News & Reviews:   Apple iPhone 6

After the various midnight launches last night, the Apple iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are now officially available in Malaysia. Yesterday we did manage to handle both the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6s Plus and both feel as slim and premium as the previous iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. The major difference here is that only the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus have gold and rose gold colour options, the other smartphones, including the iPhone 5s only come in silver and space grey. Pricing remains the same despite the ringgit stabilizing somewhat at RM4.18 against 1 USD. This probably means we'll have to see a drop back to the previous RM3.5 or RM3.3 levels for Apple to reduce the pricing further. Regardless, you can get the latest and most expensive Apple iPhone now from the Apple Store Malaysia or check out our phone comparison tool for a plan which might suit your needs or budget.

As the roll-out of Apple iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus pre-order initiatives continues for Malaysia's telcos, a closer look at Apple Store Malaysia has revealed official pricing for the two smartphones. Confirming our previous Apple iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus price listings, the iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6 and iPhone 5s are also available but only in 16GB and 64GB (just up to 32GB for the iPhone 5s) storage versions. Pricing has not decreased since the earlier price hike, in fact, there have been increases across the board for all Apple iPhones. Quite obviously, the main culprit is Malaysia's current currency value and the addition of 6% GST. However, the value of the ringgit seems to be improving, so lets all hope that it recovers enough for Apple to lower the price somewhat. In the meantime, check out the price listing below for an idea of how much you're going to have to save up for the latest Apple iPhones.

• Apple iPhone 6s 16GB storage – RM3199
• Apple iPhone 6s 64GB storage – RM3699
• Apple iPhone 6s 128GB storage – RM4199
• Apple iPhone 6s Plus 16GB storage – RM3699
• Apple iPhone 6s Plus 64GB storage – RM4199
• Apple iPhone 6s Plus 128GB storage – RM4699
• Apple iPhone 6 16GB storage ~ RM2699
• Apple iPhone 6 64GB storage ~ RM3199
• Apple iPhone 6 Plus 16GB storage ~ RM3199
• Apple iPhone 6 Plus 64GB storage ~ RM3699
• Apple iPhone 5s 16GB storage ~ RM2199
• Apple iPhone 5s 32GB storage ~ RM2449

With the Apple iPhone 6s already officially on it's way to Malaysia on 16 October 2015, Malaysia's telcos have started the pre-registration or registration of interest pages for the smartphone. U Mobile is no different but unlike the others, it appears that they will be offering the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus on U MicroCredit. Previously available for the iPhone 6, U MicroCredit is an installment payment plan with no deposit or credit card required so everyone can own the latest iPhone 6s despite its rather high price tag. Again, unlike the other telcos, this method means that even U Mobile prepaid users can get an iPhone 6s.

In addition to the U MicroCredit plan, we recently got news that the iPhone 6s will also be offered on a new Flexi U MicroCredit plan which will allow you to choose the financing amount and repayment months as you want, so even more Malaysians can afford the iPhone 6s. Check out the Registration of Interest page at www.u.com.my/iphone6s for an early notification of when it will be available on U Mobile. Granted, Apple have yet to reveal Malaysia pricing details but with last year's iPhone 6 going for RM2699 and this year's drop in currency value we estimate the iPhone 6s going for as high as RM3199 but you can check our other estimated pricing details and full price list of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus around the world below.

The Apple Malaysia site recently revealed that the Apple iPhone 6s will be available in Malaysia on 16 October 2015. While Malaysia has never been in the first batch of countries to get the latest Apple iPhone, traditionally the latest iteration has almost always appeared sometime in November or December. The Apple iPhone 6s brings a number of new hardware upgrades to the iPhone along with a stronger, tougher full metal body. These features and tech specs include the latest Apple A9 processor, a 12MP rear camera, 5MP front camera, 3D touch, new Rose Gold colour and more but there are still no details on Malaysia pricing just yet. No news yet if this also means that we could be seeing the Apple iPhone 6s Plus on the same date as well but due to Malaysia's current currency rating we expect that the traditional $100 (RM445) price increase will be higher than before. Currently the iPhone 6 is going for RM2699 so a jump to RM3199 for the iPhone 6s doesn't seem entirely out of the question.

While the Apple iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus were just recently announced, it was not revealed how much RAM each smartphone was actually packing. Most rumours before the launching were saying it would be 2GB but recent Xcode images may confirm this. Xcode is a set of development tools from Apple themselves so it seems okay to assume that this rumour is accurate. The previous Apple iPhone, the iPhone 6 only packed in 1GB of RAM so it should be one more reason to buy the iPhone 6s when it comes to Malaysia. The Xcode image also revealed that the recently announced Apple iPad Pro could also be packing in 4GB of RAM. While this rumour does seem accurate enough, do take it with a pinch of salt for now as images can be doctored quite easily these days. Stay tuned for more developments.

As if chasing down the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 edge+, reports indicate that the next Apple iPhone, rumoured to be called the Apple iPhone 6S could be coming on 9 September 2015. So far, there are surprisingly not that many leaks as previously but according to rumours the new iPhone 6S could have features that include a Force Touch Display, a Series 7000 aluminum (said to be 60% tougher than previous) yet maintain more or less the same look and feel as the previous Apple iPhone 6. Other devices said to feature alongside the new iPhone include the Apple iPad Pro and a possible plastic backed Apple iPhone 6C following in the footsteps of the iPhone 5C. Hopefully, Apple have learnt where they went wrong and will offer improvements but with all rumours, do take this with a good pinch of salt. No Malaysia release dates or pricing details, but we expect everything to come to Malaysia in October or November 2015. 

Most flagship smartphones these days feature a premium full metal unibody chassis or frame with classy looks and a price tag around at least RM2K or more. They usually come with excellent design, one-of-a-kind features and top-notch tech specs. In terms of features alone, the P8 is no exception with a unique 13MP RGBW rear camera and more. The Huawei P8 aims to deliver all of the above except for the pricing as it is currently available here in Malaysia for just RM1799. Does it actually deliver flagship features, design and performance for a midrange price tag? We find out for sure in our full review of the Huawei P8 below.

Announced at around the same time, the Huawei Honor 7 and Meizu MX5 share a number of similar features such as an all metal body, more than 5-inch sized full HD display, fingerprint scanner and 20MP rear cameras. Neither are currently available here in Malaysia yet but at 1800 CNY (RM1081) the Meizu MX5 is priced lower than Honor 7 which is going for 1999 CNY (RM1214). The Honor 7 is more compact due to its 5.2-inch display but the Meizu MX5 is thinner at 7.6mm and lighter at 149g despite the larger 5.5-inch display. Both come packing with the latest 64-bit processors, the Honor 7 with a HiSilicon Kirin 935 while the Meizu MX5 comes with a MediaTek MT6795 Helio processor.

The Honor 7 ups the Meizu MX5 with an 8MP front camera but the MX5 has a slightly higher 20.7MP rear camera compared to the 20MP rear camera on the Honor 7. The Honor 7 rear camera uses phase detection autofocus while the Meizu MX5 uses a laser autofocus. Which autofocus is better? Well, the debate on that still hasn't quieted down yet, especially if Huawei uses newer algorithms and sensors like in the Samsung Galaxy S6 which also uses phase detection autofocus. So far, there are still no details yet on which will be coming to Malaysia first, but both have a presence here so we would say in the coming months. For the full comparison check out our Huawei Honor 7 vs Meizu MX5 tech specs comparison tool. Check out our other comparisons in this article or take a spin with our phone comparison tool yourself.

Huawei has officially announced their latest flagship smartphone with the Huawei P8 tonight featuring a 6.4mm thin full-metal unibody frame that looks a bit like the Apple iPhone 6 but innovates with finer chamfered edges and a new 4 colour camera that does not stick out. Powered by the latest 64-bit 2.0GHz octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 930 processor and Android 5.0 with EMUI 3.1 it comes in titanium grey and mystic champagne. The other most stand-out feature is it's 13MP RGBW rear camera which according to them is a world's first and comes with Optical Image Stabilization (OIS) and a DSLR-level Image Signal Processor. This will help the P8 work better and faster under low-light conditions. A dual tone LED flash evens out the skin tones while an 8MP front camera ensures that the selfie crowd are satisfied. The standard version will be priced at €499 (RM1975) and the premium version with 64GB storage for €599 (RM2371). Check out the full tech specs and features list below:

• 64-bit 2.0GHz octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 930 processor
• 3GB RAM
• 16GB storage
• 5.2-inch display (full HD, 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution)
• 13MP rear camera (OIS, RGBW sensor, DSLR-level Image Signal Processor, F2.0, dual color temperature flash) + 8MP front camera
• supports dual SIM 4G LTE, GPS, Bluetooth 4.1+LE, WiFi b/g/n
• features wind-suppression anti-noise mic, dual antenna design
• 2680 mAh battery
• 144.9 x 72.1 x 6.4mm | 144g
• Android 5.0 Lollipop + EMUI 3.1

On one hand you have the Apple iPhone 6, the smartphone that started the whole bendgate issue and on the other, you have the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge, currently the only smartphone in the world with a curved dual-edge screen. Now the Galaxy S6 edge also has a metal frame and is covered by Corning Gorilla Glass 4 on both the front and back. Therefore, how would both smartphones fare in a drop test? Check out the drop test of both the Samsung Galaxy S6 edge vs the Apple iPhone 6 for yourself below as the results are quite surprising.