmarish Experience With Apple Upgrade Program in our discussion forums, noting that he was denied approval for the iPhone Upgrade Program with both Chase and Bank of America credit cards despite having "flawless credit."

Chase call #1 — Chase said they didn't even receive an authorization for the purchase, but put on a high spending note anyway. Tried it again, no dice - same error message.

Trying another card — Okay, trying another credit card, this time from Bank of America. Went through the entire process again. Same error message.

Chase call #2 — This rep has no idea what is going on and is confused about why I'm financing a purchase on my credit card. Tells me to contact Citizens One (the bank financing the iPhone upgrade program) because the error isn't on their side – they aren't even seeing an authorization.

Citizens One — Rep says I have 3 tries per card before I have to wait 30 days. Says that their financing limit is $4000 so as long as I'm under that, and my credit can accommodate the next 3 months of payments, it should go through. Tells me to contact Apple. Gives me a phone number for Apple Financing that goes to "not in service". Nice.

Trying again — Decided to give it another shot with my Bank of America card so we could get another look at the error message. This time it changed. Now it says "Customer ineligible for Apple Offers."

Apple — Enter the twilight zone. Apple rep has no idea what is going on. When I ask to be transferred to whoever is responsible for Apple financing, they say it's the person in the store. Oh yeah, brilliant! I ask again to be transferred and they say they don't have anyone to transfer me to and that I need to contact Citizens One about why it's not going through.

It is possible that iPhone Upgrade Program approvals have been experiencing problems due to the high volume of traffic today in Apple Stores, but in the meantime some customers with good credit may be forced to pay upfront or walk away empty handed. Alternatively, some customers may opt for a carrier financing plan from AT&T, Verizon, Sprint or T-Mobile.

Enrolling in the iPhone Upgrade Program requires visiting an Apple Store. Apple states you must be at least 18 years old and bring your current iPhone, a valid personal credit card, your personal information and two forms of identification and your carrier information, such as your wireless account password. The full terms and conditions are posted on Apple's website.

We're well into the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus launch day, which means people all over the world are receiving their devices either via delivery or from Apple retail locations. On the MacRumors forums, customers who have an iPhone in hand have started sharing their first impressions of the device, giving us a look at release reactions from the general public.

We're highlighting some interesting tidbits and thoughts on the iPhones below, and we'll link to a number of forum threads that are well worth checking out.

Initial reactions from customers receiving their devices are similar to the thoughts we saw in the first reviews. Customers are liking the new flagship feature, 3D Touch, and say Touch ID is a whole lot faster than it was on the iPhone 6. Some even think it's too fast. From MacRumors forum member Conan86:

Touch ID is so fast that just tapping the Home Button to access shortcuts such as the Control Center or Swipe up for Camera would just unlock the device.

On the slight size increase, MacRumors readers feel that it's definitely a noticeable change, with the iPhone 6s Plus and the iPhone 6s feeling heavier. With the addition of 3D Touch, the weight of the two devices jumped to 143 grams (iPhone 6s) and 192 grams (iPhone 6s Plus), up from 129 grams and 172 grams, respectively, in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

A lot of new iPhone 6s and 6s Plus owners are unimpressed with Live Photos, and several have called the feature a "gimmick." The new always on "Hey Siri" feature works great according to AppleRobert, PedCrossing says the Taptic Engine "feels fantastic" and "makes much less noise," and JD2015 says the iPhone 6s Plus is "noticeably faster" than the iPhone 6 Plus. From forum member yep-sure:

Live Photos are a terrible gimmick. I just don't understand the point. If you want a photo, you take a photo, if you want video, you shoot some video. All recent iPhones do this very well. Live Photo looks like a great high quality image, then it goes to a lower quality, choppy/low frame rate video for a few seconds. This is a feature that I would turn off immediately/never use.

In a thread on the Rose Gold iPhone 6s, readers are sharing their thoughts on the new color. Most people think the Rose Gold iPhone is less pink than they expected.

Of course, there's still debate over its color, with reader asleep calling saying "It's 'no doubt about it' pink in daylight." From forum member Nazifur:

I don't know what all these people were talking about earlier.
The rose gold colour is veryyy nice.

It's definitely not that light pink pink... it has a copper look when you hold it in certain angle.

Over all it's diffidently a mix of gold and pink which looks awesome.

New iPhone owners are also discussing which existing iPhone 6s and 6s Plus cases fit the new thicker, taller devices. The iPhone 6 Plus Silicone case fits the iPhone 6s Plus "perfectly," and the Leather iPhone 6 case fits the iPhone 6s. Westcoastcyc helpfully points out that Best Buy has relabeled most cases as suitable for the iPhone 6 and 6s, so most cases will fit both devices despite the small size difference.

A full list of the threads cited above is included below, along with some additional threads that include interesting information on the two new devices.

- iPhone 6s and 6s Plus First Impressions - Share Your Photos
- Rose Gold iPhone 6s and 6s Plus Impressions
- iPhone 6s Plus - First Thoughts
- Will Old iPhone Cases Fit the iPhone 6s/6s Plus?
- Cases for the Rose Gold iPhone 6s
- Full Price AT&T Phone Comes Unlocked
- Tim Cook Visits Georgetown Apple Store for iPhone 6s Launch
- iPhone 6s Yellow Tint?
- iPhone 6s and 6s Plus Dock Impressions

Make sure to check out the iPhone Forum to join in on the discussion about the two new iPhones, or visit the iPhone Accessories Forum for advice on which cases might look best with the new devices and which existing cases fit. For apps that take advantage of the new 3D Touch feature, make sure to check out the iOS Apps Forum.

As customers begin receiving the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus around the world, the smartphones have quickly been subjected to unboxings, drop tests, teardowns, bend tests and camera comparisons. The latest is a speed test between the iPhone 6s Plus and iPhone 6 Plus that confirms the former is faster than its predecessor.

YouTube channel Mad Matt TV tested the speed of the iPhone 6s Plus and iPhone 6 Plus side by side based on opening apps and loading websites in Safari on each device at the same time. The results show the iPhone 6s Plus is faster than the iPhone 6 Plus, but the difference was minimal for most tasks and equal for others.

iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are powered by a 64-bit Apple A9 chip and embedded M9 motion coprocessor that deliver up to 70% faster CPU performance and up to 90% faster graphics compared to the A8 chip inside the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. The new iPhones also have 2GB of RAM, compared to 1GB for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

While this video provides an early speed comparison between the iPhone 6s Plus and iPhone 6 Plus, more in-depth testing should provide more conclusive results. Geekbench processor benchmarks show the iPhone 6s has approximately 1.5x to 1.6x faster single-core and multi-core performance over the iPhone 6.

iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are now available at Apple Stores and authorized resellers.

iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus launch day has officially arrived in the United States and Canada as Apple Stores in eastern cities such as New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Toronto and Washington D.C. have now opened at 8:00 am local time. The launch will continue westward across the U.S. and Canada over the next three hours.

Apple Stores will now begin fulfilling in-store reservations for the new iPhones and accepting walk-in purchases from the long queues that have formed at some locations. UPS and FedEx will also be making pre-order deliveries generally between the hours of 9:00 am and 8:00 pm to residential addresses.

iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus first arrived in New Zealand last night, and the new devices were quickly subjected to an early unboxing, drop test, teardown, bend test and camera comparison. The devices have now launched in all first wave countries, including the U.S., Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore and the U.K.

Apple has updated its regional websites for Belgium, Finland, Norway, Luxembourg and Poland to announce the Apple Watch will be available on October 9.

Belgium, Finland, Norway, Luxembourg and Poland will be part of the sixth Apple Watch launch wave:

• April 24: Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, U.K. and U.S.
• June 26: Italy, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and Taiwan
• July 17: The Netherlands, Sweden and Thailand
• July 31: New Zealand, Russia and Turkey
• September 25: Austria, Denmark and Ireland
• October 9: Belgium, Finland, Norway, Luxembourg and Poland

Apple Watch sales have also expanded to dozens of Apple Premium Resellers this month.