When Apple first announced the new iPhone 6 models, I was quite confused. I mean, totally confused. I had an iPhone 5S, and wanted to upgrade. Many people might say I didn't have any reason to, but for me, the screen was just reason enough. With Apple releasing two different models this year, it just made me more confused. Last year was the same thing: 32GB iPhone 5C or 16GB iPhone 5S, and I chose the iPhone 5S and never looked back my decision.
My first opinion was the iPhone 6 Plus is too big for me and will cause a lot of trouble with portability. Then, I changed my mind. The iPhone 6 Plus would be an awesome media consumption device, it was perfect for me. But I have an iPad that I use for that purpose. For me, the iPad screen is great for that, but it's hard to hold. So the 6 plus would come in very handy. Third time's a charm, changed my mind again. The iPhone 6 plus would be hard to use, and the 6 has a considerable big screen, and it would still be good enough.
It took me a week to figure out what I wanted. So for that reason, I had no option but to wait in line. No more pre orders, no more in store reservations. My journey had barely began. It was an easy decision: wait in line since Thursday night and I would be good to go. Or not. Lines were outside the mall the entire time, as it was expected. But I had my hopes up that the lines would be formed inside. For me, no way I was going to sleep outside a mall in the street. Not happening.
I decided that I would go there at 6am. I thought there wasn't going to be a lot of people and I would be able to walk out of the Apple Store with my iPhone 6 by 10. No, again. My friend was going with me just to make me some company, so we were going to wake up at 4:30am and get the 5:30 bus. 5:30 in the morning I was there, ready to catch the bus and get my phone. The 5:30 bus didn't show up and we got the 6:00 one. We stopped at the wrong SkyTrain (like a subway here in BC) station. Good start, huh? We got into the train and I thought we had gotten the wrong one, so I told him to exit it before the doors closed. I did but he didn't. Great. I had to meet him at the other station. And guess what, that was the right one. At the other station, we got the wrong train again (!!!!) and went back to the first station we were in. But then we managed to get the right one and got there at 7:20am.
We were late. Yes, I know. But then there was hope. We entered the mall and we saw a small line in front of the Apple Store. We were like WTF how come there's only this line?? And then we got into the end of the line. An Apple guy told us we were in the wrong place. That line was just the beginning. We went outside and saw the line. It was huge. And it kept growing and growing until we reached the end. At that time, I was pretty certain I wouldn't get anything.
After 1 hour in line the Apple guys announced they had no more iPhone 6 Pluses, and a lot of people gave up and left. Time passed and the line barely moved. Every time any blue shirt guy showed up, everyone was afraid they would say "No more iPhone 6, you can all go home". At something like 2:30pm, a guy that was behind me wanted to get two iPhone 6 Pluses 128GB, but I have no idea why he did stay in a line for hours if the phone he wanted was sold out. He then talked on the phone to a Chinese reseller and was offered retail price + $450 for two phones. He talked to the guy for almost half an hour and then got a deal. Four iPhone 6 Pluses 128GB for retail + $250 each. He then left. That guy was desperate. Wow.
Then, we got to the Apple Store. Finally. After 8 hours, we got there. They only had the Space Gray color in 64GB, the model I wanted! I got it. Finally.
My phone had a problem in the camera, but they swapped it for me and here I am with a brand new iPhone 6. And here are my thoughts.
The phone is really light and thin. More than I ever expected. I really wanted to get the phone without using it first to surprise myself, so I was overwhelmed by it's size and design. The only thing people disliked is that it felt slippery and prone to drops, but I don't think so. It feels really nice in my hand and I'm pretty happy with my final decision. This years design is not as good as the 5S, but it is still a great seamless design. Those antenna lines in the back were bothering me in the beginning, but in the space gray model they feel really discrete and don't bother me at all.
There's not many changes from the 5S. It's just bigger with minor upgrades. Period. Speed bump is barely noticeable but it's there. If you have a 5S and plan on getting it for speed or graphics, you won't notice any difference.... at all. But aside from that, it's still a great phone.
Camera: Something that many people consider when getting a phone. You were not disappointed by the iPhone 5S' camera, and you won't be with the 6's. The 6 plus has a better camera, because it has Optical Image Stabilization, but for me, the iPhone 5S camera was flawless and I don't know if optical image stabilization would make me get the 6 plus instead of the 6. But it's better. No doubts. The front facing camera received some upgrades as well, now more focused on selfies than Facetime. That's what the market want. And this is something Apple has really done this time: give what the market asked for. The sticking ring in the camera doesn't bother me. And many people will get used to that as time goes by.
Apple Pay: I can't say anything about that yet, neither I did get the phone for this. But I'm sure that will make NFC payments grow even more in the next year. Competitors had NFC. Consumers wanted NFC. And Apple gave them.
Battery life is something many people complain about iPhones. And I agree with every single one of them. The battery is not bad, but at the same time, it's not good. That's something Apple kind of managed with the iPhone 6 Plus and it's bigger battery. I couldn't test it, but I guess it won't be that different from the 5S, that I needed to carry a Mophie case for it. Apple is more focused on keeping this thin profile for marketing purposes than giving customers enough power to enjoy the phone for a longer period.
The screen is good. Not perfect, though. It's just good. Colours are accurate and the screen is pretty responsive. But it's almost 720p. That's not a flagship screen. But it is, as I said, good. Could be better. But that's something the iPhone 6 Plus beats the 6, what makes a lot of customers pay more, and give Apple more money.
Apple is forcing users to get the 6 Plus because of the camera, screen resolution and battery. I really wanted that they would give us a CHOICE between sizes only. But as I said, they want more money. So they want to MAKE YOU get the most expensive model. That's acceptable, that's how the world spins.
Storage is something many people are complaining. Why did Apple keep the 16GB model as entry and not 32GB? Simple: they want to force you to get the 64GB, and again, make more money. For many people, 16GB is just enough. For my 5S, that was enough. But apps are growing in size, music and videos are getting a better definition, and therefore, using more storage space. You may not use 64GB, but 16GB is the new 8GB that used to be base model on older iPhones. If you plan on keeping most of your photos on the could, go with 16GB. But iPhones are expensive, and if you run out of 16GB and feel you need more, you'll be stuck with it. So I recommend being on the safe side and going with 64GB, so you don't need to worry about storage.
I look forward to enjoying my iPhone 6 experience. And I hope you guys enjoy that as well.
Cheers.
My first opinion was the iPhone 6 Plus is too big for me and will cause a lot of trouble with portability. Then, I changed my mind. The iPhone 6 Plus would be an awesome media consumption device, it was perfect for me. But I have an iPad that I use for that purpose. For me, the iPad screen is great for that, but it's hard to hold. So the 6 plus would come in very handy. Third time's a charm, changed my mind again. The iPhone 6 plus would be hard to use, and the 6 has a considerable big screen, and it would still be good enough.
It took me a week to figure out what I wanted. So for that reason, I had no option but to wait in line. No more pre orders, no more in store reservations. My journey had barely began. It was an easy decision: wait in line since Thursday night and I would be good to go. Or not. Lines were outside the mall the entire time, as it was expected. But I had my hopes up that the lines would be formed inside. For me, no way I was going to sleep outside a mall in the street. Not happening.
I decided that I would go there at 6am. I thought there wasn't going to be a lot of people and I would be able to walk out of the Apple Store with my iPhone 6 by 10. No, again. My friend was going with me just to make me some company, so we were going to wake up at 4:30am and get the 5:30 bus. 5:30 in the morning I was there, ready to catch the bus and get my phone. The 5:30 bus didn't show up and we got the 6:00 one. We stopped at the wrong SkyTrain (like a subway here in BC) station. Good start, huh? We got into the train and I thought we had gotten the wrong one, so I told him to exit it before the doors closed. I did but he didn't. Great. I had to meet him at the other station. And guess what, that was the right one. At the other station, we got the wrong train again (!!!!) and went back to the first station we were in. But then we managed to get the right one and got there at 7:20am.
We were late. Yes, I know. But then there was hope. We entered the mall and we saw a small line in front of the Apple Store. We were like WTF how come there's only this line?? And then we got into the end of the line. An Apple guy told us we were in the wrong place. That line was just the beginning. We went outside and saw the line. It was huge. And it kept growing and growing until we reached the end. At that time, I was pretty certain I wouldn't get anything.
After 1 hour in line the Apple guys announced they had no more iPhone 6 Pluses, and a lot of people gave up and left. Time passed and the line barely moved. Every time any blue shirt guy showed up, everyone was afraid they would say "No more iPhone 6, you can all go home". At something like 2:30pm, a guy that was behind me wanted to get two iPhone 6 Pluses 128GB, but I have no idea why he did stay in a line for hours if the phone he wanted was sold out. He then talked on the phone to a Chinese reseller and was offered retail price + $450 for two phones. He talked to the guy for almost half an hour and then got a deal. Four iPhone 6 Pluses 128GB for retail + $250 each. He then left. That guy was desperate. Wow.
Then, we got to the Apple Store. Finally. After 8 hours, we got there. They only had the Space Gray color in 64GB, the model I wanted! I got it. Finally.
My phone had a problem in the camera, but they swapped it for me and here I am with a brand new iPhone 6. And here are my thoughts.
The phone is really light and thin. More than I ever expected. I really wanted to get the phone without using it first to surprise myself, so I was overwhelmed by it's size and design. The only thing people disliked is that it felt slippery and prone to drops, but I don't think so. It feels really nice in my hand and I'm pretty happy with my final decision. This years design is not as good as the 5S, but it is still a great seamless design. Those antenna lines in the back were bothering me in the beginning, but in the space gray model they feel really discrete and don't bother me at all.
There's not many changes from the 5S. It's just bigger with minor upgrades. Period. Speed bump is barely noticeable but it's there. If you have a 5S and plan on getting it for speed or graphics, you won't notice any difference.... at all. But aside from that, it's still a great phone.
Camera: Something that many people consider when getting a phone. You were not disappointed by the iPhone 5S' camera, and you won't be with the 6's. The 6 plus has a better camera, because it has Optical Image Stabilization, but for me, the iPhone 5S camera was flawless and I don't know if optical image stabilization would make me get the 6 plus instead of the 6. But it's better. No doubts. The front facing camera received some upgrades as well, now more focused on selfies than Facetime. That's what the market want. And this is something Apple has really done this time: give what the market asked for. The sticking ring in the camera doesn't bother me. And many people will get used to that as time goes by.
Apple Pay: I can't say anything about that yet, neither I did get the phone for this. But I'm sure that will make NFC payments grow even more in the next year. Competitors had NFC. Consumers wanted NFC. And Apple gave them.
Battery life is something many people complain about iPhones. And I agree with every single one of them. The battery is not bad, but at the same time, it's not good. That's something Apple kind of managed with the iPhone 6 Plus and it's bigger battery. I couldn't test it, but I guess it won't be that different from the 5S, that I needed to carry a Mophie case for it. Apple is more focused on keeping this thin profile for marketing purposes than giving customers enough power to enjoy the phone for a longer period.
The screen is good. Not perfect, though. It's just good. Colours are accurate and the screen is pretty responsive. But it's almost 720p. That's not a flagship screen. But it is, as I said, good. Could be better. But that's something the iPhone 6 Plus beats the 6, what makes a lot of customers pay more, and give Apple more money.
Apple is forcing users to get the 6 Plus because of the camera, screen resolution and battery. I really wanted that they would give us a CHOICE between sizes only. But as I said, they want more money. So they want to MAKE YOU get the most expensive model. That's acceptable, that's how the world spins.
Storage is something many people are complaining. Why did Apple keep the 16GB model as entry and not 32GB? Simple: they want to force you to get the 64GB, and again, make more money. For many people, 16GB is just enough. For my 5S, that was enough. But apps are growing in size, music and videos are getting a better definition, and therefore, using more storage space. You may not use 64GB, but 16GB is the new 8GB that used to be base model on older iPhones. If you plan on keeping most of your photos on the could, go with 16GB. But iPhones are expensive, and if you run out of 16GB and feel you need more, you'll be stuck with it. So I recommend being on the safe side and going with 64GB, so you don't need to worry about storage.
I look forward to enjoying my iPhone 6 experience. And I hope you guys enjoy that as well.
Cheers.
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