A8 Chip in iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus Capable of Playing 4K Video

The dual-core A8 chip powering Apple's iPhone 6 and 6 Plus appears to be capable of handling 4K video playback, despite the fact that the two iPhones have native resolutions of 1334 x 750 and 1920 x 1080 pixels, respectively.

4K video playback on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus was first discovered by the developers behind WALTR, a Mac app that's designed to make it easy to upload and convert any music or video file to an iPad or iPhone for native playback, and reported by TUAW.

The discovery was made by the developers of WALTR, a great Mac app that allows users to quickly upload video files to their iPhone which aren't supported by iTunes, such as FLAC and MKV files. While testing the app developers found it is possible to playback 4K videos on the iPhone 6. Even if Apple hasn't announced it, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are ready to play 4K videos.

With resolutions of 1334 x 750 and 1920 x 1080, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus won't be able to reproduce the detail in a 3840 x 2160 4K video, but the A8's ability to play 4K content means 4K videos side-loaded onto one of Apple's two devices will still be watchable.

It's highly unlikely many users will load 4K videos on their iPhones due to the massive file size of 4K content and the fact that there's little practical use for it, but it has the potential to be a somewhat useful feature for some users who want to play 4K video recorded on their devices as there are apps available that advertise 4K video recording on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 13 New Features

Wednesday April 23, 2025 8:31 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of April 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
iPhone 17 Air Pastel Feature

iPhone 17 Air Launching Later This Year With These 16 New Features

Thursday April 24, 2025 8:24 am PDT by
While the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" is not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the ultra-thin device. Overall, the iPhone 17 Air sounds like a mixed bag. While the device is expected to have an impressively thin and light design, rumors indicate it will have some compromises compared to iPhone 17 Pro models, including only a single rear camera, a...
apple watch ultra yellow

What's Next for the Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Apple Watch SE 3

Friday April 25, 2025 2:44 pm PDT by
This week marks the 10th anniversary of the Apple Watch, which launched on April 24, 2015. Yesterday, we recapped features rumored for the Apple Watch Series 11, but since 2015, the Apple Watch has also branched out into the Apple Watch Ultra and the Apple Watch SE, so we thought we'd take a look at what's next for those product lines, too. 2025 Apple Watch Ultra 3 Apple didn't update the...
iphone 17 dummies sonny dickson

iPhone 17 Air Almost as Thin as Its Buttons, New Images Show

Thursday April 24, 2025 2:14 am PDT by
If you missed the video showing dummy models of Apple's all-new super thin iPhone 17 Air that's expected later this year, Sonny Dickson this morning shared some further images of the device in close alignment with the other dummy models in the iPhone 17 lineup, indicating just how thin it is likely to be in comparison. The iPhone 17 Air is expected to be around 5.5mm thick – with a thicker ...
AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Friday April 18, 2025 5:16 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
ipad air magic keyboard feature

iPadOS 19 Rumored to Show Mac-Like Menu Bar When Connected to Magic Keyboard

Thursday April 24, 2025 12:09 pm PDT by
When an iPad running iPadOS 19 is connected to a Magic Keyboard, a macOS-like menu bar will appear on the screen, according to the leaker Majin Bu. This change would further blur the lines between the iPad and the Mac. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman previously claimed that iPadOS 19 will be "more like macOS," with unspecified improvements to productivity, multitasking, and app window management,...
top stories 2025 04 26

Top Stories: iPhone 17 Air Rumors, Apple Watch Turns 10, and More

Saturday April 26, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
We've known for quite some time about Apple's plans for a thinner "iPhone 17 Air" coming later this year, but wow, the latest dummy models give us our best look yet at just how thin this phone is going to be. Other Apple news and rumors this week included another iOS 18.5 beta, the 10th anniversary of the Apple Watch launch, and more management reshuffling in Apple's Siri division, so read...
Global Close Your Rings Day Pin

Apple Stores Giving Away a Limited-Edition Pin For Free Today

Thursday April 24, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Starting today, April 24, Apple Stores around the world are giving away a special pin for free to customers who request one, while supplies last. Photo Credit: Filip Chudzinski The enamel pin's design is inspired by the Global Close Your Rings Day award in the Activity app, which Apple Watch users can receive by closing all three Activity rings today. The limited-edition pin is the physical...

Top Rated Comments

farewelwilliams Avatar
136 months ago
ooooo, airplay for the new Apple TV in full 4k resolution. nice.

apple tv in 2015 confirmed.
Score: 23 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gavroche Avatar
136 months ago
4K video ? wait until apple provide iPhone with 64gb as the entry level.
with 16 gb space, it is pretty much useless.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that someone looking to use 4k video can swing the extra $100 to bump to 64gb.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Stratus Fear Avatar
136 months ago
Is it REALLY playing a 4K video if it is showing it on a 1K screen? I think it is reading a 4K video files, thrashing 3/4 of the data and displaying the remaining 1K video stream.

It is like when you buy a 24MP camera and are all happy that you have this high resolution image. But then you phone has a 2MP screen. What happens to the extra pixels? Well they are down sampled and not displayed.

It still has to decode the entire 4k stream. You can't just ignore data. Video decoding doesn't work that way. And even in the case of downsampling, you still need to take the larger resolution media as input, and process that data through resampling filters to a lower resolution, so overall the whole process is even MORE computationally intensive than if you could output the 4k video at a 1:1 pixel ratio on a 4k screen.

As to the article, this should come as no surprise. I wouldn't be surprised if even the A7 is powerful enough for it. The Cortex A8 in the iPhone 3GS was able to decode 1080p video, even though it couldn't display the full resolution of it due to the screen, and that was five generations of hardware ago.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Keirasplace Avatar
136 months ago
I think that means the A8 will be in the Apple TV very soon... And the apple TV will have a major upgrade, probably a full App store.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
garnerx Avatar
136 months ago
It's highly unlikely many users will load 4K videos on their iPhones due to the massive file size of 4K content and the fact that there's little practical use for it

Translated:
Absolutely nobody will load 4K videos on their iPhones, due to the fact that the iPhone is a phone, not a 6ft-wide 4K display. Macrumors apologises for the utter futility of this news story.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CrazyForApple Avatar
136 months ago
I just want a 4K or 5K Thunderbolt Display!
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)