New iPhone has arrived. iPhone 6 was announced by Apple this morning (Australia time) and it comes with two choices of screen size. The “normal” iPhone 6 comes with 4.7″ display. Phablet lovers can choose to get iPhone 6 Plus with 5.5″ display. Both models feature Retina HD Display, which translate into 1334×750 resolution for 4.7″ model and 1920×1080 resolution for 5.5″ model.
Overall, I like the new design of iPhone 6. It brings back the curved design, somewhat reminds me of iPhone 3GS. The front glass now curved into the metal body.
As anyone would expect, both models are powered by the new A8 processors, accompanied by the new M8 co-processor. The new HealthKit app finally makes the motion sensor co-processor more usable. I’ve been using iPhone 5S with its M7 co-processor for a while, and most of the third party apps are crappy.
From the connectivity side, iPhone 6 brings the faster 802.11ac WiFi and Voice over LTE technology. It means we can finally use our phone to make conventional audio calls while using LTE data simultaneously.
The great news: the camera stays at 8 megapixels. I’ve been worried that Apple would follow the stupid megapixel war to satisfy those people who think higher megapixels mean better image quality. This theory only works for cameras under 5 megapixels, from 5 megapixels above, the increase of megapixel count does not automatically improve the image quality. Instead, there are other specs of the camera (like the sensor size and sensitivity) that matters more towards better photos. The camera of iPhone 6 Plus will have optical image stabilization. Too bad they can’t put this in the 4.7″ model.
Another notable difference between 4.7″ model and 5.5″ model is the battery life. Apple promises 50 hours of music for iPhone 6 and 80 hours of music for iPhone 6 Plus; subsequently 10 hours of LTE browsing for iPhone 6 and 12 hours for iPhone 6 Plus. The total standby time with no activity is 10 days for iPhone 6 and 16 days for iPhone 6 Plus.
Just like iPhone 5S, the latest iPhone 6 (and iPhone 6 Plus) comes with 3 color options: silver, gold, space grey. The power button is moved from upper side to right side of the phone, probably to adjust with the larger size, allowing easier access.
Another great news: Apple finally make NFC useful. iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus come with built-in NFC chips to support Pay. With Apple making partnership with Visa, Master and American Express, we can use our iPhones to make purchases. This payment uses token technology, and uses our fingerprint as the second layer of protection through the Touch ID sensor integrated in home button. For now, Pay would only work for US customers, but I’m sure Australia will follow soon.
I always have the worry that bigger iPhone will make it difficult for one-hand use. Apple introduced Reachability feature, which basically brings down the upper half of the screen temporarily so we can press whatever buttons we need to touch. This feature is activated by double-tapping (not pressing) the home button. I would be very interested to see how this feature actually takes place in real everyday usage.
The most difficult question is probably choosing the right size for us. This useful post from CultOfMac provides us with a PDF file to print, and we can get a better feel of the real dimensions of each model. It is also important to note that both iPhone 6 models are heavier than iPhone 5S, so this phone will add extra bulk to our pocket.
Not many fancy gimmick features for this update. Just the usual solid phone with the most stable mobile OS that I personally enjoy.
Leave A Comment