Seasons change and another iPhone has made its way into our sickly dependent lives. The iPhone 6, a heavily anticipated tech ticket item, was announced this week by Apple. But did it live up to the hype, or was it completely oversh
adowed by the new Apple Watch’s wearable branding? Here we discuss the big changes of the new iPhone in terms of wins and losses with its additional largest model, iPhone 6 Plus, to see if Tim Cook’s latest creation is worth the purchase or just another fart in the wind.
3 BIG WINS:
Bigger, But Thinner & Lighter
The big expectation for the new iPhones was the potential of two different-sized models for people who have been pining for the larger bodies, cursed with sausage fingers or generally are too blind to read and function within the smaller iPhone screens. Apple announced both a 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch screen (as predicted) with the larger iPhone 6 Plus coming in at a higher price line. The model may be bigger, and although the phone is lighter than ever, it may be too big for your skinny jeans. But to help us out there, Apple rolls out its thinnest available models yet with the 6.9 mm-wide iPhone 6 (7.1 mm for iPhone 6 Plus).
Faster, Yet More Efficient
People may assume that a faster iPhone than the 5S model would make the battery even worse than it already is, but even though the new A8 chip makes it faster, Apple managed to squeeze a – supposedly – better battery into this tight package. How can something faster and smaller have a better battery? Science. The A8 chip is not only faster, but it works quicker across a bigger display than ever. Add the extra battery life of a 64-bit architectured M8 motion coprocessor, and you’ve got the fastest iPhone to date in the largest, yet thinnest size, that is 50 percent more energy efficient than its predecessor. Jackpot.
Apple Pay Innovation
The biggest new innovation in functionality for the iPhone 6 that previous models won’t have is the new Apple Pay, a digital wallet within your iPhone that allows one-click purchasing and over-the-counter scanning to make paying quicker and more revolutionized than ever. Can’t wait to see how quickly men pick up the check for their women now!
3 BIG LOSSES:
Lacking Big Overhaul
People hoped for curves, space lasers and answers to all of life’s riddles in the new iPhone, but what they got was a lot of the same features improved, which is usually reserved for the follow-up models (like the 5S & 5C). Tech junkies love to be dazzled, so having Apple Pay be the only big new innovation and keeping the same style body didn’t do much for that tough crowd. The new sizes only affect a limited space of the market, and the lack of improved screen, flashy colors and camera features outweighed the improved battery life.
No More Megapixels
Although the camera function got an update with its iSight camera’s new sensor to allow faster auto-focus and new high-definition video features like time lapse mode, folks still balked at the fact that Apple hasn’t upgraded the megapixels in its camera from 8 MP, especially since Androids have been touting a higher number for some time. As much as people are excited by video specs, the still photography feature is always big in the rumor mill, especially considering Apple has its teeth in things like Instagram and other photo featured programs.
Same Scratchable Screen
You know that glass screen that is cracked like a windshield after an ex-girlfriend and a baseball bat respond to the fact that you were cheating on her the entire relationship, well, the expected redesign with a sapphire screen to better protect your phone when it gets dropped or smacked around never appeared. The new, rounded metal edges that meet the same old glass – albeit with better retina display than ever – will only help us continue to chip, scratch and crack the screen every other day until we can’t read texts from our mothers. In fact, with the thinness of the new phone, we’re more susceptible to breakage than ever, BUT you can now quickly pay to have it fixed with the new Apple Pay (woot woot).
THE VERDICT:
In the end, Apple still makes the best product on the market in terms of being succinct and reliable, and with iOS 8 coming in the fall, people will feel the full effect of that. But (and its clear to big tech reviewers), the lack of a big expected redesign was quickly dismissed by the eye-opening spring line of Apple Watches. Without that wearable tech announcement, people would be severely bummed about the lack of glitz in the glamorous new iPhone 6 line. They say go big or go home, and even though Apple went big, a lot of people think they went home, too.
