Apple iPhone 6 and 6 Plus Announced, As Expected

The leaks appear to have been nearly 100 percent accurate. Early into the keynote, Apple came out of the gate quickly announcing the two highly anticipated handsets: the iPhone 6 (4.7 inches) and the iPhone 6 Plus (5.5 inches).

Both phones are thinner than the existing iPhones and boast more pixel density and faster CPU performance. The new A8 chip is more powerful and offers higher graphics resolution. The new phones provide 50X faster performance than the original iPhone in 2007.

Apps will automatically “scale up” all existing apps to fit the larger screens. However, developers can also optimize apps for the larger devices. Battery life is being represented as equal to or better than the existing iPhone. The 6 Plus has longer talk time.

In addition to the A8 chip the device carriers the motion-sensitive M8 chip that reportedly can distinguish between walking, cycling or climbing stairs. WiFi will also perform better and faster according to Apple. LTE reception will be better. The phone supports voice-over-LTE improved call quality.

There are new gestures and a new landscape mode for the homescreen and keyboard. Despite the larger screens Apple has tried to preserve one-handed control for these devices.

The phone features an improved 8MP rear-facing camera and a range of feature improvements including low-light photography.

Apple is rolling out the devices to 115 countries by the end of the year. They’ll be available in the US much sooner. The new iPhones can be preordered on September 12 and the phones will be available on September 19th — very quickly to capitalize on the immediate demand.

Apple’s next OS, iOS 8 (announced in June) will be out September 17. It will support existing iPads and iPhones as well.

Apple also said that the iPhone 5S now $99 and the 8GB 5C will be free (with contract).

For more information on the Apple keynote and other product announcements head over to Danny Sullivan’s live blog.