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iphone6s

We now know one thing: Apple will unveil the next iPhone on September 9, 2015.

Announcement and release dates

Before the official invitations were sent out, Buzzfeed correctly reported that Apple will launch the next iPhone (alongside new versions of the iPad and Apple TV) on September 9. The timing is consistent with that of previous years -- including the iPhone 6, which was announced on the same day last year. Some reports have tagged September 18 as a possibility for the date that the iPhone 6S will be available for purchase.

Design

In 2014, Apple released the iPhone 6, which had a slightly larger profile and display than its predecessor, and the 6 Plus, which, equipped with its super-sized 5.5-inch display, marked the company's first foray into "phablet" territory. In June, reports surfaced suggesting that the new iPhone could be slightly thicker than the previous models to accommodate a more enduring battery and, possibly, Force Touch.

iOS

apple unveiled iOS 9 at its Worldwide Developers Conference on June 8. Though much of the news was peripheral to the iPhone -- an update to Siri, enhancements to Apple Pay, new map functionality, and a new News app -- there were also promises made about improvements in animation and scrolling on all iOS devices, and extended battery life on the iPhone. Apple says the operating system's new low-power mode could extend battery life by three hours on some devices.

Processor

According to Bloomberg, sources report that Samsung will produce the main chip in the next iPhone model, which will presumably be the A9. Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggests that the A9 processor, paired with 2GB of RAM, will deliver a considerable bump in power and speed compared to the iPhone 6. In July, the DigiTimes reported that Samsung and TSMC had begun mass producing the A9 chips -- enough to power 80 or 90 million iPhones.

Also in July, 9to5mac.com reported that the next iPhone will contain a Qualcomm processor, the '9X35′ Gobi chip, which will offer "significant performance improvements," potentially doubling the current generation's LTE network speeds.

NFC

Apple first included support for NFC in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, and more recently in the Apple Watch. The increasing penetration of Apple Pay, which leverages the technology, is fueling rumors of an NFC upgrade; 9to5mac.com suggests that the next iPhone will include new NFC hardware that integrates a "secure element processor," which could potentially eliminate the need for a separate chip dedicated to that task.

Battery

The iPhone 6's battery life isn't quite an Achilles' heel, but, on an otherwise outstanding phone, it is one of the few elements that's merely average. (The larger iPhone 6 Plus, on the other hand, delivers more impressive endurance). As mentioned above, however, we now know that iOS 9 features a new low-power mode that could boost the existing iPhone's battery life by up to 3 hours; perhaps Apple can squeeze out even more efficiency in the 6S with some hardware tweaks.

Though some have mused that the next iPhone could include a USB-C cable for charging, another possibility is support for inductive charging -- a feature found on the Apple Watch and an increasing number of other non-Apple smartphones such as the Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge.

Screen

There is a particularly durable rumor about an iPhone with a sapphire display, which would offer a higher degree of scratch and shatter-resistance than the current models' Gorilla Glass. (The higher-end Apple Watch models have sapphire crystals.)

Leaked 4.7-inch iPhone 6s screen

Camera

In August, Apple offered to replace iPhone 6 Pluses equipped with faulty iSight cameras; . Apple's April 2015 acquisition of Israeli firm LinX Computational has fueled rumors of significant enhancements in camera technology coming with the next iPhone. Specific predictions include multiple apertures that can provide dSLR-quality photos packed into a tinier form factor that could ultimately allow for an even thinner handset.

Kevin Wong, chief executive at market intelligence firm IHS China, posits that Apple will increase the rear camera's pixel count from 8 to 12 megapixels. If true, this could have implications for photo quality.

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