It’s shaping up to be a pretty big year for Apple, or at least that’s the hope. If we’re basing this year’s future iPhone release on past releases, the release of the iPhone 5s back in September would have us believe that we’ll be seeing an iPhone 6 later on this year. At this point, we can also expect that when the iPhone model changes numbers, a lot of other stuff changes too.

For the most part, I think people are excited to see what the new design will look like. Will it be like the iPhone 5, which offered some changes but not too different from the previous 4th generation? Or will Apple come up with a completely different design altogether? It’s difficult to say this early on in the year, but if you’re into rumors and leaks then one would think that this year’s design will be somewhat of a spectacle.

But more than just the hardware design has to change in order to really capture people’s hearts, right? Maybe yes, maybe no; but the point here is that alongside a hardware design refresh, we’re picking up more things to get excited about when it comes to the next generation iPhone. Most notably we’ve caught wind of iOS 8, Beats Audio, and perhaps even a more detailed camera. With all of these possible changes coming with the iPhone 6, can Apple keep the attention on their beloved iPhone for another year?

Last year served as a surprising treat. Even though last year’s iPhone 5s was mostly just a spec bump, Apple also released their first major OS upgrade to iOS 7. iOS 7 brough a huge design overhaul and new features to iOS, and was (is?) a pretty big deal given that Apple hadn’t really changed iOS by a whole lot since the original iPhone came out in 2007. That being said, though, I can’t expect that iOS 8 will bring that many surprises design-wise.

What we really have to look forward to now is Beats Audio (perhaps) and also improvements made to the iPhone’s camera. I mentioned earlier today that I thought that audio improvements were a good thing when it comes to smartphones, which means that Apple’s supposed inclusion of Beats Audio means they’re at least interested in improving their audio game. As an added bonus (although this is just speculation) with Apple’s latest hire, Ari Partinen, who was previously Nokia’s Lumia Photography Lead, there’s indication that Apple is taking an interest in improving the quality of their cameras as well.

Apple hasn’t had particularly bad audio or bad cameras, but theres’s nothing too spectacular about them, either. The best smartphone cameras are typically awarded to Nokia (hence why the latest hire is probably a good thing for Apple) and HTC seems to have put a strong focus on good audio sound for the past couple of years. With Android taking as big of a leap over iOS as it has over the past few years (as a platform), Apple has its work cut out for them when it comes to staying relevant. Mere hardware refreshes will keep some of the interest, but improving on other aspects of the phone could be just as attractive in the end.

I don’t expect much when it comes to iOS 8, but I do hope that these new rumored acquisitions will help give us a lot to talk about when it comes to the next generation iPhone.

Readers, what would you like to see in the iPhone 6? What do you think will make the phone stand out among a sea of other smartphones today? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Images via Digital Trends, iDownload Blog