iPhone 6s to Feature Slimmer Form Factor, 12-Megapixel Camera: Reports

We have been treated with a flurry of leaks that purportedly reveal new details about the next iPhone handsets expected in the second half of 2015. According to the latest leaks, Apple's upcoming iPhone models (expected to be called the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus) will be "slimmer and lighter", and will include a 12-megapixel rear camera instead of the 8-megapixel camera seen in last four generation iPhones. One of the leaks even claims that TSMC will start a pilot line of the Apple A10 chips next month, likely to be used in the iPhone models next year.

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Digitimes reports that Apple in order to make its iPhone even thinner than previous generation will adopt 0.4t (with a dimension of 3x0.85x0.4mm) LED chips for its backlight units (BLUs), which is smaller than the 0.6t (3x0.85x0.6mm) chips used on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. The report suggests that Apple will use 0.4t LED chips from Japan-based Nichia and Toyoda Gose. It adds that production of the new iPhone models featuring 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch screens will start in June 2015 and a projected 24 million units will be primarily shipped in the third quarter.

One of the biggest updates that this year's iPhone can include is a 12-megapixel rear camera, if a report out of China is to be believed. The report claims that the iPhone 6s, which will be an incremental update from last year's iPhone 6, will sport a 12-megapixel camera. There is no mention of any other iPhone using the same camera sensor.

It adds that Apple will ditch the RGB sensor design to RGBW from Sony for the next iPhones. The White sub-pixel technology is said to improve low-light camera performance of the iPhone while can also enhance the autofocus speed.

The report is in line with an analyst who recently claimed that the next iPhone models would get a rear camera upgrade in the form of resolution, bumping up the current 8-megapixel offerings to 12-megapixels.

Another report from Taiwan claims that Apple by end of June will start a pilot line with TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) for the 10nm chip in 12 factories in Hsinchu, Taiwan. The report went on to suggest that Apple can hand all orders for A10 chips to TSMC.

To put some context, Apple used A8 chip with 64-bit architecture on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus and is likely to reveal the A9 chip this year. We can expect the A10 chips to debut on iPhone only by 2016. The Apple A9 processor has been rumoured to support 2GB of LPDDR4 RAM, a big boost from the 1GB of LPDDR3 RAM on the current iPhone models, as well as the 2GB of LPDDR3 RAM on the iPad Air 2.

A recent leak on the next iPhone models claimed that they will feature the Force Touch technology, initially debuted on the Apple Watch and later seen on the new 12-inch MacBook.