 | |
 iPhone 6s in Rose Gold | |
| Developer | Apple |
|---|---|
| Type | Smartphone |
| Series | iPhone |
| First released | September 25, 2015 (2015-09-25) |
| Discontinued | September 12, 2018 (2018-09-12) |
| Units sold | 13 million in launch weekend |
| Predecessor | iPhone 6 and 6 Plus |
| Successor | iPhone 7 and 7 Plus |
| Compatible networks | GSM,CDMA,3G,EVDO,HSPA+,LTE/4G,LTE Advanced/4G+ |
| Form factor | Slate |
| Colors |
|
| Dimensions |
|
| Weight | 6s: 143 g (5.0 oz) 6s Plus: 192 g (6.8 oz) |
| Operating system | Original:iOS 9.0 Current:iOS 15.8.5, released September 15, 2025[1] |
| System-on-chip | Apple A9 |
| Memory | 2 GBLPDDR4RAM[2][3] |
| Storage | 16, 32, 64 or 128GB TLC NAND connected viaNVMe[4] |
| Battery | |
| Rear camera | Sony Exmor RS IMX315 12 MP (1.22 μm), true-tone flash,autofocus,IR filter,burst mode,f/2.2,4K video recording at 30fps or1080p at 30 or 60 fps,slow-motion video (1080p at 120 fps and720p at 240 fps),timelapse with stabilization,panorama (up to 63 megapixels),face detection,digital image stabilization,optical image stabilization (6s Plus only) |
| Front camera | 5 MP,burst mode,f/2.2,exposure control,face detection, auto-HDR, 720p HD video recording, Retina flash |
| Display | 6s: 4.7 in (120 mm)Retina HD,LED-backlitIPS LCD, 1334 × 750 pixel resolution (326ppi) 6s Plus: 5.5 in (140 mm)Retina HD,LED-backlitIPS LCD, 1920 × 1080 pixel resolution (401ppi), 500 cd/m2 max brightness (typical) |
| Sound | Mono speaker, 3.5 mmstereo audio jack |
| Connectivity | All models:
Models A1633 and A1634:
|
| Hearing aid compatibility | M3, T4[9] |
| Website | iPhone 6s – Apple at theWayback Machine (archived December 1, 2015) |
| This article is part ofa series on the |
| iPhone |
|---|
 Telephones portal |
TheiPhone 6s andiPhone 6s Plus aresmartphones that were designed, developed, and marketed byApple. They are theninth generation of theiPhone. They were announced on September 9, 2015, at theBill Graham Civic Auditorium inSan Francisco by Apple CEOTim Cook, with pre-orders beginning September 12 and official release on September 25, 2015. They were succeeded by theiPhone 7 andiPhone 7 Plus on September 7, 2016[10] and were discontinued with the announcement of theiPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, andiPhone XR on September 12, 2018.
The iPhone 6s has a similar design to theiPhone 6 but includes updated hardware, including a strengthened7000 series aluminum alloy chassis and upgradedApple A9system-on-chip, a new 12-megapixel rear camera that can record up to4K video at 30fps (A first in the series), can take dynamic "Live Photos", the first increase in front camera photo resolution since the 2012iPhone 5, and also features for the first time front facing "Retina Flash" which brightens up the display three times of its highest possible brightness for selfies, 2nd generationTouch IDfingerprint recognition sensor,LTE Advanced support, and "Hey Siri" capabilities without needing to be plugged in. The iPhone 6s also introduces a new hardware feature known as "3D Touch", which enables pressure-sensitive touch inputs. The iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are also the first smartphones to use the fastest high end flash storageNVM Express (NVMe). The 6s and 6s Plus, alongside the iPhone XS and XS Max, iPhone XR, iPhone 11, and iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max are the longest supported iPhones ever released, through seven major versions of iOS fromiOS 9 toiOS 15. They do not support iOS 16 due to hardware limitations.[11]
Before the official unveiling, several aspects of the iPhone 6s were rumored, including the base model having 16 gigabytes of storage,[12][13] the pressure-sensitive display technology known as3D Touch,[14][15] and a new rose gold color option.[16]
iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus were officially unveiled on September 9, 2015, during a press event at theBill Graham Civic Auditorium inSan Francisco. Pre-orders began September 12, with the official release on September 25.[17][18]
On September 7, 2016, Apple announced theiPhone 7 and 7 Plus as respective successors to the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, although they continued to be sold at a reduced price point as entry-level options in the iPhone lineup.[19][20]
On March 31, 2017, the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus were released in Indonesia alongside the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, following Apple'sresearch and development investment in the country.[21][22]
The iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, andfirst-generation iPhone SE were the last iPhone models to feature a standard 3.5 mmstereo headphone jack, and were discontinued on September 12, 2018, with the release of theiPhone XR.[23]
The iPhone 6s is nearly identical in design to theiPhone 6. In response to the "bendgate" design flaws of the previous model, changes were made to improve the durability of the chassis: the 6s was constructed from a stronger, 7000 seriesaluminum alloy,[24] "key points" in the rear casing were strengthened and reinforced, and touchscreenintegrated circuits were re-located to the display assembly.[24] Alongside the existing gold, silver, and space gray options, a new rose gold color option was also introduced.[25]
| Color | Name | Front | Antenna |
|---|---|---|---|
| Space Gray | Black | Light Grey | |
| Silver | White | ||
| Gold | White | ||
| Rose Gold |
The iPhone 6s is powered by theApple A9system-on-chip, which the company stated is up to 70% faster thanApple A8, and has up to 90% better graphics performance.[25] The iPhone 6s has 2 GiB of RAM, twice as much as any previous iPhone,[2] and also supportsLTE Advanced.[24] TheTouch ID sensor on the 6s was also updated, with the new version having improved fingerprint scanning performance over the previous version.[26]
While the capacities of their non-user-replaceable batteries are slightly smaller (1715mAh and 2750 mAh respectively), Apple rates the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus as having the same average battery life as their respective predecessors (1810 mAh and 2915 mAh).[27] The A9 system-on-chip was dual-sourced fromTSMC andSamsung. Although it was speculated that the Samsung version had worse battery performance than the TSMC version, multiple independent tests have shown there is no appreciable difference between the two chips.[28][29] Although the device was not promoted as such, the iPhone 6s has a degree of water resistance because of a change to its internal design, which places a silicone seal around components of thelogic board and an adhesivegasket around the display assembly[30] to prevent them from beingshorted by accidental exposure to water.[31]
Their displays are the same sizes as those of the iPhone 6, coming in 4.7-inch 750p and 5.5-inch1080p (Plus) sizes. The iPhone 6s features a technology known as3D Touch; sensors are embedded in the screen's backlight layer that measure the firmness of the user's touch input by the distance between it and the cover glass, allowing the device to distinguish between normal and more forceful presses. 3D Touch is combined with a Taptic Engine vibrator to provide associatedhaptic feedback.[32] Although similar, this is distinct from theForce Touch technology used on theApple Watch and the trackpad of theRetina MacBook, as it is more sensitive and can recognize more levels of touch pressure than Force Touch.[33][34] Due to the hardware needed to implement 3D Touch, the iPhone 6s is heavier than its predecessor.[35]
The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus feature a 12-megapixel (4032×3024 pixels[36]) rear-facing camera, an upgrade from the 8-megapixel (3264×2448) unit on previous models, as well as a 5-megapixel front-facing camera, compared to 1.3 megapixels of theiPhone 5,iPhone 5s,iPhone 6, 6 Plus andiPhone SE.
Their rear camera can record4K video (3840×2160p) for the first time on an iPhone, as well as FullHD (1920×1080p) video at 30, 60 and now 120 frames per second, the latter also for the first time on an iPhone.[37][38] The camera was well received by many critics of the phone.[39][40][41] When the camera takes a4K video recording, it can use the storage on the phone rapidly. The 16 gigabyte version of the phone was only capable of holding 40 minutes of 4K video (bit rate: 6 MB/s or 48 Mbit/s).[42]
Still photos with 6.5 megapixels (3412×1920) can be captured during video recording.[43]
The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus were originally offered in models with 16, 64, and 128 GB (14.9, 59.6 or 119.2 GiB) of internal storage. Following the release ofiPhone 7 in September 2016, the 16 and 64 GB models were dropped and replaced by a new 32 GB (29.8 GiB) option.[44] Some of this storage space is used by preinstalled software, resulting in usable storage of 11.5, 27.5, 56.5 and 114 GiB.[45] For improved storage performance, iPhone 6s utilizesNVM Express (NVMe), resulting in a maximum average read speed of 1,840 megabytes per second.[4][46]
The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are the first iPhones to feature Raise to Wake.[47]
The iPhone 6s originally shipped withiOS 9; the operating system leverages the 3D Touch hardware to allow recognition of new gestures and commands, including "peeking" at content with a light touch and "popping" it into view by pressing harder,[32] and accessingcontext menus with links to commonly used functions within apps with harder presses on home screen icons.[32] The camera app's "Retina Flash" feature allows the display's brightness to be used as a makeshiftflash on images taken with the front camera, while "Live Photos" captures a short video alongside each photo taken.[24][38]
The iPhone 6s, 6s Plus, andfirst-generation SE support iOS 12, which was first released on September 17, 2018. They also supportiOS 13, unveiled on June 3, 2019, and was released to the public on September 19, 2019; as well asiOS 14, unveiled on June 22, 2020, andiOS 15, unveiled on June 7, 2021. These phones support most of the main features of iOS 13, including dark mode. Along with the iPhone SE, the 6s and 6s Plus are the oldest iPhones to support iOS 13, iOS 14 and iOS 15.
On June 6, 2022, afteriOS 16 was announced at the WWDC 2022, it was revealed that the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus along with the first-generation iPhone SE, iPhone 7, and iPhone 7 Plus will not be compatible with this new version of the operating system.[48]
The iPhone 6s had a generally positive reception. While performance and camera quality were praised by most reviewers, the addition of 3D Touch was liked by one critic for the potential of entirely new interface interactions, but disliked by another critic for not providing users with an expected intuitive response before actually using the feature. The battery life was criticized, and one reviewer asserted that the phone's camera was not significantly better than the rest of the industry. The iPhone 6s set a new first-weekend sales record, selling 13 million models, up from 10 million for the iPhone 6 in the previous year. However, Apple saw its first-ever quarterly year-over-year decline in iPhone sales in the months after the launch, credited to a saturated smartphone market in Apple's biggest countries and a lack of iPhone purchases in developing countries.
Nilay Patel ofThe Verge in 2015 described the 6s, in particular the Plus model, as "right now the best phone on the market. ... There just aren't other companies that can roll out a feature like 3D Touch and make it work in a way that suggests the creation of entirely new interface paradigms, and every other phone maker needs to figure out exactly why Apple's cameras are so consistent before they can really compete."[49] Samuel Gibbs ofThe Guardian commented that the phone "has the potential to be the best smaller smartphone on the market, but its short battery life is deeply frustrating" and described the camera as "not leagues ahead of the competition anymore".[50] Tom Salinger ofThe Register praised performance, noting that "we're now using phones with the performance of current PCs", but described 3D Touch as "just a glorified vibrator" and "no good ... you still don't know quite what's going to happen until you try it".[51] Ryan Smith and Joshua Ho ofAnandTech awarded the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus its Editors' Choice Gold Award, based largely on the phone's performance and the addition of 3D Touch.[52]
On the Monday following the iPhone 6s's launch weekend, Apple announced that they had sold 13 million models, a record-breaking number that exceeded the 10 million launch sales of the iPhone 6 in 2014.[53][54][55] In the months following the launch, Apple saw its first-ever quarterly year-over-year decline in iPhone sales,[56][57] attributed to a saturated smartphone market in Apple's biggest sales countries and consumers in developing countries not buying iPhones.[58]
As of 2019, the iPhone 6s has sold over 174.1 million units worldwide.[59][60][61][62]
September 25, 2015
October 9, 2015
October 10, 2015
October 16, 2015
October 23, 2015
October 30, 2015
November 6, 2015
November 13, 2015
March 31, 2017
In November 2016, Apple announced that a "very small number" of iPhone 6s devices manufactured between September and October 2015 have faulty batteries that unexpectedly shut down. While Apple noted that the battery problems were "not a safety issue", it announced a battery replacement program for affected devices. Customers with affected devices, which span "a limited serial number range", were able to check their device's serial number on Apple's website, and, if affected, receive a battery replacement for no cost at Apple Stores or authorized Apple Service Providers.[63][64][65]
In December 2016, Apple revealed new details about the issue, stating that the affected devices contained a "battery component that was exposed to controlled ambient air longer than it should have been before being assembled into battery packs".[66][67]
| Preceded by iPhone 6 / 6 Plus | iPhone 9th generation | Succeeded by iPhone 7 / 7 Plus |
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