iPhone 6S Predicted To Feature Stronger Aluminum, Increased Thickness For Force Touch

WWDC is now behind us, and September continues to draw closer, meaning new rumors and speculation about what Apple has in store for this year's iPhone, the "6S." Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities, the well-connected analyst who sports a decent track record when it comes to previews of Apple tech, has come out with a new report that offers a few details about the iPhone 6S and adjustments to its physical design. Namely, a stronger frame due to Apple's Series 7000 aluminum, and a slightly thicker due to accommodating a Force Touch display.

Series 7000 aluminum was first introduced by Apple on the Apple Watch, and its use is said to make the next iPhone's outer casing up to 60% harder than the current iPhone 6. Apple has said before that the new aluminum was the result of their creation of an entirely new alloy, but it still features just one-third the density of stainless steel.

There have already been several reports about Force Touch — the new touch-based input that was introduced on the Watch and the new Retina MacBooks' trackpads — making its way to this year's iPhones. Kuo himself has previous said that Force Touch on the iPhone 6S will result in some of the biggest changes to the iOS user interface. In order to allocate space for such a display, Kuo believes the smartphone will be both wider and taller by roughly 0.15mm, and thicker by 0.2mm.

The other interesting piece of info Kuo shares is that we may see some adjustments to the iPhone's color this year, with the gold aluminum becoming more of a yellow gold shade, and space gray getting a little darker than what is currently offered. The analyst also says Apple still has plans for a new rose gold color offered on the iPhone, something that has also been predicted before, although with the possibility of it being actual 18-karat rose gold.

SOURCE Macotakara