Somewhat akin to Intel, Apple has trained consumers on its “tick-tock” cadence of releasing a newly designed iPhone and following it up a year later with an optimized “s” variant. That’s been the formula since the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS were released in 2008 and 2009, respectively. This year, however, Apple broke precedent by launching a third model on the same design as its two-year-old iPhone 6.
Add in the controversial decision to remove the venerable 3.5mm headphone jack as well as a major change in the new Home button and you have the making of a familiar iPhone that feels somewhat foreign.
