“I’ve been using the new iPhone 6S Plus on loan from Apple for the past few days. (Along with the iPhone 6S, it started shipping last week in 11 countries; Apple says it has already sold more than 13 million of the two models),” Dan Frommer writes for Quartz. “It’s more of an upgrade than I had anticipated. And it has caused me to question the way I buy and own my phone, which has become my primary mobile computer.”
“The iPhone 6 Plus, Apple’s first giant-screen phone, was a game-changer for me; I called it the ‘best computer I’ve ever had.’ It has gotten a bit slow, noticeably showing some of its hardware constraints. But I was happy to ride it out,” Frommer writes. “The new iPhone, however, feels crazy fast, with upgrades across the board. This is evident in real usage and on paper. Unlocking the phone with my fingerprint — something I do dozens of times per day — is now instantaneous, as is launching apps. Web pages seem to remain in memory longer, and don’t refresh as often. A speed test indicates the iPhone 6S Plus is as fast as Apple’s new MacBook.”
“The iPhone’s new pressure-sensitive ‘3D touch’ screen could be useful for games and drawing apps. But it’s also a power move for saving time,” Frommer writes. “It’s early, but these shortcuts feel satisfying, powerful, and futuristic, and I’m excited to see where they go.”
Much more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We’ve upgraded iPhones every year since Day One and while they’re certainly good computers, the best computer we’ve ever used continue to be the Mac Pro on the desktop and the 11-inch MacBook Air on the road (soon to be replaced by the 12-inch MacBook (next-gen) or the iPad Pro, we’ll soon see.).
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Dan K.” for the heads up.]
I switch between my 6+ and MBP all the time.
Apps launch faster on the 6S+ because they are now using storage tech from the new MacBook. Easily faster than last years iPhone 6/Plus.
The processors in the iPhones are advancing so fast, that I think soon, users will be able to wait longer before purchasing upgrades.
I’m still on a 5 year old iPhone 4. Getting along fine. Definitely time to upgrade, but I think it’s important to keep perspective. Anybody that “complains” about the performance of an iPhone 6 must be on crack.
Last year’s iPhone 6 should not be “It has gotten a bit slow, noticeably showing some of its hardware constraints.”
Try rebooting it, or a reset. I’ve run into many users who haven’t shut down their iPhone for months. Didn’t know they could do that. Afterwords their phone is running better and some annoying problems go away.
That’s exactly what I said after reading about his iPhone 6 ‘getting slow’. As someone who received a loaner direct from Apple, he should have known better. The hurdle for becoming a tech writer these days is very low indeed.
You do realize that a MacBook and iPad Pro both in the same computer bad would take up about the same space and weight as a 13″ MacBook Air, right? Maybe I’m off by a bit, but it’s nearly the same, and definitely the same as a 13″ MacBook Pro.
My point is, pack both!
Any reviewer worth his salt should have noticed that starting with the 3g, the speed jump has always been more significant going from even years (non-s models) to odd years (s models) than visa versa (with the exception of the 4s to 5). The 6 isn’t much faster than the 5s but the 6s is significantly faster than the 6. Just look at the Geekbench results in Mactracker (for historical data) and the benchmark results published by Ars Technica and Anandtech over the past couple days.
Of course the 6+ will feel slower than the 6s+ because it is.
Here we go.
I wondered how long before MDN began posting a variety of stories about the wisdom and benefits of yearly iPhone upgrades…..
Agreed. It’s not my responsibility to “subscribe” to Apple for $600 a year. I use the iPhone until it goes belly up or I can get a new one for $200 or so. Sorry, but that’s all a phone is worth to me. Priorities, man. I’m much more enthused about my newish iMac. 🙂