The iPhone 6 Review
by Joshua Ho, Brandon Chester, Chris Heinonen & Ryan Smith on September 30, 2014 8:01 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Apple
- Mobile
- iPhone 6
With every launch of the iPhone, Apple seems to have everything to lose and not much to gain. Apple’s iPhone line accounts for the majority of profits in the smartphone space, and as the smartphone market marches towards maturity it seems inevitable that companies like Xiaomi will be able to deliver largely similar experiences at much lower prices. The same once happened with Apple in the days of the PC industry where Apple approached irrelevance. Yet generation after generation, Apple seems to be able to hold on to a majority of profit share, and they’ve managed to tenaciously hold on to their first-mover advantage.
This brings us to the iPhone 6. This is now the eighth generation of the iPhone, and the fifth generation of the iPhone’s industrial and material design. We should note right now that this review is specifically for the iPhone 6; for the iPhone 6 Plus, please see our iPhone 6 Plus companion review. At this point, it’s not really possible to revolutionize the smartphone, and on the surface, the iPhone 6 seems to be directly inspired by the iPod Touch. However, instead of the chamfered edge where the display meets the metal unibody we see a continuous curve from the sloping glass to the metal unibody that looks and feels great. While the M8 was one of the best phones for in-hand feel, the iPhone 6 goes a step further due to the reduced weight and rounded side. I've always felt like the HTC 8X had one of the most compelling shapes for a phone, and the incredibly thin feel of the iPhone 6 definitely reminds me of that.
Along the left side, we see the standard volume buttons and mute switch that continue to have the same solid feel and clean clicking action. As I discuss in the iPhone 6 Plus review, going by Consumer Reports' data it seems that there is a weak point near the bottom of the volume rocker, although it's far less likely to be an issue on the iPhone 6 due to its smaller size. Along the top, there isn’t a power button because it’s been moved to the right side of the phone so there’s nothing notable on the top.
On the right side, we see the previously mentioned power button and also the SIM tray, which is ejected by inserting a pin into the eject hole. Similarly to the volume buttons, the power button has a solid feel that gives a distinct click when triggered and continues to be quite unique when compared to phones other than recent iPhones.
The bottom has the Lightning connector, speaker, a microphone, and 3.5mm headset jack. The placement and design of all these elements are largely similar if not shared directly with the iPod Touch.
The back of the phone continues to share elements from the iPod Touch. The camera, microphone, and LED flash are almost identical in their appearance, even down to the camera hump’s design. The LED flash does look different to accommodate the second amber flash, but the shape is identical. The only real difference is that the antennas of the iPhone 6 are the metal pieces on the top and bottom, with the associated plastic lines instead of a plastic RF window.
The front of the phone is decidedly more similar to the iPhone 5s though, with the Touch ID home button. While the earpiece hasn’t moved, it seems that the front facing camera has been moved back to the left side of the earpiece, and the sensors for light and proximity are now above the earpiece. For the most part, there’s not much to comment on here but after using the iPhone 6 for an extended amount of time I’m definitely sure that the home button is relatively closer to the surface of the display glass than before. In addition, the home button has a dramatically improved feel, with short travel, clean actuation, and a reassuring click in most cases.
Overall, while I was undecided at the launch of the iPhone 6 I definitely think the look of the new iPhone has grown on me. The camera hump’s accent serves as an interesting design touch, and the feel of the design is definitely much more comfortable and ergonomic than before. I’m not really sure that the extra reduction in thickness was necessary, but it does make for a better first impression. In the launch article I was a bit surprised that Apple chose to have a camera hump but given the fact that the iPod Touch has the same design it seems that there is precedent for such a move. I personally feel that the design wouldn’t be worse by increasing thickness to eliminate the hump and improve battery life as a result.
Apple has also introduced a new silicone case, which brings a lower price point than the leather cases. Surprisingly, this is a rather high quality case, and as far as I can tell it doesn’t carry any of the issues that silicone cases traditionally have. There’s a nice lip to make sure that the display glass doesn’t touch a surface if the phone is put face down, and the material doesn’t seem to stretch or attract pocket lint the way most silicone cases do.
There’s definitely a lot more to talk about though, and to get a sense of the major differences I’ve put together our usual spec table below.
| Apple iPhone 5s | Apple iPhone 6 | Apple iPhone 6 Plus | |
| SoC | Apple A7 | Apple A8 | Apple A8 |
| Display | 4-inch 1136 x 640 LCD | 4.7-inch 1334 x 750 LCD | 5.5-inch 1920 x 1080 LCD |
| WiFi | 2.4/5GHz 802.11a/b/g/n, BT 4.0 | 2.4/5GHz 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, single stream, BT 4.0, NFC | |
| Storage | 16GB/32GB/64GB | 16GB/64GB/128GB | 16GB/64GB/128GB |
| I/O | Lightning connector, 3.5mm headset | ||
| Size / Mass | 123.8 x 58.6 x 7.6 mm, 112 grams | 138.1 x 67 x 6.9 mm, 129 grams | 158.1 x 77.8 x 7.1 mm, 172 grams |
| Camera |
8MP iSight with 1.5µm pixels Rear Facing + True Tone Flash 1.2MP f/2.4 Front Facing |
8MP iSight with 1.5µm pixels Rear Facing + True Tone Flash 1.2MP f/2.2 Front Facing |
8MP iSight with 1.5µm pixels Rear Facing + True Tone Flash + OIS 1.2MP f/2.2 Front Facing |
| Price | $99 (16GB), $149 (32GB) on 2 year contract | $199 (16GB), $299 (64GB), $399 (128GB) on 2 year contract | $299 (16GB), $399 (64GB), $499 (128GB) on 2 year contract |
As you can see, this is a major release even at a high level. While the design might take some inspiration from the iPod Touch, the hardware is a completely different beast. There’s a new SoC, the A8; the iPhone 6 also includes a bigger and better display, newer WiFi module, bigger battery, and a better camera. Of course, there’s a lot more to the story of the iPhone 6 than a spec sheet. The first major difference that we’ll talk about is the SoC.
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anactoraaron - Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - link
Wow someone got butthurt by my comment.Sad.
I simply noticed that the button travel comment seemed similar in every review. That and an and tech has been critical of other devices with software issues - or at they very least mentioned them like they did for mantle issues, etc.
Going to 'survive in the adult world' - you just gave yourself away Tony Swash (you). Your wording gives you away you apple tool.
Besides, I never stated anything about not liking the phone, you did.
Surviving in the adult world must be hard for you since you're the type of person to put words in others mouths.
Parhel - Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - link
Fact: anyone who uses the word "butthurt" has the intellect of a 12 year old.anactoraaron - Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - link
Butthurt is an accurate account of Tony's post. It's also a funny word to me, just like 'butt fumble'. I would also call him a troll. Is that a 12 year old word too?Would Asshurt work better for you?
Tell me something. Do you use any '12 year old' intellect sounding words? You can't possibly say no, because by saying no you will acknowledge that you are very familiar with what those words are - the implication would then be that you, in fact, use those words yourself often and will 'nullify' your 'attack' on my comment.
How else could you then explain your position that only someone with a 12 year olds intellect would use that term?
I would think that only someone with a 12 year old's intellect would make such post on a forum about a phone. See how easy it is to do that?
Besides, my intellect wasn't being challenged by Tony, since he's a troll and all, but if you want a debate I'll happily oblige.
insomniable - Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - link
"Tell me something. Do you use any '12 year old' intellect sounding words? You can't possibly say no, because by saying no you will acknowledge that you are very familiar with what those words are - the implication would then be that you, in fact, use those words yourself often and will 'nullify' your 'attack' on my comment."I don't use a Dildo. but i know what one is...
Just because you know of something does not mean you use it, for future reference.
anactoraaron - Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - link
Do I really have to explain that a dildo is an object and a 12 year olds vocabulary isn't such a tangible thing?I'll use smaller words so you and your friends can all understand.
One person's opinion of what words do and what do not resemble the intellect of a 12 year old will vary from person to person. To accurately demonstrate you are speaking a 'Fact:' you should have a lot of experience in speaking with a 12 year old and like a 12 year old to make a post that, ironically enough, starts with this person stating 'Fact:' as if they themselves are prepubescent in age.
And surely someone who is likely called a dildo often will know what one is.
doobydoo - Wednesday, October 1, 2014 - link
Wow dude, you're just seriously retarded.First, you make a stupid criticism of an article because you claim they repeated an opinion they had previously. WOW, they can't possibly maintain the same opinion that they had previously. BIAS!!!
Then, you make a stupid criticism that they haven't brought up a bug which affected a small number of people and has already been fixed, and likely hadn't happened / was already fixed by the time this article was written. Why write about an issue which isn't there for anyone purchasing the phone?
Someone points out to you how ridiculous you're being, and you call him 'butthurt'. The only person appearing 'butthurt' is you - by the review, because it doesn't satisfy your pathetic anti-Apple agenda.
Then, as if to confirm what we already knew, you underline your lack of intellect with a series of logical errors:
'you will acknowledge that you are very familiar with what those words are - the implication would then be that you, in fact, use those words'
So you don't understand that knowing a word and using a word are different things.
'How else could you then explain your position that only someone with a 12 year olds intellect would use that term?'
Um, because it's an immature, illogical word to use? Which you can know whether you use it or not?
'Do I really have to explain that a dildo is an object and a 12 year olds vocabulary isn't such a tangible thing?'
So you failed to understand his example which explained to you (with an example) that knowing what something is and using it are different things, and you're now going on about tangibility? His point never depended on a particular vocabulary being 'tangible', and your tangential argument that it did just shows you didn't understand the example.
'To accurately demonstrate you are speaking a 'Fact:' you should have a lot of experience in speaking with a 12 year old and like a 12 year old to make a post'
This is just wrong on so many levels. Firstly, his use of 'fact' is clearly not used in the literal sense. Secondly, having experience speaking with 'a 12 year old and like a 12 year old' wouldn't allow you to use it in the literal sense, and thirdly - if it did, you wouldn't necessarily have to act like one yourself to understand what one is.
'And surely someone who is likely called a dildo often will know what one is.'
What kind of argument are you trying to make here? Who said anything about anyone being called a 'dildo'? Way to just miss the point, completely.
What happened here, in summary, is that you cried all over an iPhone review because it didn't criticise what you wanted it to, accused this clearly objective site of having bias, and then called anyone 'butthurt' who pointed out how illogical you were being. You then proceeded to fail to understand when someone was telling you how you were being immature, taking it literally and coming up with a series of logically invalid arguments to take the conversation on a pointless (and incorrect) tangent.
Grow up, accept that the review can be positive without having bias, and try not to define your life on how successful consumer products that you hate all over are.
tekeffect - Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - link
This is the first Iphone I have ever used. I was on the Palm Pre and then have used HTC Evos and One until now. The usb port on my HTC One will no longer hold a cable to charge (2 friends are having similar problems) HTC and sprint wont fix it. So I was attracted to apple because of apple care. Best warranty around. After using using the phone for over a week I like it a lot. I miss my back button and a few other things from android but this is a great phone and android loyalist should give it a shot. The 1GB Ram is a bit ridiculous thoughcenthar - Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - link
To give up my phone would be like getting shipped off to North Korea... No Thanks! I like my freedom!elian123 - Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - link
How do you judge the in-hand feel and size of the iPhone 6 compared to the new Moto X?toukale - Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - link
Man, android fans are livid with this review. Here is the thing, the fact is the current mobile world have apple's hand all over it, whether you want to admit it or not. All current smartphones are using templates from 2007, nothing and I mean nothing has change from that fundamental truth. The current Arm chips that's in everyone smartphones have apple written all over it, it was founded by apple and ARM holdings and served as the basis for the Apple Newton in 1994. Apple sold a lot of their stake when the company ran into financial trouble in 1997. Apple still own a big stake into ARM even today, which might explain why they were able to get 18-24 months jump on everyone for the 64bit ARM chip. This is why most android fans are mad, they just don't want to give apple any sort of credit no matter what. Look, unless android change the current mobile market as far as how we are currently using our smartphones, Apple will always have those things as the pioneer of the modern smartphone. I will not hold my breath for it either since no one in the android camp have the clout for that kind of industry change movement. Have you ever notice what android fans count as revolutionary, NFC, bigger screen, 3gb ram, really! Those things are not android inventions, the NFC is the worst, because it is a standard that's available for anyone to use, but according to those android fans, it is their invention /s. How about market defining things, like you know, forced the industry from bb and their clones blackjack to touch interface. Shifting away the carrier stronghold from pre-2007 to what it is today. Although android undid all of that by shifting it right back to the carriers (thank you google), which is why android still needs carriers to approved their updates.