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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Samus - Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - link
tl/drAceMcLoud - Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - link
lol, retardroids crack me upninjaroll - Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - link
LOL. That's pretty sad. I would NEVER spend more than 2 minutes writing about a product I don't intend on using. You seem a LITTLE obsessed with Apple judging by your username. But I applaud you for having so much free time, must be nice having so much disposable time. I say you focus on using whatever works for you.bigstrudel - Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - link
It took a second to scroll by your post, but I had to scroll back up to read your line"Last but not least, every Apple product includes a direct hotlink to the NSA, free of charge, something that might make it a good value, after all."
Wait. Apple is the one with NSA connections?
Aljazeera released emails that show Google's founders speaking with the NSA director on a first name basis.
In 2004, Google bought Keyhole, a geospatial data visualization company with history and investments made by the CIA. Keyhole's marquee application suite, Earth Viewer, emerged as Google Earth in 2005 while other aspects of its technology were integrated into Google Maps.
SELinux was created by the NSA for "security purposes" and is included on Android with Google's permission. It cannot be disabled.
Do you think AOSP will save you with it's "millions of eyes" strategy? Wrong. Google Apps are closed source and cannot be removed by 99% of the population.
Yes. We don't really know what happens to the data that Apple collects. But Apple is a hardware company. They make their money selling devices.
We do know what Google does with our data however. Google exists to collect and sell user data. Distributing an OS and App package that collects user data is a far better strategy for mass spying than trying to directly compete with only a single companies hardware.
And there is nothing to stop Google from handing over anything they want behind closed doors, like you accuse Apple of, but with no evidence.
WinterCharm - Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - link
Someone's upset that their phone isn't the "best"bigstrudel - Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - link
DEVS.2nd response with a wall of text? On a popular website? Impossible. He clearly had it pre-prepared before the review was even ready seeing as it's the size and quality of a 7th graders essay.
Delete this trash.
RandomReader - Thursday, October 2, 2014 - link
You never stop making censorship requests, do you?Here we go again:
In contrast to you I very much enjoyed reading the differing viewpoint mentioned above, albeit the fact that it does display a healthy dislike for apple products in general and has been written by an obvious android fan-boy.
Now what I don't like that much is your request to censor the aforementioned post and all related answers out of purely private motives.
Just because you deem something inappropriate and dispensable, it doesn't has to be that way, thus I politely ask you to respect the right of others to enjoy unhindered freedom of speech in general and the existence of other peoples personal opinions.
Hereby I politely ask you to abstain from censorship requests out of mainly egoistic, egocentric motivations, please respect other peoples rights and opinions.
As a side note, based on your behavior and the totalitarian nature of your requests, I suspect you to be either a member of some law enforcement entity or
an individual blessed with a pretty weak character, apparently unable to deal with differing viewpoints in a grown up, factual manner.
kattahn - Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - link
"The apple way, selling over expensive crap to stupid consumers that like toget robbed."
starting at 200$ is the price that every companies top end smartphone starts at. iPhones have always been priced competitively.
"The iwatch is such an ugly piece of crap" - opinion
"Some characteristics are glaringly obvious and inherent to it: over expensive" - compared to what
"hardly innovative" - combining messaging, navigation, and health features into a watch with TONs of interchangeable bands, integrating the watch dial as manual control, and the ability to use touch feedback to the user to communicate non-visual messages. Inductive charging without the need for a cradle. Theres really no other smart watch doing all of this...
"limited functionality and usability (need of an iPhone to make it work)" - Yup. Its an extension of your phone. this is normal.
"looks exactly like a toy watch and so on." - Have you seen it with any of the nice metal bands? And with the face up? What kind of toy watches are you looking at?
"There are of course way better smart watches out there, especially from the
likes of Samsung, Sony, Motorola, Asus, LG, simply put, there is no need for
another piece of over expensive junk." - You've never used a wearable before, have you? Or read any reviews? Every android one so far has been pretty terrible, with the "flagship" that everyone was waiting on using a 4 year old SoC.
"The iPhone 6 is technologically stuck in pre-2011 times, a base model with
a capacity of 16GB without the possibility to use SD cards isn't even funny
anymore. " - I 100% agree. Apple is making a ton of money off limiting storage capacity.
"Now the Iphone 6 Plus offers a „Retina HD“ screen, full 1920x1080p, oh wow,
where have you been for the past 4 years apple, talk about trailing behind." - First 1080p smartphones came out in q4 of 2012.
"Car engines come to mind. For comparisons shake let’s look at a 1.0 liter, turbo
charged petrol engine and a V8 compressor. What’s better should be obvious, but
by calling the former an „ecobooster“, thus giving it a special marketing label,
this joke becomes a „feature“, something positive that can be added tot the list
of features of a car." - so we've made it clear you know literally cars. got it. stick to analogies with things that you understand.
"FACT: Apple has been forced to copy Android in style and size for
years because people abandoned their tired, moribund and fossilized
devices for superior and innovative Android devices." - Yes, they'e been taking the best features of android for a while now, and leaving the bad ones behind. And they've got a damn fine product to show for it.
"charge a premium price and
wait for the rubes like Jim Smith to hand over their cash like the good
iSheep they are." - Again, iphones are priced the same as any other smartphone.
"For all their squealing about Retina displays, they never even had a HD display until now;
8th time is the charm, though you need the iPhone Galaxy Note to get the 1080p that many Android
users have had for at least a year and is now considered
bare-minimum spec." Yes, androids have been pushing resolutions WAY higher than their processors and batteries could handle for several years. And they've been laggy/stuttery and have had terrible battery life the whole time.
And thats the part that you and the other fanboys just don't understand. Specsheets are boderline useless. Ask intel about spec sheet races during the netburst era of CPUs. Intel ran out clock speed improvements like crazy and got trounced with better user experience and performance by AMD CPUs running half the clock rate.
We can also use your inept car analogy here. Because with engines, bigger is not always better. Not by a longshot. A BMW M3 with a twin-turbo straight 6 pushes more HP and will outperform a Mustang with a 5.0L V8. An Ariel Atom with a 2.3L naturally aspirated engine will beat both cars in 0-60, and will outhandle them both. Because the entire car was built around performance. Point being, If all you look at is horsepower or engine size, you have no idea what you're doing and aren't really getting the best product for what you're trying to do.
Apple creates fantastic, tightly designed products that focus on the user experience. They have 100% control of their hardware and software ecosystems and are able to highly optimize everything they do to provide the highest level of performance they can. If you pick up an iphone 6, regardless of the specs, the screen will look great, the battery life will be great, the phone will be flawlessly snappy and won't lockup/hang/get slow over time. You'll have a great user experience, even if it doesn't spec for spec line up against a 2014 android flagship. Just like if you get into an ariel atom and hit the gas, it will absolutely throw you back against the seat and show you power and acceleration you've never felt before, even though by specs it doesn't look comparable at all to something like an M3 or a Mustang 5.0
Ant1matt3r - Tuesday, September 30, 2014 - link
I've never seen so much admiration or hatred for a company as I have Apple. Have you thought to think that, considering the length of your diatribe, that Apple is doing something RIGHT?I mean, to polarize the world into groups of fanbois and haters, with each being equally passionate about Apple, I'd have to say that they're doing a damn fine job.
If they can compel you to write a 5,000 word essay denouncing their product, imagine what they do for people who actually ENJOY what they do.
dmacfour - Wednesday, October 1, 2014 - link
I don't think the world is actually polarized.There's the 5% that are Apple fanboys, the 5% that would murder Steve Jobs if they had the opportunity, and then the 90% that'll buy wherever is the coolest.One thing is certain: the iPhone is a superior product from a business standpoint.