Is the iPhone 6 the GREATEST handset EVER made in the ENTIRE Universe? We endeavour to separate hyperbole from reality and find out...
Mobile Phones
Apple isn’t really a technology company anymore. I mean, yeah, it makes phones and tablets and PCs just like everybody else but somehow Apple’s products seem to transcend the usual conventions associated with consumer electronics and turn normal, everyday human beings into crazed lunatics that will forgo a bed and their family for days in order to secure a shiny new iPhone. And this is just odd, really, because at the end of the day Apple IS a tech company and all it really does IS make consumer electronics; it’s not a band, or One Direction, or Harry Potter – it makes consumer electronic products, just like Samsung and LG and Sony and Microsoft. So what gives?
Mind control? The Devil? Magic? Contaminated water? God knows! And if I knew, well, I wouldn’t be here talking to you; I’d be sunning myself on some tropical island and living it up in a million-dollar mansion paid for by my next-level, superhuman marketing skills. But I digress, and it doesn’t really matter because whatever Apple’s secret may be, the long and short of it is this: no other company on the planet could shift 20 million units of its new phone inside two weeks of release. No one but Apple.
Does this mean the iPhone 6 is the greatest handset of all time? No. Does it mean the iPhone 6 is a very good handset? Yes – and it is. But like most things in life, just because something is insanely popular doesn’t necessarily mean it is the best thing EVER. Just look at One Direction. And then there’s the fact that Apple doesn’t really need any help selling iPhones, which sort of makes this review slightly superfluous. I mean, who’s going to argue with 20 million sales in two weeks? Not me. And not even most ardent Android or Windows Phone fans either, I’d imagine. The sheer volume of sales for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are just TOO BIG to dispute, which makes squabbling over “what’s best” kinda of futile –– sort of like punching a Tsunami, or Mike Tyson.
What follows is my personal take on the iPhone 6 and it is primarily designed for those of you who haven’t really used an iPhone before and are, potentially, considering a switch from Android, Windows Phone or BlackBerry to Apple’s way of doing things. The reason I decided to do this is two fold: 1) we were very late getting the iPhone 6 in for review, and 2) if you’re already a dedicated or constant iPhone user, of which there are many, chances are you’ve already got this handset (or the iPhone 6 Plus).
So this one’s for the floating voters, the people still undecided about whether the iPhone is for them. Hopefully by the end of this review you’ll be in a better position to decide whether dropping a lot of money and time on an iPhone is worthwhile. If not, relax, you have plenty of other options in the form of Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry 10-powered units.
Right, here goes…
iPhone 6 Display
The iPhone 6 (and iPhone 6 Plus) represent a BIG shift in the way Apple does mobile, as they are the first handsets in the company’s history to use plus-4-inch-displays. These are the biggest handsets Apple has ever produced; the handsets many have been waiting for since 2012. I know, I know –– this isn’t a big deal. Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry 10 handsets have been doing this for year. So why is it a big deal now? For me, it’s because Apple has been forced to admit that, once again, it had underestimated consumer wants and needs (hello, iPad Mini) and has, as a result, been forced to follow a path already well-trodden by the likes of Samsung, HTC, Nokia, BlackBerry, Sony and pretty much every other modern handset maker on the planet.
The small display on previous iPhone models was also the number one factor in stopping me (as well as plenty of others, I’m sure) from getting an iPhone in the past. It was just too small – and in a world obsessed with photography, web browsing, video and gaming, bigger is definitely better (but just not too big, mkay?). That’s why I was so chuffed when Apple opted for 4.7in on the iPhone 6. For me, this is the SWEET spot for mobile displays, being perfectly suited for one-handed use as well as things like browsing media, video, and gaming.
Apple couldn’t go too big on the iPhone (probably why it released two) because if it had a lot of its core users would have been pretty pissed; a switch from 4in to 5.5in is definitely a bridge to far for those who only just found out what a phablet is. For reference, the iPhone 6’s display is the exact same size as the one aboard the Nexus 6, HTC One, Samsung Galaxy Alpha and Moto X – again, all perfectly proportioned handsets.
The display itself, as noted above, is a 4.7-inch 1334 x 750 pixel resolution display, which translates into a pixel density of 326ppi resolution –– the same as last year’s iPhone 5s. And while that might sound a bit pants to the uninitiated, Apple has actually made quite a few improvements to the iPhone 6’s display, and the first is to do with contrast ratio: it’s been bumped up to a whopping 1400:1 (vs. the iPhone 5s’ 800:1). Another is the inclusion of dual-domain pixels. So what the hell are these? Apple said this technology improve viewing angles at launch, but neglected to say how, so ahead of this review I did some research and found out the following:
Dual-Domain Pixels: A Basic Definition –– unlike the iPhone 5s’ display, where the sub-pixels are arranged in uniform order, the iPhone 6’s uses a slightly different setup where the sub-pixels are slightly skewed. This is what makes it dual-domain, and it improves viewing angles by way of the off-kilter arrangement, which can better compensate for uneven lighting that often results in loss of colour fidelity and clarity when viewing the panel at different angles.
The iPhone 6 isn’t the first handset to use such a technology; both the HTC One M7 and HTC One X used it too, according to AnandTech.
In practice none of this technical stuff really matters all that much because the iPhone 6’s display looks awesome. It might not be a full HD setup or a QHD panel like the one inside the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 or LG G3, but, as I pointed out in my Samsung Galaxy Alpha review, this doesn’t really matter all that much in the grand scheme of what you’ll be doing with the handset –– the display is crystal clear with excellent viewing angles and not a hint of pixilation anywhere. It’s also far kinder on the battery too, meaning you get more juice and less drain when viewing content via things like YouTube, Netflix and iTunes.
It’s not Full HD and its not QHD, but it is better than the iPhone 5s’ panel and it does look great in nearly every situation, which, for me, kind of shows just how superfluous the push for 2K and eventually 4K inside mobile phones actually is. Don’t get me wrong, I get QHD and love the way it looks on the LG G3 and Galaxy Note 4, I just don’t view it as absolutely necessary. You still get perfectly good results with 720p (Galaxy Alpha) and 1080p (BlackBerry Passport, Moto X 2014) in the context of a mobile phone. I mean, just look at the difference between a 4K LED HDTV and a 1080p OLED one, for instance. I know which one I’d be getting if I had the cash.
iPhone 6 Review: Design
As noted at the beginning of this review: we got the iPhone 6 pretty late, and that means you’re already probably well aware about what the handset looks like and have also probably seen a fair few of them in the hands of friends and family while out and about. So to cut a long story short, the iPhone 6 is bigger, thinner and less angular than its predecessor. It is very lightweight – like, almost too much at first, although you do get used it its miniscule proportions – and it still feels very, very premium.
Do I like the way the iPhone 6 looks? Yes. Is it the best-looking, most exciting phone I’ve tested this year? Not by a long shot –– but this was never going to be the case anyway. Apple’s far too conservative for that, which is why all iPhones are variations on an already well-established theme. They’re refinements, not redesigns. Next time you go into a shop, look at one and you’ll see what I mean. Apple might stretch it out a bit, shave off some weight and add in a bigger panel or some new colours, but the end result is always very familiar – it’s an iPhone. And that’s sort of the point, I think. People like new stuff but they don’t like new stuff that’s too jarring (again, likely why we have the Plus model).
So what’s changed? The glass front is now curved and the corners are more rounded than before, which results in a softer in-hand experience. Flip the phone over and you have two antenna bands on the back and that “controversial” protruding camera sensor, which A LOT of people seem very annoyed about. Personally, neither of these things bothered me all that much – they’re just there. I don’t think they add or take anything away from the overall dynamic of the handset.
What is annoying about the iPhone 6’s design (and any other metallic handset, for that matter) is that if you want to keep it in optimum shape (i.e. free from scratches) you MUST use a case, which means hiding away the entire back and side portion of the handset. This is one area where polycarbonate bodies have a huge advantage over their more premium-looking metallic counterparts. The upshot of this in the context of the iPhone 6, however, is that you don’t have to look at those apparently ugly antenna bands. The downside is that 90% of the phone’s design is hidden from view.
Perhaps the biggest question about the iPhone 6, however, is which one you should get – the iPhone 6 or the iPhone 6 Plus? I’ve been using both handsets for around two weeks now (our usual review period) and I am firmly in the iPhone 6 camp. It’s the ideal size for a phone, in my humble opinion, falling in line with handsets like the Galaxy Alpha (another beauty) and the awesome Google Nexus 5 and original Moto X. It’s lightweight enough for one-handed use and big enough for decent media experiences – I don’t call 4.7in the goldilocks dimension for nothing.
I think Apple built the iPhone 6 for existing iPhone users and the iPhone 6 Plus to attract floating voters over from Android and Windows Phone, or completely new smartphone buyers. The company has already sold around 20 million handsets (although it hasn’t disclosed the exact split), so whichever way you look at it things seem to be working in Apple’s favour. For me personally, if I had to choose I’d take the iPhone 6 every time –– but that’s just my personal preference. Our review of the iPhone 6 Plus is coming next week, but my advice to you if you’re undecided about which to get right now is to go to an Apple store and try them out. The size differences are pretty extreme, so it’s worth taking your time before committing fully to either.
iPhone 6 Review: iOS 8
We’ve already done a separate review of iOS 8 that looks at all of the new software’s features in detail. So for the sake of brevity, we’re only going to cover off some basics here –– things like bugs we experienced while testing, interesting new additions and the general performance of iOS 8 aboard the iPhone 6 in general. It is worth noting, however, that there have been A LOT of complaints about iOS 8, with users labeling it a buggy, sub-standard release comparable to Apple’s now legendary Maps botchfest. Is there truth to this? Or is it just Apple bashing?
I’ve just spent two weeks playing around with iOS 8 on the iPhone 6, iPad Air and iPhone 6 Plus and below are some of my thoughts on the platform as a whole; what I believe are its strong points; where it needs improving; and whether or not it is switch-worthy from something like Android, Windows Phone or BlackBerry 10. As I said, these are my own, personal observations. For a more detailed breakdown of all the new features inside iOS 8, check out our iOS 8 review.
Apple’s latest version of iOS 8 is one hell of a buggy affair; never before have I tested an iPhone with so many odd glitches, quirks and random freakouts. Apple is making inroads into alleviating a lot of the issues present in the first build, but even now there are plenty of gremlins lurking inside iOS 8.1 –– and they have a habit of turning up at the most inopportune times. A lot them are excusable hiccups but some (random restarts, crashing apps and ultra-slow Wi-Fi speeds) are pretty unforgivable in release-grade software (no wonder Apple’s pumping out updates like they’re going out of fashion).
Visually, iOS 8 remains much the same as it was in iOS 7. The big new additions are in the background and aren’t things you’ll notice right away, or, in the case of Apple Pay, at all, as it is not yet available in the UK. HealthKit and HomeKit are interesting additions to Apple’s platform because they are essentially developer frameworks and enabled third-party applications (MyFitnessPal) and accessories (FitBit, Nike’s FuelBand) to interact with core iOS applications like the new Health app. HomeKit is more about the Internet Of Things (IOT) and provides a means of interacting, via Siri, with IOT-powered objects –– things like Smart Lightbulbs, for instance –– inside your home. Of course to really take advantage of HomeKit you need smart appliances in the first place, and not just any old smart appliances, either: they need to be smart appliances that are compatible with iOS.
Continuity and Handoff are two very interesting additions to Apple’s iOS platform as well, but only if you’re invested in the company’s wider ecosystem of products. If you’re not they’re largely useless, as Apple does not support Windows or Android (unlike BlackBerry Blend). Continuity allows you to pick up calls and texts (only iMessage, though) on your MacBook and iPad, while Handoff, as the name suggests, lets you start a task on the iPhone (say, scribbling some ideas down in Notes) and finish it off on your iPad. Handoff works with core iOS apps like Safari, Notes, Pages and Keynote but is now open to third-party developers, so expect to see updates from people like Evernote very soon. This is a very cool feature. Good work, Apple.
One thing I do genuinely like about iOS these days is that I can switch between it and Android (and BB10.3, for that matter) without too much fuss. Apple and Google’s platforms are now closer than ever in terms of app content, media, content and apps and games. If you can get an app or service on Android, chances are it’ll be available on iOS – and that goes for Google services too. For a platform agnostic like myself, this is a very good thing indeed as it means I can happily jump between two operating systems without losing contact with apps and services that are important to me.
But it’s not all sunshine and cider, I’m afraid, as there are still A LOT of annoying things present in iOS that I really do wish Apple would just SORT THE HELL OUT. First, why the hell can’t I put apps where I want them? Why does everything move if I move one app icon? This is BEYOND stupid and perhaps the single most annoying element of iOS for me. Second, what the heck is going on with third-party keyboard support? Yes, it is great that Apple has finally opened the gates to third-party solutions like SwiftKey and Swype, but the implementation leaves A LOT to be desired. So much so I get the impression part of this is deliberate on Apple’s part.
Case in point: SwiftKey doesn’t work across all applications, only third-party ones, which means you have to switch from using gesture-input to normal input about a gazillion times a day, on account of Apple’s keyboard constantly attempting to reassert itself as your device’s de facto keyboard. Inside Whatsapp, for instance, SwiftKey needs to be re-selected (in the keyboard settings) far too often. This is VERY annoying in my opinion and a huge shame, because I love SwiftKey on Android and have used it for years, so obviously I was over the moon when I heard it was coming to iPhone –– until I actually used it.
Another keyboard-related bug I experience at least once a day is where the keyboard simply won’t appear. You tap and tap and tap inside a text entry area and its nowhere to be seen. The only way around this is to close the application you’re in and start again. As I said earlier, it’s not a big deal by itself but it is also not something you expect to experience in software designed and published by the world’s most valuable technology brand either.
Another issue –– and this is a BIGGY, for me, personally –– is limited sharing abilities inside applications. On nearly every other major platform, you can find something interesting online or inside an application and share it with applications like Whatsapp, BBM, Skype, Viber and the like; the choice is yours. But this isn’t the case in iOS 8. Nope, in iOS 8 you’re limited to Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Apple’s core iOS applications (Mail, Messages and AirDrop) for sharing. On Android and BB10.3 you can share via any medium you wish, it all depends on what application you have stored on your phone, not what the designer of the OS deems suitable. ARGHHHH!
Aside from these “issues” there is a lot to like about iOS, providing you don’t mind giving over some control to the way Apple likes to do thing. The applications, games and services available on iOS are easily on a par with everything you get on Android, and a long way in front of Windows Phone and BlackBerry 10. If media and services are important to you there is now very little to separate Apple and Google’s platforms. Ditto for services like personal assistants, turn-by-turn navigation, an abundance of banking applications and health and fitness trackers.
The Health app is a new one inside Apple and is designed to leverage both the HealthKit API, Apple’s M8 coprocessor and third party applications like MyFitnessPal. All results – your steps, calories, or things like heart rate – are aggregated inside the application and displayed in graphs that can be augmented and switched around to your own specifications. There’s quite a few applications that already tap into Health –– you can read about them here –– so if health and fitness tracking is important to you, then Health is a nice addition to an already very feature-rich operating system.
iPhone 6 Review: Camera
Like the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s before it the iPhone 6 uses an 8MP iSight camera on its business end. But before you go calling shenanigans, we need to clear something up: the iPhone 5s had a great camera and it did it with an 8MP sensor, so Apple’s logic here is sort of understandable –– leave the gross-megapixels alone, a move it is now infamous for, and instead focus on refining the actual imaging technology contained within the sensor. I’m no imaging buff, so bear with me here, but even I can tell the difference between the two handsets, and the results are very positive, with images appearing crisper and more detailed. So what gives?
Two words: “Focus Pixels”
Like a lot of things to do with the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, Apple didn’t explain what Focus Pixels actually are, other than to say the sensor will focus faster and produce better shots in a variety of settings. This is true, too. The iPhone 6 focuses in on a subject – and can also maintain that focus even if the subject is moving – in an instant. It really is very, very quick. Apple said the iPhone 6 uses a type of auto-focus similar to DLSRs (phase detection) whereby the camera uses two sensors to evaluate the subject from two points of view, allowing it to tell –– very quickly –– whether the subject is in front or behind the current focus point. This setup is better suited to video and the type of imagery you’ll be capturing on an iPhone than, say, phase detection.
But because Apple hasn’t explained fully WHAT it actually is, all we can do is speculate about the technology, although it could be that Apple has used both phase and contrast detection here, creating a type of hybrid autofocus that embodies the best of both worlds. What this means in real world terms is that the iPhone 6 camera auto focuses much faster. Related to this is greatly improved face detection. This is something I noticed right away. When taking a picture on a packed street the iPhone 6’s camera almost instantly locks onto people’s faces in the crowd.
Both the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus now feature continuous auto-focus, meaning you can shoot video of a subject while moving and the iPhone 6 camera sensor (thanks to its Focus Pixels) will adjust the footage accordingly to rid the end result of any unsightly bumps and shakes. Apple used an example of a gentleman filming another gentleman on a bike ride during its keynote. Both dudes are on bikes and the footage is pretty damn smooth, despite one of them filming. In practice, it’s not quite as pronounced but is still a very nice addition to an already rock solid camera setup.
But for me the best part of taking still images with the iPhone 6 is night shots look A LOT better. It’s easier to take great night snaps and see more detail in every dark shot. I was simply amazed when I took my first night shot with the iPhone 6. For the first time ever with a picture taken by an iPhone I could make out the individual leaves of a tree at night against a dark sky.
But if video is your thing, you’ll be even more impressed with the iPhone 6’s camera. That’s because it now shoots 1080p video at 60fps instead of just 30. You can also shoot slow motion video in 720p up to a whopping 240fps. How often you’ll do this depends on what you like recording, but it's great for those who shoot a lot of sporting events. The iPhone 6 also now supports time-lapse video, whereby you can continuously film something –– say, take off from inside a plane –– and the iPhone will splice it all together in a Benny Hill-style video, which really does look rather cool providing you can find the right thing to shoot.
iPhone 6 Specs: CPU, Storage And RAM
Apple’s never issues journos with the power units inside its iPhone and iPad devices, but the advent of the A7 chipset really started to set the company apart from the crowd. Not only was the A7 CPU a 64-bit processor, but it was also one of the best-performing pieces of silicon on market in 2013. With the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, Apple has debuted its second-generation 64-bit chipset, the A8.
As expected, it’s faster and more power-efficient, and features a vastly improved GPU for improved performance in game, as well as photo and video editing software. The A8 is still a dual-core setup and the iPhone 6 still uses 1GB of RAM, a fraction of what you’ll find in modern Android handsets like the LG G3 and Samsung Galaxy Note 4. Not that any of this really matters inside the context of iOS anyway; iOS is Apple’s party and everything inside it and the iPhone is calibrated to ensure optimum performance. You don’t need BIG specs when you have this much control. Just ask BlackBerry and Microsoft.
Last year’s iPhone 5s was plenty powerful, and yet the iPhone 6 still manages to be feel noticeably snappier (even with that super-buggy iOS 8 software). It’s not earth shattering by any means, but the difference is certainly there and it is especially evident while gaming (especially those designed using Metal) or when you’re doing fairly CPU-intensive tasks like photo and video editing. You always feel like it has plenty of additional grunt left, whatever you’re doing. In this respect it kind of feels like driving a 400BHP car on the motorway: it’s quick, yeah, but there’s plenty more in the bank if you need it.
Apple does get a fair amount of flak from tech-types because of its ultra-conservative approach to specs and hardware. Compared to the Samsung Galaxy Note 4, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus look like mid-range phones. But as I pointed out in both my Samsung Galaxy Alpha and BlackBerry Passport review: specs aren’t everything. Performance, battery life and the overall experience is more about how the specs and hardware are calibrated to work with the software inside the phone, and in all three cases –– the Alpha, the Passport and the iPhone 6 –– everything is tweaked perfectly, ensuring ultra smooth, silky performance across the board.
The iPhone’s coprocessor has also gotten an upgrade with the new M8, which offloads the work of measuring the accelerometer, compass, and gyroscope data from the main processor. The new M8 also adds a barometer, so now your iPhone can tell what elevation you’re at – or if you’re climbing a flight of stairs. Plenty of fitness apps are now supporting the M8’s elevation reading capabilities, so it’s quite a cool little feature for fitness buffs.
The iPhone 6 and its larger counterpart are available in 16GB, 32GB and 128GB storage versions. There’s no MicroSD-support, of course, but you can add in an additional 20GB of iCloud storage for just £0.79 a month, which isn’t too bad at all when you consider the comparative cost of storage expansion on competing cloud services. The 16GB is obviously the cheapest option and the 128GB model will set you back A LOT of money, so most will probably opt for the 64GB version or the 16GB supplanted with additional iCloud storage. Either way, no other OEM offers a handset with 128GB internal storage, so if storage is important to you and you have oodles of cash laying around, well, you have options.
iPhone 6 Review: Connectivity, LTE and Extras
The iPhone 6 has 20 LTE bands – seven more than the iPhone 5s. If you rarely leave the UK, this isn’t such a big deal. But if you’re a globe traveller this means your iPhone 6 can connect to almost double the 4G networks around the world than the previous iPhone could. In addition to the support for additional 4G bands, the iPhone 6 also offers up to 150Mbps download speeds. That’s 3-4 times faster than the iPhone 5s.
Apple has also added a new 802.11ac chipset, which means your Wi-Fi connection will be up to 3 times faster (iOS 8 bugs, allowing) than the 802.11n speeds the iPhone 5s got, so as long as you’re connected to an 802.11ac-compatible wireless router.
iPhone 6 Review: NFC and TouchID
Besides the larger screen size, Apple has also taken another feature hint from Androids: it’s finally added NFC to the iPhone. However, unlike Android handsets, the NFC chip in the iPhone 6 is only for mobile payments via Apple’s new Apple Pay service. You can read our primer on Apple Pay here to understand the ins and outs of it. But be warned, when Apple Pay goes live later this month it will only work in the US--or with those iPhone 6 owners who have a US iTunes Store account.
As with other Apple services that haven’t launched in the UK yet (ahem, iTunes Radio), there’s no date from Apple on when Apple Pay will make it to the UK (which explains why any mention of Apple Pay is absent from the Apple UK website). But since it looks like Apple is the company that’s finally created a dead simple mobile payment solution, let’s hope we get Apple Pay sooner rather than later. Until that time it is a bummer that one of the biggest features of the iPhone 6 is all but useless here.
Besides NFC, Apple Pay uses the Touch ID fingerprint scanner embedded in the home button to authenticate payments. Thankfully the Touch ID does have uses outside of Apple Pay and not only can users use it to unlock their iPhones and download apps, now third-party apps support Touch ID, so the biometric scanner has become immensely more useful.
iPhone 6 Review: Battery
This is the BIG one: did Apple improve battery life? The short answer is a resounding yes – just not in an earth-shattering manner. During my two-week testing period, the iPhone 6 only died on me on a couple of occasions. The first was when I forgot to charge it at lunchtime and went straight out after work – the iPhone 6 made it to 12:30am. Not bad when you consider it had been running all day since 7am.
The other was when I went away for the weekend and forgot my charger. Interestingly, in this context, I limited my usage dramatically –– basically, checked in on emails and that once an hour or so –– and the iPhone 6 almost made it through two whole days. Again, not too shabby. In our Django test the iPhone 6 posted similarly decent results finishing on 68% at the film's end from a 100% start, which is very impressive given the relatively small size of its battery.
But where the iPhone 6 (and iPhone 6 Plus) really come into their own for me is to do with idle performance. When the iPhone isn’t doing anything it hardly uses any power whatsoever, it just seems to take the occasional sip now and then, almost as if it knows it is on borrowed time. Case in point: I managed to listen to a whole album on Spotify during my commute home with just 3% left on the battery. That is more than impressive (and, please note, I didn’t switch anything like data or Wi-Fi off).
So what’s the take-away point here? Simple: battery performance has been improved for sure (I’d say by around 15-20%) and this means you no longer have to charge your iPhone at work if you know you’re going to be home by around 7 or 8PM. If you’re going out after work and it’s going to be a late one (after midnight), you might want to go ahead and give it a recharge during the afternoon, however, just to be sure it’ll last through until the wee hours of the morning which, lets face it, is usually when you need a phone most!
iPhone 6 Review: Conclusion
In the context of iPhones, the iPhone 6 is a HUGE step forward for Apple that addresses several key issues with previous models, namely: battery life, display size, customisation options (hello, SwiftKey), and LTE-A grade mobile data speeds. All big USPs for those already locked inside Apple’s iPhone ecosystem, and more than enough reason to upgrade from an iPhone 5s or iPhone 5c. In the context of the wider smartphone market, I don’t think it is going to convince any ardent Android users over to Apple’s way of doing things, not with handsets like the Moto X, Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and LG G3 now readily available. Ditto for BlackBerry and Windows Phone.
That said, Apple doesn’t really need converts: the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are already selling at a record rate all over the world, so it doesn’t really matter whether you think this is an inferior handset to, say, the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 because it will, almost certainly, sell in greater quantities. And that, at the end of the day, is what matters to people like Apple and Samsung – sales, revenues and profits. Beyond this though the iPhone 6 is a great piece of kit, offering up an excellent camera, great performance, decent battery life and plenty of processing power. You also have access to one of the best mobile ecosystems –– in terms of content –– on the planet. And if none of that floats your boat, well, at least you have plenty of other options readily available on market from LG, Motorola, BlackBerry and Samsung.
Apple’s way of doing things might not be the most impressive but the iPhone, whatever way you look at it, is a defining product in its category, one that is instantly recognisable and, like Michael Jackson, is known in almost every corner of this planet called Earth. For this reason, it’s easy to see why Apple favours the softly-softly approach towards its biggest cash cow. The iPhone didn’t need a BIG update, as it was good enough already for most of Apple’s core clientele, so what Apple did is add in a few things people have been asking for, which is, in the cold light of day, a bigger display and a better battery. Personally, though, I am very impressed with the iPhone 6 (iOS 8 gripes aside) and would recommend it to anyone not already committed to either Android, Windows Phone or BlackBerry 10.
Apple
Apple iPhone 6
Apple iPhone 6 Plus
Apple iOS 8
TouchID
Apple Pay
Typical Price:
£539.00
Reviews
Pros:
Excellent design; Improved battery; larger, perfectly proportion display; Great imaging; Higher storage versions; iOS is a great ecosystem for apps, games and content
Richard Goodwin
Cons:
iOS 8 –– at the time of review –– is very buggy; Apple Pay isn't live in the UK; You need to use a protective case to stop backpanel getting scuffed
16:13, 14 Oct 2014
Verdict:
The iPhone 6 is a solid, well-designed update to the iPhone 5s with key improvements in several very important areas, including battery performance, display size, imaging and LTE support
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