“Wow!”
That was my initial reaction to the iPhone 6 Plus when I held it after the event in Cupertino. It was so big—I was positive that I would opt for the more compact iPhone 6. I was wrong.
Despite my initial reaction, three months in and I’m happily using the iPhone 6 Plus. The larger screen is glorious for my aging eyes and I find I’m able to get more done on a phone than ever before.
During the week I used the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus before they were released publicly, I switched back and forth between the devices, which really didn’t give either a fair chance to work their way into my life. After the review posted, I settled on the iPhone 6, just like I thought I would.
During the couple of weeks using the iPhone 6, I continually thought about the 6 Plus. I liked the 6, but it seemed like a safe upgrade for me—I thought I should take myself out of my comfort zone and use the 6 Plus for a while, just to see what it was like.
With a trip to London, England planned for late September, I switched to the iPhone 6 Plus. I figured if there was ever a good test for a new device, it was being away from home with no way to switch back. I’m glad I did.
During the trip to iTunes Festival in London, I used the new iPhone to write and post stories,1 and do my normal daily email, browsing, texting, and social networking.
What struck me right away is how much the larger screen actually helped me. I need glasses these days for reading on the smaller phones—reading too much without them causes eye strain, which can become uncomfortable after a while. To be clear, the screen on the iPhone 6 Plus is still clearer with my glasses, but I was able to much more on-the-go because of the larger screen2.
I carry my phone in my front pocket all the time—the iPhone 6 Plus is no different. I saw all of those reports claiming the iPhone was bending and I call bullshit on it. I’ve been carrying the 6 Plus in my pocket for three months and there is no indication of any bending at all.
One thing that I did wonder about was how much the 6 Plus would affect my iPad usage. Perhaps it’s the way I use my devices, but I haven’t found the larger iPhone has affected the way I use my iPads much at all.
The iPhone for me is my communication device—phone, email, iMessage, Twitter, Facebook, and taking pictures. It’s my everyday, always in my pocket device. If an email comes in, I reach for my iPhone, not my iPad3.
My iPad Air 2 is the device I use at night, after I’ve put the computer down for the day, but I still have a few links to visit, or some research to do. It works perfectly in those situations for me. I can take notes, save links to Instapaper and everything will be waiting for me on the MacBook Air in the morning.
I also use the Air 2 to play my guitar through. The larger screen is better suited to turn amp dials and call up presets when I’m playing around.
I use the iPad mini when I’m going out—not for business, but rather if I’m going for a coffee and want to read something. I’ll even do some work on it while I enjoy my coffee, similar to how I use my iPad Air 2 at night.
With those uses in mind, it’s easy to see how one device hasn’t really affected how I work on the others.
I do get more done with the iPhone 6 Plus, just not at the expense of other devices. On the older iPhones, if there was something important that needed to be done on the site, I would most-likely go home and do it. Now, I feel a bit more comfortable doing it on-the-go.
The iPhone 6 Plus surprised me. Everything I thought I would dislike about it, are now the features I like the most.
“Wow!”
That’s what I said last weekend when I saw my friend’s iPhone 5s. It’s so small.
- I did it out of necessity, not because I was trying to prove something by writing a story on the iPhone 6 Plus. Having said that, it was a good exercise. ↩
- This could be resolved by taking my glasses with me everywhere I go, but I’m a dumbass and I always forget them or I would lose them if I did remember to bring them with me. ↩
- Unless I already have the iPad in my hand doing something else. In which case, I’d have to be completely stupid to reach for the iPhone. ↩
The effect of larger screens on phones is mostly psychological. Android firms needed a way to improve processor performance (because of the bloated, slow OS) and had to do so without reducing battery life.
The only answer was bigger screens, so that a bigger battery could fit inside. Most people called them too big at the beginning. Then they slowly warmed to them. And the iPhone started to look comparatively small.
The iPhone 6 Plus had to happen. And it works well. It’s the right time, people are ready for these screen sizes.
Thanks for blowing the 6 Plus’s bending myth out of the water, Jim.
Apple seems like they pay people off to write good reviews iPhone is very limited on what it can do no removable batter no SD card can’t be customized if half these people used an android their opinion will change
However, the keyboards on iPhones have punctuation keys.
No one cares a whit about removable SD cards or batteries. I definitely have no use for them, nor do the vast majority of users. Nor do I want a crappy micro USB connector either.
I’ll ask what the others are being too polite to: Are you actually accusing Jim of being paid for this review, troll?
I believe the rule is once the batter has been announced you can remove him, but he is no longer eligible for that game. I could be wrong though, I’m not completely up to date on the rules.
Remember when these guys were all certain that 3.5 inches was the perfect screen size?
It’s amazing what SAMSUNG pay trolls to write..
I couldn’t agree with you more! My experience with the Plus after a month has sold me on the beauty of this device. The initial reaction of most is “it’s so big” but once the hold it even for a few minutes the second reaction is “it’s not so bad once in your hands”. That’s the genius and beauty of the design, bigger but made in a way that feels comfortable. The larger screen is vibrant, clear and easy to read. Even using it as a phone (which is the feature I use least) is not a bad experience as many would imply. Now I use the 5S issued to me from work and I say “what is this little toy?”.
Samsung does it: “What’s it going to include with this beast, a wagon to carry it in?”
Apple does it: “The larger screen is glorious for my aging eyes and I find I’m able to get more done on a phone than ever before.”
Question: how is this kind of journalism useful to the readers of this site, other than to justify their preconceived notions about Apple’s superiority in all situations, regardless of any facts?
How is it a myth if it’s happening to users?
Can’t be much. Troll quality has gone down.
I absolutely do. It was the time when 3.5 inches was the perfect screen size.
It’s not happening to the vast majority of people. Just because you can make it happen doesn’t mean it is happening to people en masse. It’s just like the iPhone 4’s antenna issue.
The myth is that it is happening to everyone, which the media would certainly have you believe, judging from how they talk about it.
Times are changing, all of the time – for everyone.
Exactly. I remember when Steve Jobs introduced it, calling it “a huge display”. 3.5″ was huge back then. Just because the world has evolved doesn’t mean that what happened in the past is wrong. If you’d given people a 5.5″ phone back then, it would not have gone over well at all.
If it’s happening, it’s not a myth. Also, the antenna issue happened to me personally. The place I used to live had mediocre cell phone reception. My phone would receive calls, but as soon as I picked it up, it would immediately drop them.
You’re saying that people got so much stronger that they don’t need wagons anymore to carry slightly larger phones?
Or are you saying that Note-sized phones used to be a bad idea three years ago, and are now a good idea? If so, what exactly has changed?
That would be a pretty stupid accusation. We all know that Jim doesn’t need to get paid to think that everything Apple does is pure gold, and everything anyone else does is crap.
I’ll bite. Yes phones can be bent. There was a bit of a flurry with the iPhone 5 over the same topic.
However, Jim is not a svelte thing, and his reporting of having it in his front pocket would surely brought to light any bending under normal usage, surely.
It implies that the vast majority of bent iPhones were bent intentionally. In some cases for publicity.
Man, did Steve Jobs piss in your cornflakes?
All I am seeing is an Anti-Apple hater trolling an Apple site.
Another point for my theory that big phones appeal heavily to old (and aging) people.
Well, what changed is that someone finally made a large phone that was actually good and worth buying.
(See, I can troll too.)
“No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.”
Jim did not bend his phone by accident. Therefore, the vast majority of people who have bent phones bent theirs intentionally.
Is this really what you’re saying? Do you really think this is the most likely explanation? Hundreds of people buy very expensive phones, only to bend them in order to make some weird point about Apple, and the proof for this hypothesis is that one person did not accidentally bend his phone?
The Note sold well — that’s why Apple made the 6 plus. Obviously, lots of people thought it was worth buying.
My first Mac was a Performa 450. I’ve used Apple gear ever since. Right now, I have three Mac Books on this desk, two Retinas and a 17″. I also have three iPads, and I’ve owned a bunch of iPhones. In fact, I still own an original iPhone shrink-wrapped; I loved it so much that I bought one just to keep it in pristine condition.
If you truly think that anyone who criticises Apple (or has positive things to say about companies that aren’t Apple) must be an Apple-hater who trolls Apple sites, you should take a step back, and look at your own motivations. Why are you defending Apple? What good does it do you if Apple doesn’t improve, because Apple sites only report positive stuff? If you use Apple gear, doesn’t it make more sense to criticise them, because you want them to become better?
I think Jim is doing Apple (and its customers) a huge disservice by not talking about the stuff they do wrong, and always framing everything they do in a positive light.
SD Cards are useful, particularly for phones that have low internal memory (i.e. 32GB and 16GB devices). If you take a lot of pictures or use Audible or a Podcast client, it makes a lot of sense to store that stuff on an SD Card, not least because that makes it simple to get data off your phone.
I think Jim should get paid by apple, he deserves it 😉
(just a joke, i don’t agree with the insinuation)
Yes, any added feature like that may be useful to some people, but there
are tradeoffs. An SD card uses up extremely valuable real estate
internally that can be used for things that all users need, like more
battery life, as opposed to an SD card slot that I doubt even 10% of
users would take advantage of. I have never needed one, it’s a hassle,
just another potential point of mechanical failure, like SD cards I’ve
used in cameras. If my camera could store all the pics internally and
then automatically offload them wirelessly to my Mac, like my iPhone
does, I would much prefer that.
You’re right about all of your points, but I would just add that current phones are still space-constrained. While a 128GB iPhone is fine for most people, personally, I’m taking a lot of pictures and movies, and would prefer to be able to store them on an SD Card instead of the internal memory.
Well, I’m aging, but I prefer a smaller phone. The 5S is just right. The 6 that I hope to get sometime next year is almost too big for my taste. 6 Plus or anything else bigger: no way.
Having said that, despite that I am almost 50, my eyes apparently are different many folks (at least among the sample of my friends and family): I can see fine close up and need glasses for far away. (Far away being about 15 feet, thanks to an astigmatism — all my life. Still the glasses are really for much farther than that.) I take off my glasses to read a book, a phone screen, the computer display on my desk.
My point here is that it really doesn’t matter how old someone is. What matters is how their eyes are, and young people can be nearsighted, farsighted, and have astigmatism, too.
Apple made a larger phone when it was ready to. If it was trying to be an also-ran, it would have made a larger phone within a year of Samsung doing one.
Next wrong idea?
I thought he was talking about pancake batter — in which case the warranty is voided because the liquid damage indicators are probably tripped. In any case, it’s good to remove the batter before operating the phone.
So this guy uses the 6 plus, air 2 and mini – all of them – what a loser
Bullshit. Jim is critical when he believes it’s called for. If his perspective on that differs from yours, you’re welcome to start a blog. And if you’re as accurate and insightful as Jim, I’d read it.
you seem to be lost. in more ways than one…
but asshattery aside, i have several tools i use:
iphone
ipad mini
ipad air
macbook pro
imac
….each have different use cases and scenarios. you know, just like the other tools i may have in the garage. dur durrrr
its not happening to users. apple’s data had only 9 people in the millions from launch who had the issue.
a post by a guy on a website saying his bent in his front pocket isnt data. a guy on youtube getting paid via hits to bend phones isnt data.
if you have real data, please share it with us. but you wont, because you dont. tool.
thats your crappy reception/house, not an attenuation problem in the phone. apple & at&t’s data showed the dropped calls on the 4 were very, very few and not unlike the previous 3GS handset. the rest was just a circus when people realized they could use a grip of death to diminish signal. jobs even showed it on other phones.
but the real proof? that they continued to sell the exact same iPhone 4 for years, without changing it. oops on you.
the day you can provide some data showing there is a problem w/ people bending their phones thru no fault of their own, is the day ill wire you $10,000. but you wont. because you cant. tool.
hello, paid shill!
or are you 14?
your SD card is likely slower than internal. and it introduces complications in the OS id rather not deal with, as a user or a dev.
and i really do not believe you take more photos or vids than a high-capacity device like a 128gb phone can accommodate.
Question: what does a troll like you get out of existing?
ah, youre a Way-Back-When-Troll. note that this variant often morphs into a Concern-Troll, identified by their “…but what I see today concerns me!” remarks.
so well that samesung mobile profits are down the shitter. oops. that must be hard for you.
I’m in the same boat with phone and eyesight, but I stand by my theory of 2+ years (which I usually call my “grandma theory” but that seemed offensive). Anecdotally, I’ve noticed people who use big phones tend to be older (or douchier but, fortunately, Jim cited his aging eyes). This tendency was also noted by Kantar.
http://techcrunch.com/2014/12/03/kantar-apple-on-track-for-record-quarter-as-iphone-6-sales-bump-up-its-market-share-vs-android/
Granted, it is eyesight, not age, that makes the difference, but people blame age for their worsening eyesight, not vice versa.
How much attention have you given to life , rather than these stupid gadgets ?
Have you noticed , how uncontrollably, you want to take that iphone out of your pocket and fiddle with it !
The plural of anecdote is not fucking evidence.
How much attention have you given to life? Especially so since you seem to think some device over another is superior or inferior. Not to mention you replied to Kyron within an hour of his response.
Me thinks doth protest too much.
In other words, you are full of shit. Just in case that was too wordy for you.
Seems to me like a case of using the right tool for the job at hand, though I’m a bit surprised at the use of both iPad Mini and iPad Air, as I see insufficient differentiation between the two. However there’s also little difference between a 12mm socket and a 1/2 inch one until it really matters!
If you are taking a lot of pictures and movies, then there is likely a better tool for that task than a phone with it’s tiny lens and limited CCD.
Yes, you’re right. If you make unreasonable requests, I won’t be able to satisfy them.
Yes, it’s crappy reception in the house. That’s the point. If you’re in a location with borderline reception, merely touching the phone wrong can make the call drop. And no, that didn’t happen with the 3G I had previously.
Actually, it is. Of course it is. Anecdotes ARE evidence. The saying you were looking for is “the plural of anecdote is not data”, but data and evidence are not the same thing.
Yes, but the phone is what I have with me. Besides, Apple is advertising it as a good way to take pictures.
Why? Why should I care about Samsung’s profits? Or Apple’s, for that matter? And why do you? Are you an Apple shareholder? Or a Samsung shareholder? If not, why do you care?
Question: If you think I’m just trolling, why do you take the time to respond to every single comment I write?
Just calling me a troll merely shows that you have no arguments. It’s called an ad hominem. Look it up 🙂
More than you have , my cells or atoms are exploding with ecstasy
Uh huh. Well I think I am done here…
oh, absolutely, am I glad !
Chevy advertises a pickup truck as a good way to move gravel.