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Home / News / iPhone 6 could match the Galaxy S5 with pressure, barometer and humidity sensors

iPhone 6 could match the Galaxy S5 with pressure, barometer and humidity sensors

"Humidity level: 68.5%. Your hair looks awful". Thanks, Siri

The iPhone 6 is already expected to monitor everything from your heart rate to calorie consumption, but it could also keep a close eye on its environment too.

The latest rumour is sparked off by ESM-China’s chief analyst Sun Chang Xu, who believes that Apple will include pressure, temperature and humidity senors in the iPhone 6.

Xu stresses that the pressure sensor will measure atmospheric pressure as opposed to your blood pressure, which is instead a skill that’s expected to be a part of the iWatch’s sensory arsenal.

As with the various sensors utilised by iOS 8‘s upcoming Healthbook app, the rumoured environmental sensors are expected to be managed by the iPhone 6’s M7 motion co-processor, or whatever its equivalent will be called.

That’ll leave the iPhone 6’s main brain (expected to be an A7x processor free to run apps and games, while ensuring that iOS churns along nice and smoothly.

Samsung has included pressure, barometer and humidity sensors in both the Galaxy S4 and Galaxy S5, and fanboys will undoubtedly scream cries of catchup if the rumours prove to be true. But is there any actual point to these types of environmental sensors?

The average person won’t care about the pressure or even the humidity in their day to day lives. Weather apps already provide us with the most important stuff – namely, the temperature and chances of sun/precipitation), and they even provide extra pressure and humidity information for those that care.

There is however one overlooked bonus – GPS accuracy. When a GPS reading is combined with barometer data, devices can more accurately pinpoint your position, orientation and velocity.

That’s because the barometer gives your device an estimate of your altitude, cutting down the number of calculations  required to get a GPS lock.

As usual we’re taking these latest rumours with a pinch of salt until Tim Cook reveals all in September, so stay tuned for more news as and when we get it.

READ MORE: Apple iPhone 6: price, specs, release date – our take on the rumours

[via G4Games]

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About

Esat has been a gadget fan ever since his tiny four-year-old brain was captivated by a sound-activated dancing sunflower. From there it was a natural progression to a Sega Mega Drive, a brief obsession with hedgehogs, and a love for all things tech. After 7 years as a writer and deputy editor for Stuff, Esat ventured out into the corporate world, spending three years as Editor of Microsoft's European News Centre. Now a freelance writer, his appetite for shiny gadgets has no bounds. Oh, and like all good human beings, he's very fond of cats.

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