Thanks for the hands on. It'll be nice to see the review - this version of the iPhone seems to have a lot less fanfare than I expected. I'm hoping you get some nice details on the A8 SoC, I'd love to hear more about that.
Also, is anybody reminded of the Lumia 925? Minus the camera bump of course, but I swear they look similar in my head. I think it's the sides...
I had to get mine out to take a look as I thought it resembled the 925. On closer inspection it is like a mix of the 925 and the M8 (with its plastic lines on the back).
Its crazy how little fanfare this launch is getting compared to last years iPhone 5s. I think Apple have missed a few beats with this launch and it is seeming to be underwhelming on quite a few fronts.
Think of leaves of green-leaf lettuce. The leaves are ostensibly a thin plane, which can be thought of as 2D, but the plane itself is larger in some places (towards the outer edge) than others. This doesn't seem to make sense, until you look at it in 3D space and see that the 2D surface is following a curve.
In other words, any plane that follows a curve is 2.5D.
Another way to look at it is that there was absolutely no reason to make the phone thinner (and thus create a camera bump) besides a weird fetishism for slender devices, so in that light it's actually very Apple indeed.
All-in-all, incredibly underwhelming. Pretty much every feature is catching up to the competition, except that the 6 still has a lower resolution screen than the current mid- to low-end standard of 720p, and doesn't even have OIS. And it still starts at 16GB of storage and has crazy mark-up for additional amounts. And, inexplicably, there isn't even a 32GB option.
Personally, I also find the new design somewhere between "meh" and "kinda ugly". I'm not an iPhone fan in the first place, but I would never have said they weren't attractive phones. Until now. The thinness is completely "meh"; we're well past the point where making it thinner has any real benefit. It doesn't make it fit the hand better and it makes little difference in the pocket either. I also don't get the point of making it that thin and then having the camera module stick out like that.
Correction: the screen on the 6 is actually just a tad higher than 720p. I was thinking of the 5's resolution and neglected to notice the bump to the incredibly oddball resolution. So it's merely roughly equivalent to the current mid- to low-end standard.
The 16GB starting point is weird, but I disagree about not having the 32GB model. For the same $100 jump in price that you paid to go from 16GB to 32GB on the iPhone 5S, you get 64GB instead. And the next $100 jump gets you 128GB. At least now the pricing points are more consistent than before.
While it's certainly an improvement that $100 now gets you from 16GB to 64GB, they're still forcing you to spend $100 to upgrade. There should be an option to go to 32GB for $50, at the very least. 16GB is too little for a lot of people, but 64GB may be too much.
The base model should have 32GB in the first place, honestly. They bill the iPhone as a premium product but then equip it with mid- to low-tier specs.
I like this price point. It's like a compromise between business and consumer-centric. With the 16gb are made for higher margins and people who just "want an iphone" it makes a whole lot of sense. And for people who Need the extra storage, they're actually getting rewarded for it, while they take a small profit margin hit. I guess it's Apple's way of "giving back" once you go higher. But they still want to retain the high margins of the 16gb. I'm betting statistically, 16GB iphones are the ones that probably make up > 50% of iphone sales.
I am not happy with the entry level staying at 16 GB. Apple probably knows how much storage most people are using. In this era, 16 GB is very easy to fill, but 32 GB seems to be the sweet spot for most people who don't have very high requirements. If they gave 32 GB as the starting point, most people would not need to go to next higher capacity and profits would be lower. For those people who need 32 GB, it won't make a huge difference to have 64 GB.
I suspect most people actually don't fill 16GB and it's probably also encouragement for those who would to bump up to the next level which is 2x what it was last year for the same money.
I've always been against Apple's whole "models" bullshit. Do u see ANY other company that has models??? NO! Cuz they're generous enough to give u a microsd slot. Something apple will never implement, cuz it won't make them nearly as much money as they do this way. But think about fascinating that is... Apple products are the only pieces of mobile/portable technology that DO NOT have a freaking microsd slot! I mean I've seen shitty 2$ MP3 players on eBay from China that give u a microsd. Nuf said!
Holy cow! 77.8mm is huge for a 5.5" device when the phablet market has stabilized at around 74.5mm. Most manufacturers try to offer the largest possible screen in ever smaller frames. What were Apple thinking when they decided to keep the same bezel proportions on the 5.5" model? This is one fail of a phablet! I never thought Apple would observe the phablet segment for so long only to underdeliver on the single most important phablet characteristic.
The apple way, selling over expensive crap to stupid consumers that like to get robbed.
This has been a disastrous launch in every respect. The iwatch is such an ugly piece of crap, it is truly unbelievable how a company, formerly known for its remarkable design, dares to put out such a crap ton of shit. Some characteristics are glaringly obvious and inherent to it: over expensive, hardly innovative, limited functionality and usability (need of an iPhone to make it work), looks exactly like a toy watch and so on.
There are of course way better smart watches out there, especially form the likes of Samsung, Sony, Motorola, Asus, LG, simply put, there is no need for another piece of over expensive junk.
The iPhone 6 is technologically stuck in pre-2011 times, a base model witch a capacity of 16GB without the possibility to use SD cards isn't even funny anymore. The screen resolution is horrendous, it isn't water proof, shock and dust resistant, it offers nothing innovative, just some incremental updates over its predecessor, both lacking severely behind their competitors at their respective launch dates.
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. That’s pathetic. The interesting thing about that is the fact that apple always manages to sell backwards oriented, outdated crap to its user base, all while pretending to be an innovative technology leader. The similarities regarding any form of sectarian cult are striking.
You gotta love how Apple always comes up with new marketing bullshit terms, aka "Retina HD", with the intention to manipulate its users while preventing easy comparisons with its competitors by withholding the actual specs. Apparently it’s not enough to have an 1080p screen, you have to call it "Retina HD" to make those suckers buy it, otherwise someone could look at the 4K Amoled and Oled screens form LG and Samsung devices and get outright disappointed. Same goes for everything else. Every outdated „feature“ needs to get its own marketing label to persuade buyers with crappy „experience“ and „usability“ ads, while covering the truth with marketing gibberish, knowing full well that only a fraction of aforementioned buyers cares to look at the facts and dares to compare them.
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.
By doing so a negative aspect is transformed into a positive one, the reality is distorted, non tech savvy buyers are manipulated and comparisons are made more difficult (another layer of marketing bullshit to overcome), well done marketing department. You see , if something is seriously lacking (of course for profit, what else), don’t bother explaining, just give it a nice marketing term, distort reality, make it a feature and call it a day. Fuck that!!
The Apple Iphone 1 and Ipad 1 might have been innovative at their time, but since then, the bitten apple has been continuously rotting from the inside outwards, always swarmed by millions of Iworms which regale themselves with its rotten flesh, not forgetting all other Americans who support apple by means of their tax dollars to finance its bought US Treasury/Government bond interest rates.
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.
You should entire the fact that it is 77.8mm broad, this is bloody large for a 5.5" device, even the Chinese brands have smaller bezels now (75mm) not to mention LG (74.8mm) and Sharp (73mm). I am astounded by the fact that Apple enters the phablet segment with the thickest bezels in the market!
And agree on trailing behind. Even with their first. Smartphone. It took them longer than everyone else to upgrade to 3G,and then later to 4g, or add a flash for their camera. On the hardware side they have never been ahead of the market. They only had a Software edge pre-Android. Back then HTC already had the best hardware.
Get out of here. You just hate on Apple because you are a bitch. People buy apple because of ios it's not laggy or sluggish like andriod parts are better that's why they last longer. Never had to replace my iPhone did have to replace my note 3 twice and my s4 three times. I have my 5s and I'm using the s5 now and I feel the 5s is way better mostly because of ios it feels much faster
I am curious.. why, with a 64 bit processor, did Apple not boost RAM to beyond 1 Gig; to 4 Gig? It would seem to choke processes that would benefit from a larger amount of RAM vis a vis the 64 bit tech. Because .. if you have less RAM.. you have to cache more to storage. Smaller RAM capacity = more caching operations. Or am i just behind the curve with my old school brain..? ;-)
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32 Comments
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Drumsticks - Tuesday, September 9, 2014 - link
Thanks for the hands on. It'll be nice to see the review - this version of the iPhone seems to have a lot less fanfare than I expected. I'm hoping you get some nice details on the A8 SoC, I'd love to hear more about that.Also, is anybody reminded of the Lumia 925? Minus the camera bump of course, but I swear they look similar in my head. I think it's the sides...
jimbo2779 - Tuesday, September 9, 2014 - link
I had to get mine out to take a look as I thought it resembled the 925. On closer inspection it is like a mix of the 925 and the M8 (with its plastic lines on the back).Its crazy how little fanfare this launch is getting compared to last years iPhone 5s. I think Apple have missed a few beats with this launch and it is seeming to be underwhelming on quite a few fronts.
boozed - Tuesday, September 9, 2014 - link
Wow, 77.8 mm is pretty thick!And what the hell is "2.5D"?
mkozakewich - Wednesday, September 10, 2014 - link
Think of leaves of green-leaf lettuce. The leaves are ostensibly a thin plane, which can be thought of as 2D, but the plane itself is larger in some places (towards the outer edge) than others. This doesn't seem to make sense, until you look at it in 3D space and see that the 2D surface is following a curve.In other words, any plane that follows a curve is 2.5D.
craighamilton - Saturday, December 6, 2014 - link
This day...Apple products are not very popular anymore if you look at consumer based reviews (such as http://www.topreport.org/phones/ for example...)kasziel - Thursday, September 11, 2014 - link
thats the width not the thicknessFleeb - Tuesday, September 9, 2014 - link
"so there seems to have been an industrial design trade-off here for the sake of functionality"Apple? Really?
Spunjji - Thursday, September 11, 2014 - link
Another way to look at it is that there was absolutely no reason to make the phone thinner (and thus create a camera bump) besides a weird fetishism for slender devices, so in that light it's actually very Apple indeed.makip - Friday, September 12, 2014 - link
No that's not the case, as thinner devices of this size are easier to hold.dishayu - Wednesday, September 10, 2014 - link
Is it just me that thinks that Apple has "borrowed" a lot of design language from HTC's M7 and M8 phones?zeagus - Thursday, September 11, 2014 - link
Considering where the M7/M8 borrowed some of their design from, it's not exactly surprising.kyuu - Wednesday, September 10, 2014 - link
All-in-all, incredibly underwhelming. Pretty much every feature is catching up to the competition, except that the 6 still has a lower resolution screen than the current mid- to low-end standard of 720p, and doesn't even have OIS. And it still starts at 16GB of storage and has crazy mark-up for additional amounts. And, inexplicably, there isn't even a 32GB option.Personally, I also find the new design somewhere between "meh" and "kinda ugly". I'm not an iPhone fan in the first place, but I would never have said they weren't attractive phones. Until now. The thinness is completely "meh"; we're well past the point where making it thinner has any real benefit. It doesn't make it fit the hand better and it makes little difference in the pocket either. I also don't get the point of making it that thin and then having the camera module stick out like that.
kyuu - Wednesday, September 10, 2014 - link
Correction: the screen on the 6 is actually just a tad higher than 720p. I was thinking of the 5's resolution and neglected to notice the bump to the incredibly oddball resolution. So it's merely roughly equivalent to the current mid- to low-end standard.darkich - Wednesday, September 10, 2014 - link
Completely agreedmunsie - Wednesday, September 10, 2014 - link
The 16GB starting point is weird, but I disagree about not having the 32GB model. For the same $100 jump in price that you paid to go from 16GB to 32GB on the iPhone 5S, you get 64GB instead. And the next $100 jump gets you 128GB. At least now the pricing points are more consistent than before.kyuu - Wednesday, September 10, 2014 - link
While it's certainly an improvement that $100 now gets you from 16GB to 64GB, they're still forcing you to spend $100 to upgrade. There should be an option to go to 32GB for $50, at the very least. 16GB is too little for a lot of people, but 64GB may be too much.The base model should have 32GB in the first place, honestly. They bill the iPhone as a premium product but then equip it with mid- to low-tier specs.
Spunjji - Thursday, September 11, 2014 - link
Absolutely agree with this comment, but I was never the target audience for this device in the first place!finbarqs - Wednesday, September 10, 2014 - link
I like this price point. It's like a compromise between business and consumer-centric. With the 16gb are made for higher margins and people who just "want an iphone" it makes a whole lot of sense. And for people who Need the extra storage, they're actually getting rewarded for it, while they take a small profit margin hit. I guess it's Apple's way of "giving back" once you go higher. But they still want to retain the high margins of the 16gb. I'm betting statistically, 16GB iphones are the ones that probably make up > 50% of iphone sales.kavanoz - Wednesday, September 10, 2014 - link
I am not happy with the entry level staying at 16 GB. Apple probably knows how much storage most people are using. In this era, 16 GB is very easy to fill, but 32 GB seems to be the sweet spot for most people who don't have very high requirements. If they gave 32 GB as the starting point, most people would not need to go to next higher capacity and profits would be lower. For those people who need 32 GB, it won't make a huge difference to have 64 GB.zeagus - Thursday, September 11, 2014 - link
I suspect most people actually don't fill 16GB and it's probably also encouragement for those who would to bump up to the next level which is 2x what it was last year for the same money.kyuu - Wednesday, September 10, 2014 - link
Er... the models with more storage have *higher* margins than the base model, not less. They're charging $100 for ~$5 worth of NAND (if that).Zan Lynx - Wednesday, September 10, 2014 - link
$5 would be assuming the cheapest sort of NAND. I like to think Apple buys better stuff than that. I could be wrong though.You're still right in that it can't cost nearly $100.
Mayuyu - Thursday, September 11, 2014 - link
$5 for 48GB or 64 GB of NAND. I would like to buy this in bulk thx.zeagus - Thursday, September 11, 2014 - link
Apple doesn't use shitty bargain basement NAND.nycionx - Monday, September 15, 2014 - link
I've always been against Apple's whole "models" bullshit. Do u see ANY other company that has models??? NO! Cuz they're generous enough to give u a microsd slot. Something apple will never implement, cuz it won't make them nearly as much money as they do this way. But think about fascinating that is... Apple products are the only pieces of mobile/portable technology that DO NOT have a freaking microsd slot! I mean I've seen shitty 2$ MP3 players on eBay from China that give u a microsd. Nuf said!DeathBecomesMe - Friday, September 12, 2014 - link
I think it's a good looking phone. Been an Android user from day 1. Think it's time for a change.puremind - Sunday, September 14, 2014 - link
Holy cow! 77.8mm is huge for a 5.5" device when the phablet market has stabilized at around 74.5mm. Most manufacturers try to offer the largest possible screen in ever smaller frames. What were Apple thinking when they decided to keep the same bezel proportions on the 5.5" model? This is one fail of a phablet! I never thought Apple would observe the phablet segment for so long only to underdeliver on the single most important phablet characteristic.AppleCrappleHater2 - Monday, September 15, 2014 - link
Worship the holy apple.The apple way, selling over expensive crap to stupid consumers that like to
get robbed.
This has been a disastrous launch in every respect. The iwatch is such an
ugly piece of crap, it is truly unbelievable how a company, formerly known for
its remarkable design, dares to put out such a crap ton of shit. Some
characteristics are glaringly obvious and inherent to it: over expensive,
hardly innovative, limited functionality and usability (need of an iPhone to
make it work), looks exactly like a toy watch and so on.
There are of course way better smart watches out there, especially form the
likes of Samsung, Sony, Motorola, Asus, LG, simply put, there is no need for
another piece of over expensive junk.
The iPhone 6 is technologically stuck in pre-2011 times, a base model witch
a capacity of 16GB without the possibility to use SD cards isn't even funny
anymore. The screen resolution is horrendous, it isn't water proof, shock and
dust resistant, it offers nothing innovative, just some incremental
updates over its predecessor, both lacking severely behind their competitors at
their respective launch dates.
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.
That’s pathetic. The interesting thing about that is the fact that apple
always manages to sell backwards oriented, outdated crap to its user base, all
while pretending to be an innovative technology leader. The similarities
regarding any form of sectarian cult are striking.
You gotta love how Apple always comes up with new marketing bullshit terms,
aka "Retina HD", with the intention to manipulate its users while preventing easy
comparisons with its competitors by withholding the actual specs. Apparently it’s
not enough to have an 1080p screen, you have to call it "Retina HD" to make those
suckers buy it, otherwise someone could look at the 4K Amoled and Oled screens
form LG and Samsung devices and get outright disappointed. Same goes for
everything else. Every outdated „feature“ needs to get its own marketing label
to persuade buyers with crappy „experience“ and „usability“ ads, while covering
the truth with marketing gibberish, knowing full well that only a fraction of
aforementioned buyers cares to look at the facts and dares to compare them.
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.
By doing so a negative aspect is transformed into a positive one, the
reality is distorted, non tech savvy buyers are manipulated and comparisons are
made more difficult (another layer of marketing bullshit to overcome), well done
marketing department. You see , if something is seriously lacking (of course for
profit, what else), don’t bother explaining, just give it a nice marketing term, distort
reality, make it a feature and call it a day. Fuck that!!
The Apple Iphone 1 and Ipad 1 might have been innovative at their time,
but since then, the bitten apple has been continuously rotting from the inside
outwards, always swarmed by millions of Iworms which regale themselves with its
rotten flesh, not forgetting all other Americans who support apple by means of
their tax dollars to finance its bought US Treasury/Government bond interest rates.
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.
Ceterum censeo Applem esse delendam.
puremind - Monday, September 15, 2014 - link
You should entire the fact that it is 77.8mm broad, this is bloody large for a 5.5" device, even the Chinese brands have smaller bezels now (75mm) not to mention LG (74.8mm) and Sharp (73mm). I am astounded by the fact that Apple enters the phablet segment with the thickest bezels in the market!puremind - Monday, September 15, 2014 - link
And agree on trailing behind. Even with their first. Smartphone. It took them longer than everyone else to upgrade to 3G,and then later to 4g, or add a flash for their camera. On the hardware side they have never been ahead of the market. They only had a Software edge pre-Android. Back then HTC already had the best hardware.Shutupalready - Thursday, September 18, 2014 - link
Get out of here. You just hate on Apple because you are a bitch. People buy apple because of ios it's not laggy or sluggish like andriod parts are better that's why they last longer. Never had to replace my iPhone did have to replace my note 3 twice and my s4 three times. I have my 5s and I'm using the s5 now and I feel the 5s is way better mostly because of ios it feels much fasterOlDocCPU - Wednesday, September 17, 2014 - link
I am curious.. why, with a 64 bit processor, did Apple not boost RAM to beyond 1 Gig; to 4 Gig? It would seem to choke processes that would benefit from a larger amount of RAM vis a vis the 64 bit tech. Because .. if you have less RAM.. you have to cache more to storage. Smaller RAM capacity = more caching operations. Or am i just behind the curve with my old school brain..? ;-)