Many rumors surrounding the next iPhone centered around the device's size; the majority of iPhone models have used 3.5-inch displays—which are smaller than screens used by flagship phones from competitors. The last change in size for the iPhone series came with the iPhone 5 (continued with the iPhone 5C and 5S), which featured a display that was taller, but the same width as prior models, measuring at 4 inches diagonally. Following Apple's loss in smartphone market share to companies producing phones with larger displays reports as early as January 2014 suggested that Apple was preparing to launch new iPhone models with larger, 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch displays.[20][21][22]
Reports prior to its unveiling also speculated the possibility that Apple would use a new iPhone model to introduce a mobile payments platform using near-field communications—a technology that has been incorporated into many Android phones, but has experienced a low adoption rate among users.[23]
The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus were officially unveiled during a press event at the Flint Center for Performing Arts in Cupertino, California on September 9, 2014. The event featured other previously-rumored product announcements by Apple alongside the new iPhone models, including the Apple Pay mobile payment platform, and the company's entry into the wearable computing market with the Apple Watch smartwatch.[24]
The iPhone 6 line was released on September 19, 2014; pre-orders began on September 12, 2014.[25] In China, where the iPhone 5S and 5C were the first models in the iPhone series to be released in the country on the same day as their international launch, Apple notified local wireless carriers that it would be unable to release the iPhone 6 line in China on the 19th because there were "details which are not ready"; local media reported that the devices had not yet been approved by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and earlier in the year, a news report by state broadcaster China Central Television alleged that iPhone devices were a threat to national security because iOS 7's "frequent locations" function could expose "state secrets