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The Apple iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus Review

184 points by IBM 11y ago

madez 11y ago
If it only were hardware that worked for me and not for Apple if I bought it.
jbk 11y ago
> In light of these factors, I would give the iPhone 6s line the Editors’ Choice Gold award. I believe that the criteria for this award is such that a product is not only one of the best in its category and an extremely good product in a vacuum, but pushes the smartphone user experience forward in significant ways. That's quite an endorsement, that is quite rare from Anandtech, if I've been following correctly. I'm not always a huge fan of the iPhone, but I have to say that, after testing the 6S, it's really tempting.
- glasshead969 11y ago
  > That's quite an endorsement, that is quite rare from Anandtech, if I've been following correctly. The last smartphone to get a similar endorsement was HTC One M7.
  - massysett 11y ago
    I had a One M7. I bought it largely because it promised good low light camera performance. My phone was one of many with a flaw that cast a purple haze on low light photos, rendering it nearly useless in low light. Foolishly I waited awhile in hopes that a software update would fix it. HTC offered some sort of replacement program but that would require me to go without a phone for weeks. Eventually Verizon sent me a replacement unit whose camera was even worse. I decided my next phone would be an iPhone. I now have the 6 Plus and it's the best point and shoot camera I've ever had, period (even counting standalone cameras.) If something goes wrong with the phone I know I can go to an Apple retail store and get it fixed or replaced immediately, not in weeks.
    - tw04 11y ago
      I've got an iphone 6 for work, and an S6 edge for personal use. I can say with confidence that the Samsung camera is better. However I will say they're close enough, and they're both so far ahead of the pack, that you could flip a coin.
      - acchow 11y ago
        I have the Galaxy S6. Camera is wonderful. Battery life is crap. Going iPhone next.
        tw04 11y ago
        I agree, the battery life is shockingly poor. I blame touchwiz as much as anything else. I would take a slightly thicker phone for a battery that consistently lasts all day.
        willtim 11y ago
        Samsung TouchWiz with KitKat 4.4.4 had awesome performance and battery life on my Note4, then they destroyed it with a Lollipop update (after constant update nags) and forced me to downgrade probably voiding my warranty in the process, anyone sane would have returned the phone. I don't know if Samsung or Google is to blame for the serious battery and performance regressions, but I do blame Samsung for pushing it out to its users. Many people have been burned by this and will never buy Samsung again. What were they thinking? It's not as if Lollipop offers anything much for the average user (developers are another matter). It's such a shame, as the hardware is top notch.
        MichaelGG 11y ago
        How about the silly OEMs that ship tiny batteries? The Huawei Mate 2 lasts 30-40 hours easily. The Blu Energy Studio lasts around 3 days.
        11y ago
  - AdmiralAsshat 11y ago
    I was pretty happy with my HTC One M7 until a month ago when I saw that it wouldn't get Marshmallow. I went out and got an M9 on the after market and all I can say is, I'm glad I didn't pay full price for it. 2 years later and the only definite "improvements" I can cite between the M7 and the M9 is the inclusion of an SD slot and the tap-to-wake option on the screen. I understand that both of these were in the M8, so I probably could've saved myself $200 and grabbed that.
deleted 11y ago
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firloop 11y ago
Link to all content on one page: http://www.anandtech.com/print/9686/the-apple-iphone-6s-and-iphone-6s-plus-review http://www.anandtech.com/print/9686/the-apple-iphone-6s-and-...
nicholas73 11y ago
The iPhone 6s Plus I have is a wonderful phone, but I can't help but feel that Apple is losing some of it's perfection. There are some obvious UI annoyances that are present. Such as, the Plus is a large phone so you most often open it with the phone tilted somehow, giving you landscape mode. It does not easily revert to the upright state without juggling it around, nor is there an option to not go landscape on the home screen only (seriously who needs that?). It's not even in the settings menu to disable rotation entirely - you have to find it in the pull up menu. Another gripe I have is that all the pull up and down menus also trigger when you don't want it. The screen has gotten really sensitive, which is great, but there are lots of unintended effects now. A fanatical user running the company wouldn't have overlooked this.
- SN76477 11y ago
  A touch of elegance is missing, I agree.
- threeseed 11y ago
  > feel that Apple is losing some of it's perfection Apple never had perfection. It's nothing more than revisionist history. Every one of their products has had issues. > A fanatical user running the company wouldn't have overlooked this. Steve Jobs was quite happy to allow dreadful products like OSX 1.0 or the original Retina MacBook to go to market despite a litany of issues. The fact is that the CEO can't be worried about stupid, small details like this. If you actually thought deep about all that goes on at Apple and the increasing need for CEOs to be involved in lobbying you would soon realise how silly your point is.
  - hellofunk 11y ago
    Steve Jobs died the year before the first Retina MacBook went to market.
  - WildUtah 11y ago
    "Steve Jobs was quite happy to allow dreadful products like OSX 1.0 or the original Retina MacBook to go to market" Original Retina MacBook Pro June 11, 2012 Steve Jobs 1955-2011 I believe you may have made a mistake in judging who made the final decisions on quality control procedures for the initial release of the rMBP.
vbezhenar 11y ago
I wonder, how many years iPhone 6S will be able to stay relevant. For example iPhone 4S started lagging on iOS 7. While it's certainly usable on iOS 9, it feels as an old and underpowered device. If you have powerful computer from 2010, it'll happily run Windows 10 and almost any application, including almost any game in medium (or even high) mode. I wonder, whether this race on mobile platform will continue or iPhone 6S will be able to run iOS 15 without any lags? On an unrelated note, I really don't understand, why iOS 9 (actually iOS 7+) is so slow on iPhone 4S. I was able to run powerful 3D games on that phone. Like a lot of shaders, triangles, special effects, and so on. This phone actually has good enough GPU. Why simple sliding animation could lag? Why opening "Settings" app takes few seconds? That's crazy. Probably there are good technical reasons for that, but I just don't understand, what they could be. Sometimes I think that there is intentional performance bottlenecks for old phones, so people would want to buy a new ones. I has the chance to compare iOS 6 and iOS 8/9 on the same phone, and difference is huge.
- andy_ppp 11y ago
  Built in obsolescence?
  - aikah 11y ago
    You mean planned obsolescence and Yes, that is exactly that.
  - davnicwil 11y ago
    Almost certainly. I try really hard to be as un-cynical as possible about this, but there's a great quote I heard from someone smart whose name I can't recall right now - economics is incentives all the way down - and it applies perfectly here I think. What possible incentive could any phone manufacturer have to build a phone that significantly over-lasts the rough 2 year cycle that their bulk buyers, i.e the networks, sell the phones on? That's not rhetorical, I'm really asking - does anyone know of any?
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]
humbleMouse 11y ago
I don't like the iphone 6 line. They are too big. I bike and run with my phone all the time and don't like having a clunker strapped to my arm. I got rid of the 6 and got a 5c and I like it way more. Just as fast as an iphone6 and 1/3 the price. By just as fast, I mean for normal use - not playing games and using crazy apps (which I don't do)
- gamegoblin 11y ago
  I recently downgraded from a 6 to a 5S almost entirely over size issues. If my thumb cannot reach the url bar of the browser and all of the keyboard without repositioning my hand, the phone is too big. I know on the 6 you can double tap the home key to bring the screen down, but that is a bandaid. I also found the double tap unresponsive sometimes, often having to try two or three times, in which time I could have just repositioned my hand. To me, the 5 is near the optimal smartphone size.
  - humbleMouse 11y ago
    Completely agreed. Literally felt strain in my hand and fingers from holding the beast all day. Shifting the phone around made me almost drop it a bunch of times too. It finally did hit the fritz when it slid out of my pocket(because it is very slippery) and got crushed in my car door when I sat in my car.
  - mixmastamyk 11y ago
    > To me, the 5 is near the optimal smartphone size. This would appear to be reasonably dependent on the size of the person. The idea that a smaller person and an NBA player would like the same size is a bit silly, no? Hopefully there will be a future update at the smaller size.
  - vinceguidry 11y ago
    I'm a fairly short guy with short-guy hands. I like the larger screen. I don't try to use my phone one-handed. I stop whatever it is I'm doing with the other hand and use both of them. Sure, some people can multi-task. I might even be one of them. But I prefer not to.
bad_user 11y ago
I'm mostly an Android user and now I have an iPhone 6s, received as a gift - this is actually the third iPhone I'm receiving as a gift, the first one was a 3GS. I like the hardware, the phone, its size. I like how polished it feels. I really like the photos it takes. But I consider Android's software to be superior. Others might disagree, but I have many reasons for why I prefer Android and I think iOS is falling further and further behind.
- wvenable 11y ago
  I use an iPhone and I (continue) to have an Android tablet -- I've been operating this way over a few generations. I don't think either platform is 100% superior over the other. For every advantage Android has over iOS there is different advantage iOS has over it. I was seriously considering going for an Android phone this time around but the 6s is really some amazing hardware. It isn't even as hyped up as it should be.
  - BuckRogers 11y ago
    While I did use Android phones for 5 years, since I switched to iOS I've used to do your config of iOS phone + Android tablet for a long time now as well. Since I've linked up my wife's 4S with my 5S and using app sharing, I think I see enough value in finally ditching the Android tablet. I always felt Android was a better tablet OS due to the customization. With ad blockers on iOS9, app sharing, more streamlined interface, security updates, better support, the general convenience of free iMessages, Facetime and Apple stores for same-day repairs, I'm probably going all Apple if I even continue to use a tablet at all. The new Amazon Fire tablet is nice for $50, but I think I'd probably put that money into a 6S Plus and use it for the same purposes and more. For us I think our phones and laptops may be all we need. Completely agree that the 6S is underhyped, which is amazing because it's basically the new iPhone4.
    - wvenable 11y ago
      After playing around with my Nexus 7 for a long time and performing all kinds of experiments (like running Linux alongside Android) I found I used my tablet almost exclusively for web and media consumption. So my latest tablet is a Samsung Tab S 8.4 and it's perfect for those needs in a way where an iPad would be sub par. Media management is way more straight forward on Android and I can have 64gb SD card. But I did root the tablet and uninstall 70% of the bloatware running on it on the first day. It came with 4-5 pages of (useless) applications and I'm now down to 2. Apple products also come with useless uninstallable applications (Stocks, Watch, etc) but it no where near what this Samsung device had running. My wife has an iPad and I really could not recommend, for her, an Android tablet.
kenjackson 11y ago
How big of a difference is the camera on the 6s without OIS versus the 6s plus with OIS? I can't really notice a difference in the low light pictures on the site. I take a lot of pictures, but I'm not someone who dives into the details (jpg is fine for me... never even considered RAW). I prefer the 6s form factor, but don't want to end up with a bunch of blurry pictures that would be clear if I would have gotten a 6s Plus.
- nbarAKL 11y ago
  Unless you're taking video very often, there's no difference. I take a lot of photos, and I found the smaller form factor of the 6S outweighed any small improvements on the larger handset.
  - MBCook 11y ago
    The only other place you may notice it is in low light. I've seen some of the videos with OIS and it is QUITE noticeably more stable.
mixmastamyk 11y ago
Wow, thanks anandtech, I didn't know about the 3d touch on the keyboard to enable the "trackpad cursor mode." That should double my text input speed when I make a mistake (often) while being much less annoying than the old way (touch/wait/magnifying glass/retry). I've felt ambivalent about 3d touch until now. Now if I could get a dark UI theme on it my last gripe would go away. (No, negative is not good enough ;)
- johns 11y ago
  I was super excited about this feature. In practice, it's nice for moving the cursor a long way quickly, but the finer stuff isn't any faster. It also tends to shift as I left my finger so it makes being precise difficult.
- guelo 11y ago
  It's the same issue as long-press, it can be super useful when you know about it but it's just not discoverable.
  - mixmastamyk 11y ago
    I've found not only is it faster (no waiting and no necessary hand movement), but I'm more accurate, maybe because my finger isn't in the way. Often with the mag. glass I have to do it more than once to get the insertion point right. The feature a minor revolution. You're right, wish it could be more discoverable, but now that I know, am very happy.
jaimex2 11y ago
Why is this on HN?
- chambo622 11y ago
  HN is for "anything that good hackers would find interesting" [1]. Out of all possible articles to ask "why," I'm puzzled why this one - a deep technical review about a device that many HN users use and/or develop software for - strikes you as not fitting this criteria. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
watmough 11y ago
I am about to go read the article, but after owning a 6s+ for the past couple weeks, I will give a few impressions first: * Very very very large (this is a big-ass phone), * Very very very very fast, * Some good options in the UI for heavier Mac style 'fuzzy' text, * Battery life is barely dented after a typical day of surfing and texting occasionally at work, * Phone is 'slippery' and I have to use a special grip, wrapping fingers around it to hold it securely, * Camera is fantastic, with people asking me 'what lens' are you using, assuming I'm on my Nikon SLR, * Fingerprint unlocking is here, and works perfectly. All in all, it's an incredible leap from the iPhone 4S I had before. $900+ is a LOT for a phone though.
- IkmoIkmo 11y ago
  > $900+ is a LOT for a phone though. Absolutely, but also, sort of not. After all, you'd want a decent phone, that sets you back say around $200 nowadays. The $700 then is really the premium you're paying. Now you mentioned the 4S. It's still worth $100, whereas the resale value on a $200, 4 years later, is probably pretty much zero in comparison. So now you're paying a $150 premium per year for the top of the line phone. Per month it'd be about $12.50 to have the latest tech instead of say the Moto G (sweet entry level phone). Is that excessive or a lot? Well if you're earning a few k a month and you're on your phone 10% of the time, not really. Comparing it to say the cost of your car, your food (a $12.50 lunch), your entertainment (a $12.50 movie ticket) etc, puts it into perspective. Anyway don't get me wrong, I'm on an iPhone 4 myself haha. I just don't have a need right now and raised on little, $12.50 is substantial when your disposable income is near zero, so I totally get it's a lot. But for a large portion of Americans who are on their phone a lot, the cost-benefit for this purchasing decision is tremendously positive. Isn't the base model $750 btw instead of $900? Pretty sure it was. Of course you'd need to buy a plan as well.
vxNsr 11y ago
It's funny because despite most of this review going into very grimy detail about chipsets and transistor sizes and such (and other things which I honestly didn't understand) most of the comments are no different than what one would see on a less in-depth review from theverge, arstechnica or yahoo tech news. I find it fascinating that Apple was able to get their process down to 14nm using the so called "3D process" up until now I really didn't understand why the qualcomm 810 was having so much trouble, now it makes a lot more sense.
chenster 11y ago
I love my iphone 6+, it's just too big for my hands. The double-swipedown on home button couldn't fully eliminate the need to use both hands in order to get to a screen spot. The regular 4.7" should be perfect.
oxide 11y ago
Am I naive for thinking the iPhone cost less than $600? I don't know what I thought it might have cost, I've never been interested enough to go looking. I...just might have expected it to be less than the PC upgrades I occasionally fantasize about. I'm a bit happier with the price/performance ratio of my much, much too old smartphone after seeing that price tag.
xixi77 11y ago
Regarding battery life TSMC vs. Samsung chips, the link given in the other article (http://browser.primatelabs.com/battery3/search?dir=desc&page=1&q=iPhone8&sort=score http://browser.primatelabs.com/battery3/search?dir=desc&page...) seems quite conclusive -- sorting by score, ratings in both 6s+ and 6s are clearly dominated by TSMC (motherboards without an "m"). This is of course as Apple states a fairly narrow and not necessarily representative test; but if I ever decide to upgrade from my 5s to 6s, I think I know which one I would want :) Now, I'm not quite sure upgrade would be a good idea -- 5s seems snappy enough, and size does bother me quite a bit. On the other hand, I just noticed claims improved water resistance -- http://www.engadget.com/2015/10/02/iphone-6s-waterproof http://www.engadget.com/2015/10/02/iphone-6s-waterproof -- that make me seriously consider getting one...

184 points by IBM 11y ago

madez 11y ago

If it only were hardware that worked for me and not for Apple if I bought it.

jbk 11y ago

> In light of these factors, I would give the iPhone 6s line the Editors’ Choice Gold award. I believe that the criteria for this award is such that a product is not only one of the best in its category and an extremely good product in a vacuum, but pushes the smartphone user experience forward in significant ways. That's quite an endorsement, that is quite rare from Anandtech, if I've been following correctly. I'm not always a huge fan of the iPhone, but I have to say that, after testing the 6S, it's really tempting.

glasshead969 11y ago
> That's quite an endorsement, that is quite rare from Anandtech, if I've been following correctly. The last smartphone to get a similar endorsement was HTC One M7.
- massysett 11y ago
  I had a One M7. I bought it largely because it promised good low light camera performance. My phone was one of many with a flaw that cast a purple haze on low light photos, rendering it nearly useless in low light. Foolishly I waited awhile in hopes that a software update would fix it. HTC offered some sort of replacement program but that would require me to go without a phone for weeks. Eventually Verizon sent me a replacement unit whose camera was even worse. I decided my next phone would be an iPhone. I now have the 6 Plus and it's the best point and shoot camera I've ever had, period (even counting standalone cameras.) If something goes wrong with the phone I know I can go to an Apple retail store and get it fixed or replaced immediately, not in weeks.
  - tw04 11y ago
    I've got an iphone 6 for work, and an S6 edge for personal use. I can say with confidence that the Samsung camera is better. However I will say they're close enough, and they're both so far ahead of the pack, that you could flip a coin.
    - acchow 11y ago
      I have the Galaxy S6. Camera is wonderful. Battery life is crap. Going iPhone next.
      - tw04 11y ago
        I agree, the battery life is shockingly poor. I blame touchwiz as much as anything else. I would take a slightly thicker phone for a battery that consistently lasts all day.
        willtim 11y ago
        Samsung TouchWiz with KitKat 4.4.4 had awesome performance and battery life on my Note4, then they destroyed it with a Lollipop update (after constant update nags) and forced me to downgrade probably voiding my warranty in the process, anyone sane would have returned the phone. I don't know if Samsung or Google is to blame for the serious battery and performance regressions, but I do blame Samsung for pushing it out to its users. Many people have been burned by this and will never buy Samsung again. What were they thinking? It's not as if Lollipop offers anything much for the average user (developers are another matter). It's such a shame, as the hardware is top notch.
        MichaelGG 11y ago
        How about the silly OEMs that ship tiny batteries? The Huawei Mate 2 lasts 30-40 hours easily. The Blu Energy Studio lasts around 3 days.
        11y ago
- AdmiralAsshat 11y ago
  I was pretty happy with my HTC One M7 until a month ago when I saw that it wouldn't get Marshmallow. I went out and got an M9 on the after market and all I can say is, I'm glad I didn't pay full price for it. 2 years later and the only definite "improvements" I can cite between the M7 and the M9 is the inclusion of an SD slot and the tap-to-wake option on the screen. I understand that both of these were in the M8, so I probably could've saved myself $200 and grabbed that.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

firloop 11y ago

Link to all content on one page: http://www.anandtech.com/print/9686/the-apple-iphone-6s-and-iphone-6s-plus-review http://www.anandtech.com/print/9686/the-apple-iphone-6s-and-...

nicholas73 11y ago

The iPhone 6s Plus I have is a wonderful phone, but I can't help but feel that Apple is losing some of it's perfection. There are some obvious UI annoyances that are present. Such as, the Plus is a large phone so you most often open it with the phone tilted somehow, giving you landscape mode. It does not easily revert to the upright state without juggling it around, nor is there an option to not go landscape on the home screen only (seriously who needs that?). It's not even in the settings menu to disable rotation entirely - you have to find it in the pull up menu. Another gripe I have is that all the pull up and down menus also trigger when you don't want it. The screen has gotten really sensitive, which is great, but there are lots of unintended effects now. A fanatical user running the company wouldn't have overlooked this.

SN76477 11y ago
A touch of elegance is missing, I agree.
threeseed 11y ago
> feel that Apple is losing some of it's perfection Apple never had perfection. It's nothing more than revisionist history. Every one of their products has had issues. > A fanatical user running the company wouldn't have overlooked this. Steve Jobs was quite happy to allow dreadful products like OSX 1.0 or the original Retina MacBook to go to market despite a litany of issues. The fact is that the CEO can't be worried about stupid, small details like this. If you actually thought deep about all that goes on at Apple and the increasing need for CEOs to be involved in lobbying you would soon realise how silly your point is.
- hellofunk 11y ago
  Steve Jobs died the year before the first Retina MacBook went to market.
- WildUtah 11y ago
  "Steve Jobs was quite happy to allow dreadful products like OSX 1.0 or the original Retina MacBook to go to market" Original Retina MacBook Pro June 11, 2012 Steve Jobs 1955-2011 I believe you may have made a mistake in judging who made the final decisions on quality control procedures for the initial release of the rMBP.

vbezhenar 11y ago

I wonder, how many years iPhone 6S will be able to stay relevant. For example iPhone 4S started lagging on iOS 7. While it's certainly usable on iOS 9, it feels as an old and underpowered device. If you have powerful computer from 2010, it'll happily run Windows 10 and almost any application, including almost any game in medium (or even high) mode. I wonder, whether this race on mobile platform will continue or iPhone 6S will be able to run iOS 15 without any lags? On an unrelated note, I really don't understand, why iOS 9 (actually iOS 7+) is so slow on iPhone 4S. I was able to run powerful 3D games on that phone. Like a lot of shaders, triangles, special effects, and so on. This phone actually has good enough GPU. Why simple sliding animation could lag? Why opening "Settings" app takes few seconds? That's crazy. Probably there are good technical reasons for that, but I just don't understand, what they could be. Sometimes I think that there is intentional performance bottlenecks for old phones, so people would want to buy a new ones. I has the chance to compare iOS 6 and iOS 8/9 on the same phone, and difference is huge.

andy_ppp 11y ago
Built in obsolescence?
- aikah 11y ago
  You mean planned obsolescence and Yes, that is exactly that.
- davnicwil 11y ago
  Almost certainly. I try really hard to be as un-cynical as possible about this, but there's a great quote I heard from someone smart whose name I can't recall right now - economics is incentives all the way down - and it applies perfectly here I think. What possible incentive could any phone manufacturer have to build a phone that significantly over-lasts the rough 2 year cycle that their bulk buyers, i.e the networks, sell the phones on? That's not rhetorical, I'm really asking - does anyone know of any?
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]

humbleMouse 11y ago

I don't like the iphone 6 line. They are too big. I bike and run with my phone all the time and don't like having a clunker strapped to my arm. I got rid of the 6 and got a 5c and I like it way more. Just as fast as an iphone6 and 1/3 the price. By just as fast, I mean for normal use - not playing games and using crazy apps (which I don't do)

gamegoblin 11y ago
I recently downgraded from a 6 to a 5S almost entirely over size issues. If my thumb cannot reach the url bar of the browser and all of the keyboard without repositioning my hand, the phone is too big. I know on the 6 you can double tap the home key to bring the screen down, but that is a bandaid. I also found the double tap unresponsive sometimes, often having to try two or three times, in which time I could have just repositioned my hand. To me, the 5 is near the optimal smartphone size.
- humbleMouse 11y ago
  Completely agreed. Literally felt strain in my hand and fingers from holding the beast all day. Shifting the phone around made me almost drop it a bunch of times too. It finally did hit the fritz when it slid out of my pocket(because it is very slippery) and got crushed in my car door when I sat in my car.
- mixmastamyk 11y ago
  > To me, the 5 is near the optimal smartphone size. This would appear to be reasonably dependent on the size of the person. The idea that a smaller person and an NBA player would like the same size is a bit silly, no? Hopefully there will be a future update at the smaller size.
- vinceguidry 11y ago
  I'm a fairly short guy with short-guy hands. I like the larger screen. I don't try to use my phone one-handed. I stop whatever it is I'm doing with the other hand and use both of them. Sure, some people can multi-task. I might even be one of them. But I prefer not to.

bad_user 11y ago

I'm mostly an Android user and now I have an iPhone 6s, received as a gift - this is actually the third iPhone I'm receiving as a gift, the first one was a 3GS. I like the hardware, the phone, its size. I like how polished it feels. I really like the photos it takes. But I consider Android's software to be superior. Others might disagree, but I have many reasons for why I prefer Android and I think iOS is falling further and further behind.

wvenable 11y ago
I use an iPhone and I (continue) to have an Android tablet -- I've been operating this way over a few generations. I don't think either platform is 100% superior over the other. For every advantage Android has over iOS there is different advantage iOS has over it. I was seriously considering going for an Android phone this time around but the 6s is really some amazing hardware. It isn't even as hyped up as it should be.
- BuckRogers 11y ago
  While I did use Android phones for 5 years, since I switched to iOS I've used to do your config of iOS phone + Android tablet for a long time now as well. Since I've linked up my wife's 4S with my 5S and using app sharing, I think I see enough value in finally ditching the Android tablet. I always felt Android was a better tablet OS due to the customization. With ad blockers on iOS9, app sharing, more streamlined interface, security updates, better support, the general convenience of free iMessages, Facetime and Apple stores for same-day repairs, I'm probably going all Apple if I even continue to use a tablet at all. The new Amazon Fire tablet is nice for $50, but I think I'd probably put that money into a 6S Plus and use it for the same purposes and more. For us I think our phones and laptops may be all we need. Completely agree that the 6S is underhyped, which is amazing because it's basically the new iPhone4.
  - wvenable 11y ago
    After playing around with my Nexus 7 for a long time and performing all kinds of experiments (like running Linux alongside Android) I found I used my tablet almost exclusively for web and media consumption. So my latest tablet is a Samsung Tab S 8.4 and it's perfect for those needs in a way where an iPad would be sub par. Media management is way more straight forward on Android and I can have 64gb SD card. But I did root the tablet and uninstall 70% of the bloatware running on it on the first day. It came with 4-5 pages of (useless) applications and I'm now down to 2. Apple products also come with useless uninstallable applications (Stocks, Watch, etc) but it no where near what this Samsung device had running. My wife has an iPad and I really could not recommend, for her, an Android tablet.

kenjackson 11y ago

How big of a difference is the camera on the 6s without OIS versus the 6s plus with OIS? I can't really notice a difference in the low light pictures on the site. I take a lot of pictures, but I'm not someone who dives into the details (jpg is fine for me... never even considered RAW). I prefer the 6s form factor, but don't want to end up with a bunch of blurry pictures that would be clear if I would have gotten a 6s Plus.

nbarAKL 11y ago
Unless you're taking video very often, there's no difference. I take a lot of photos, and I found the smaller form factor of the 6S outweighed any small improvements on the larger handset.
- MBCook 11y ago
  The only other place you may notice it is in low light. I've seen some of the videos with OIS and it is QUITE noticeably more stable.

mixmastamyk 11y ago

Wow, thanks anandtech, I didn't know about the 3d touch on the keyboard to enable the "trackpad cursor mode." That should double my text input speed when I make a mistake (often) while being much less annoying than the old way (touch/wait/magnifying glass/retry). I've felt ambivalent about 3d touch until now. Now if I could get a dark UI theme on it my last gripe would go away. (No, negative is not good enough ;)

johns 11y ago
I was super excited about this feature. In practice, it's nice for moving the cursor a long way quickly, but the finer stuff isn't any faster. It also tends to shift as I left my finger so it makes being precise difficult.
guelo 11y ago
It's the same issue as long-press, it can be super useful when you know about it but it's just not discoverable.
- mixmastamyk 11y ago
  I've found not only is it faster (no waiting and no necessary hand movement), but I'm more accurate, maybe because my finger isn't in the way. Often with the mag. glass I have to do it more than once to get the insertion point right. The feature a minor revolution. You're right, wish it could be more discoverable, but now that I know, am very happy.

jaimex2 11y ago

Why is this on HN?

chambo622 11y ago
HN is for "anything that good hackers would find interesting" [1]. Out of all possible articles to ask "why," I'm puzzled why this one - a deep technical review about a device that many HN users use and/or develop software for - strikes you as not fitting this criteria. [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

watmough 11y ago

I am about to go read the article, but after owning a 6s+ for the past couple weeks, I will give a few impressions first: * Very very very large (this is a big-ass phone), * Very very very very fast, * Some good options in the UI for heavier Mac style 'fuzzy' text, * Battery life is barely dented after a typical day of surfing and texting occasionally at work, * Phone is 'slippery' and I have to use a special grip, wrapping fingers around it to hold it securely, * Camera is fantastic, with people asking me 'what lens' are you using, assuming I'm on my Nikon SLR, * Fingerprint unlocking is here, and works perfectly. All in all, it's an incredible leap from the iPhone 4S I had before. $900+ is a LOT for a phone though.

IkmoIkmo 11y ago
> $900+ is a LOT for a phone though. Absolutely, but also, sort of not. After all, you'd want a decent phone, that sets you back say around $200 nowadays. The $700 then is really the premium you're paying. Now you mentioned the 4S. It's still worth $100, whereas the resale value on a $200, 4 years later, is probably pretty much zero in comparison. So now you're paying a $150 premium per year for the top of the line phone. Per month it'd be about $12.50 to have the latest tech instead of say the Moto G (sweet entry level phone). Is that excessive or a lot? Well if you're earning a few k a month and you're on your phone 10% of the time, not really. Comparing it to say the cost of your car, your food (a $12.50 lunch), your entertainment (a $12.50 movie ticket) etc, puts it into perspective. Anyway don't get me wrong, I'm on an iPhone 4 myself haha. I just don't have a need right now and raised on little, $12.50 is substantial when your disposable income is near zero, so I totally get it's a lot. But for a large portion of Americans who are on their phone a lot, the cost-benefit for this purchasing decision is tremendously positive. Isn't the base model $750 btw instead of $900? Pretty sure it was. Of course you'd need to buy a plan as well.

vxNsr 11y ago

It's funny because despite most of this review going into very grimy detail about chipsets and transistor sizes and such (and other things which I honestly didn't understand) most of the comments are no different than what one would see on a less in-depth review from theverge, arstechnica or yahoo tech news. I find it fascinating that Apple was able to get their process down to 14nm using the so called "3D process" up until now I really didn't understand why the qualcomm 810 was having so much trouble, now it makes a lot more sense.

chenster 11y ago

I love my iphone 6+, it's just too big for my hands. The double-swipedown on home button couldn't fully eliminate the need to use both hands in order to get to a screen spot. The regular 4.7" should be perfect.

oxide 11y ago

Am I naive for thinking the iPhone cost less than $600? I don't know what I thought it might have cost, I've never been interested enough to go looking. I...just might have expected it to be less than the PC upgrades I occasionally fantasize about. I'm a bit happier with the price/performance ratio of my much, much too old smartphone after seeing that price tag.

xixi77 11y ago

Regarding battery life TSMC vs. Samsung chips, the link given in the other article (http://browser.primatelabs.com/battery3/search?dir=desc&page=1&q=iPhone8&sort=score http://browser.primatelabs.com/battery3/search?dir=desc&page...) seems quite conclusive -- sorting by score, ratings in both 6s+ and 6s are clearly dominated by TSMC (motherboards without an "m"). This is of course as Apple states a fairly narrow and not necessarily representative test; but if I ever decide to upgrade from my 5s to 6s, I think I know which one I would want :) Now, I'm not quite sure upgrade would be a good idea -- 5s seems snappy enough, and size does bother me quite a bit. On the other hand, I just noticed claims improved water resistance -- http://www.engadget.com/2015/10/02/iphone-6s-waterproof http://www.engadget.com/2015/10/02/iphone-6s-waterproof -- that make me seriously consider getting one...