4 Killer Features for iPhone 6 Release Date: Monster A8 Chip, Sapphire, Spirometry & Fresh Interface

Expect the most powerful Apple smartphone ever to touch down in time for the iPhone 6 release date this 2014 as a new report affirms earlier suggestions that the 64-bit A8 chip is packed with beastly muscles and mammoth capabilities.

Monster A8 chip

This is especially true for the 5.5-inch phablet-size variant of the next iPhone, according to a new report issued by Cowen & Co analyst Timothy Arcuri. Arcuri, Apple Insider said in a report, has indicated that while the bigger iPhone 6 will feature the same A8 application processor that will power the 4.7-inch model, the first is stuffed with more processing juice.

The report skipped on much of the details but it offered that the A8 CPU that is destined for the first iOS phablet "will feature additional on-die silicon, such as a larger array of graphics processing cores."

Arcuri noted too that this would not be the first time that Apple will deploy nearly identical product with differing inside components as he pointed to the case of iPad Air and the iPad Mini 2. The two devices were separated not only by screen size but also by the muscle chip that they came with - the iPad Air edges its smaller sibling in terms potential chip energy.

And that likely will be the same route that the iPhone 6 will take, Arcuri said, adding that buyers can also expect the handset models to be equipped with diverse touch modules.

Sapphire

Apart from the main device engine, Apple's 2014 flagship seems inching closer to the likelihood of unpacking with sapphire as part of the device package.

GT Advanced Technologies, the tech giant's U.S.-based sapphire manufacturing partner, appears all set to mass produce the material that is rumoured to replace Corning Gorilla Glass as the iPhone 6 glass cover, MacRumors said in a report.

Note, however, that while the report contradicted the recent claims that sapphire will not make it in time for the next iPhone debut, both Apple and GT Advanced are keeping mum on the exact role that sapphire will play for the device rollout this year.

Previously, sapphire was used as protective coating for the iPhone camera lens and the Touch ID embedded with the device's Home button.

iOS 8 tweaks

And with beta 5 of iOS 8 seeded to developers this week, two new features emerged as among the killer additional functions that the iPhone will bring to the table. One of them is Spirometry that 9to5Mac said is a new component of the HealthKit application.

Spirometry is a tool to measure breath, according to Wikipedia, and is helpful to initially assess lung-related irregularities.

Another enhancement that likely will be part of the iPhone 6 is a refreshed device user interface as hinted by the redesigned Health app and iCloud icons, 9to5Mac added on its report. This development suggests of a flatter and function-centric iOS 8 once the final cut is out.

The iPhone 6 release date is predicted to happen in two installments - the first one is for the 4.7-inch build that is slated to come out in late September or mid-October 2014 and the last will be on December this year or January 2015, which is for the 5.5-inch jumbo-size edition.