Apple iPhone 6s & iPhone 6s Plus Announced, Pre-Orders Start September 12

Apple officially unveiled its new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus today. The new models look identical to their predecessor as expected, but now a fourth color option has been added to the usual mix of Space Gray, Silver and Gold – a pinkish Rose Gold. Made out of a stronger 700 series aluminum and tougher Ion-X glass, the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus feature a faster Touch ID 2 fingerprint sensor, faster wireless antennas, an A9 processor that's up to 70% faster than before with up to 90% faster GPU performance, as well as a 3D Touch Retina display - Apple's iPhone version of Force Touch that can sense light and deep presses for quick access to additional gestures like previewing app and email content without having to open it.

The new 6s models are slightly heavier and .2mm thicker than their predecessors at 0.28 inch (7.1 mm) for the iPhone 6s and 0.29 inch (7.3 mm) for the iPhone 6s Plus, which will have an affect on some tight fitting third party cases not made for the newer models. That said, battery life between the old and the new models remains unchanged.

The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus also come with upgraded camera hardware like a newly designed 12-megapixel rear-facing camera sensor capable of capturing higher detailed photos with less noise and 4K video recording. While only the iPhone 6s Plus model will have optical image stabilization, both models share the same improved 5-megapixel front-facing FaceTime camera (compared to the 1.2-megapixel camera found on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus), along with what Apple calls "Retina Flash" which basically uses the display to illuminate your face just like a bright flash can.

Both new iPhone models have the same display sizes (4.7-inch / 5.5-inch) and resolutions (1334-by-750-pixel resolution at 326 ppi / 1920-by-1080-pixel resolution at 401 ppi) as before. You'll be able to pre-order the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus on September 12 in 16GB, 32GB and 128GB capacities for $199, $299 and $399, respectively. Unlocked model prices start at $649 for the iPhone 6s with 16GB and $749 for the larger iPhone 6s Plus with 16GB. The new iPhones will be available on September 25.