Two upcoming phones that are creating a lot of attention right now are the HTC M7 and the iPhone 6 and although neither is released yet that hasn’t stopped the usual rumor mills churning with leaked specs and other speculation. We thought it would be interesting to look at the HTC M7 with Sense 5.0 vs. the iPhone 6 with iOS 7, to give readers some idea of what we know or think we know so far, as these phones will be two of the hottest for 2013.
The HTC M7 is rumored for release in Q1, possibly February, and more detailed specs have leaked for this handset than for the iPhone 6. The next iPhone is more complicated as we don’t even know exactly what it will be called. Logically it seemed we’d see the release of an iPhone 5S before an iPhone 6. However recent spots from developers logs indicate that iOS 7, the next major Apple mobile operating system update, is being tested using the iPhone 6. As iOS 6 was launched with the iPhone 5 this suggests that maybe Apple is skipping a 5S and going straight to the iPhone 6. Although we have now got used to a fall release for iPhones it also seems that Apple could return to the traditional summer release to tie in with a possible announcement at WWDC in June.
Again we must stress that any specs and features we discuss here are rumored or leaked but usually many of the things we hear months in advance do turn out to be accurate and so hopefully this will at least give readers some idea of what to expect. We’ll start with the HTC M7 and what we have heard so far on this smartphone sounds truly impressive. Specs are said to include a 1.7GHz Qualcomm APQ8064 quad-core processor, 4.7-inch full HD display with a stunning 468ppi, 2GB of RAM and 32GB of storage.
The camera set up is said to be equally impressive with a 13-megapixel rear camera with 1080p video capture and a 2-megapixel front-facing camera also capable of 1080p video. One leak also claims that the camera will be able to take super slow-motion video due to a new image sensor. The HTC M7 also looks likely to have LTE connectivity, a unibody aluminum design, a 2300 mAh battery and will run Android Jelly Bean 4.1.2 or 4.2, skinned with HTC Sense 5.0 offering a user-friendly interface. Sense 5.0 will also offer an improved lockscreen, possibly using swipe gesture, and changes to some HTC apps.
Turning to the iPhone 6 we already know this is likely to run iOS 7 and an updated operating system is always a big draw. Particular specs are far harder to stipulate because of Apple’s notorious secrecy but most are predicting a step up to an Apple A7 quad-core processor. After the iPhone 5 increased to a 4-inch screen size from the 3.5-inches of the iPhone 4S we also think it’s possible that the display may increase in size again, particularly given the fact that many of the new upcoming handsets such as the Oppo Find 5 and Sony Xperia Z have 5-inch displays and the popular Samsung Galaxy S3 has a not insignificant display of 4.8-inches.
Another thing we’ve been banging on about for a while is the need for a brand new design and we’ve heard mention of using Liquidmetal casing for the next iPhone and also rumors that several color options will be available. Other things reported so far for the iPhone 6 are a Super HD display or Sharp IGZO Retina+ display, larger capacity battery and improved camera set up as well as less likely inclusions such as NFC and a 128GB storage model. Whispers have also mentioned the much-debated removal of the home button and also a possible low-cost iPhone model or even an iPhone Mini but as we said before although all of the above has been rumored or discussed, none of this is official yet and we’re not likely to hear too much more real detail until Apple officially reveals the phone.
We appreciate this is an early look at these two phones with unconfirmed details but certainly much of this is likely to come to fruition and we’d like to hear your views. Do you like the sound of the HTC M7 with Sense 5.0, which from specs so far certainly appears will be a notable smartphone addition to the market? Maybe you’re an iPhone fan and already looking forward to the iPhone 6 and what iOS 7 will bring? Let us know with your comments.