“After the big Apple announcement, I internally debated the merits of a mobile phone that would instantly connect me to a lifetime’s worth of entertainment and knowledge, and a slightly larger version of the same thing. I chose the big one,” Chris Plante writes for The Verge. “Like so many bad decisions, I made this one at 3AM in my underpants.”
“On Friday evening, the colossus arrived. Removed from its slim, minimalistic cardboard home, the iPhone 6 Plus’s size intimidated me. I couldn’t decide how to hold the thing, so I cradled its bottom in my right hand and its top in my left, like a vulnerable cranium,” Plante writes. “‘This is huge!’ said my wife, snatching the phone. She held the slab to her cheek, as if to make a call, and half her head disappeared behind a wall of space gray. It looked like she’d stolen a prop phone from the set of a 1980s sci-fi movie.”
“I felt something shift in my brain, and I went to sleep knowing the iPhone 6 and I wouldn’t work out,” Plante writes. “By 9AM on Saturday morning, I was on my way to the Apple Store. I jogged past the line growing westward from 8th Ave. and 14th St., almost to the High Line in the Meatpacking District. So many tired people, nursing coffees and pastries. I entered the Apple Store, and an employee welcomed me with an exhausted, but genuine smile. I explained that I needed to exchange the iPhone 6 Plus for an iPhone 6…”
Read more in the full article here.
Related article:
Why I returned my iPhone 6 – September 29, 2014
Apple posts new how-to guide: Switching from Android phone to iPhone – September 16, 2014
DxOMark reviews iPhone 6/Plus: ‘Apple sets gold standard for smartphone image quality’ – September 23, 2014
Ars Technica reviews Apple iPhone 6/Plus: There’s a lot more going on here than just big displays – September 23, 2014
Camera test: Apple’s iPhone 6 still won’t beat a DSLR (but it’s close) – September 22, 2014
iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus tested at Disneyland: ‘So badass’ – September 17, 2014
Re/code reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPhone 6 Plus: ‘A statement phone,’ not a ‘plastic toy’ – September 17, 2014
Megapixels mean nothing: Apple iPhone 6 trounces Samsung Galaxy S5 in camera shootout – September 17, 2014
The Telegraph reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPhone 6 Plus: ‘It’s peerless’ – September 17, 2014
TechCrunch reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPhone 6: ‘The best smartphone available’ – September 17, 2014
USA Today’s Baig reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPhone 6/Plus: ‘Smartphone stars’ – September 17, 2014
Walt Mossberg reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPhone 6: ‘The best smartphone on the market’ – September 16, 2014
The Wall Street Journal reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPhone 6: ‘The best smartphone you can buy’ – September 16, 2014
Macworld reviews 64-bit iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus: Bigger is better (in the right hands) – September 16, 2014
Im extremely happy with the update though I had a few frights immediately after the update when I had no wifi, was rejecting my iCloud password and I accidentally activated the zoom and couldn’t work out how to reverse it. Thankfully I think the wi fi was just my home network having its occasional fall off because that suddenly cleared up and I gathered by trial and error how to get back to a normal view. Scary for a moment mind. Now it works great, smooth, no stickiness as on the last 2 updates, generally visually more sophisticated and user friendly though I wonder if some transforms are a little slower.
Cool. Story. Bro.
Do you buy a car without driving it? Why bother us with your ineptitude?
Since his job is to review products, he buys products without keeping them unless he likes them enough.
So to use your analogy, he buys cars to drive them and write about them and then he gives them back or auctions them off. If he LIKED the car and needed to replace his “personal” car he would.
A serious reviewer does not buy any product. For software he or she gets them either for free with a NFR. For hardware (in most cases) they are provided on loan.
If you want to read a credible review, don’t count too heavily on hobbyists.
A serious reviewer doesn’t buy ANY product? Sounds to me like a serious reviewer for you is one beholden to the company loaning him or her equipment. How is someone like that to be lived any more than an organization like Consumer Reports that takes no advertising and purchases ALL the products they test. I may not agree with the criteria they use, but at least they are consistent.
The guy has to use something in his personal life. why wouldn’t anyone in that position pay to keep the devices that strike their fancy?
I prefer the 3.5 to 4 inch iPhones, but I think adding these two larger versions is an awesome idea that finally recognizes the fact that one size doesn’t fit all.
In any case this isn’t review it is an opinion describing why the larger phones are of no personal use to him. His opinion carries some weight amongst us Mac old-timers. The man is no teen basement dweller. Assuming we still wish to honor the constitution, the man is entitled to publish his opinion as much as you are to voice your comment.
Hobbyist? At least Goggle or Wiki the dude. It takes all of 10 seconds.
Oh I take that back I was referring to Kirk McElhearn formerly of MacWorld who expressed similar reservations about the smaller iPhone 6.
Chris Plante is indeed an idiot. Sorry for the confusion.
Jeeeesss guys, yes Apple has new iPhone sizes. This is not rocket science!
If you are not sure, then go to an Apple store and try one out for yourself. That’s that the Apple store is for.
That, my friends, was a useless puff piece. An exercise in letting the world know he can write a story (not a news story, a children’s story) by writing and using “Apple” as a central character.
What did you think to yourself when you read the headline? My thought was that this was going to help me see that more people are not liking the size of the iPhone 6 Plus. Except that — spoiler alert — he traded his Plus with someone who wanted a Plus but only was able to get a 6. Net impact on the world? Zip.
Skip this story and have a better day.
the 6 plus is easy to get used to after a few days. the only thing I don’t like is that it is uncomfortable in the pocket when climbing stairs. The 6 plus is easier to pocket than the 4 and 5 series iPhones. If you you want to take super slow motion video, the Optical Image Stabilization makes a big difference – it is pretty amazing to film birds, bees, etc. in slow motion.
“‘This is huge!’ said my wife, snatching the…”
Soooo… It’s that old tired line from “The Office” is really true… ‘That’s what she said’!
Notice how he cradles and she snatches… some things just don’t appear to be safe in that relationship.
Projecting?? 😉
Your vitriolic whining is far beyond his – in both nastiness and irrelevance.
I have to laugh when I hear people talk about the size of the phone next to there head when we grew up with http://www.telephonearchive.com/phones/we/we_trimline.html
And that was the slim trimline phone 🙂
Their.
Thanks …
The bashing and trashing of anyone posting any kind of criticism or any kind of less than satisfactory experience with any Apple product is just insane. People have the privilege of saying “this doesn’t work for me” without having to endure the chorus of lemmings who will call them names, declare them to be “trolls” or a myriad of other nasty characterizations.
I will give the 6 a try next week when my current contract expires and may or may not buy it because I really, really like the size of the 5S. The larger screen on the 6 looks appealing but if it is not comfortable in my hand or how I carry and use it, I won’t buy it. It’s my choice, my decision, and my privilege to decide for me. Exactly what is the problem with that?
There’s no problem with you saying “this doesn’t work for me” once, and then moving on. When it becomes “this experience doesn’t work for anybody”, shouted 5 times a day for months it becomes supercilious whining.
I once returned a pair of New Balance; they just didn’t fit well. I went with ASICS.
“This is huge… as his wife held it next to her cheek”
He returned it because the phone is bigger than what’s in his ‘underpants’.
No, it’s because his wife is Zippy the Pinhead.
I was one of the lone wolves who left Apple in November 2012 for a Note 2. Within a month, I knew Android was crap and REALLY regretted things when I actually read Google’s privacy policy. I promptly sold the Note 2 as I could only get $175 trade-in for it only two months after purchasing it for $399 and a two-year contract. I bought a 64 GB iPhone with the money from the Note 2. I also traded in an iPhone 4S that was a year or two old and I got $212.50 for it – more than for a two month old Note 2. I also traded in an old iPhone 3Gs and got $50 for it.
Now understand, I bought that iphone 5 cussing that tiny little device the whole time. I just hated it. Some of this is generational. I’m from a generation who grew up with landlines and I never felt comfortable that the other party on a phone call could hear me using such a small handset. Plus, it was too small to be useful for much TO ME other than talking.
I griped about the size of the iPhone 5 and endured many hit pieces insulting those of us who wanted a bigger device since we already had Bluetooth headsets and just wanted to be able to do more with our phones. Many Apple die-hards disparaged me for insinuating that Apple didn’t have things just perfect with that little iphone 5. Frankly, I never insinuated that. I said outright I loved that Apple internals and ecosystem and simply wanted a bigger phone. I don’t demand that anybody satisfy me at the expense of others. Keep the little phones for those who want them but at least give a nod of support to those of us who want more out of our phones. Apple finally gave the nod and I think everybody now agrees it kinda pays to listen to your customers. These reviewers can always buy an iPhone 5S and I truly hope Apple will have iphone 7, 7 Plus and 7 Tiny with the next release. There will always be a contrarian amongst reviewers. I tend to look to the customer as the ultimate reviewer. And dare I say, the reviewers have spoken?
I’m waiting to hold them in my hands at the Apple store before deciding on one. Writers who blindly order them seem to me to be doing so to stir up FUD.
I checked them out last weekend. The 6 plus is just too big. They’re also too thin. I think the iPhone 5 is the perfect thickness and I wish Apple would have given a bigger battery rather than continue persuing their thinness fetish.
I just got the 6 with 64GB of storage last week. It’s the perfect size. It’s very quick and very smooth. It lives in the back pocket of my jeans, which is pretty much all I wear for pants anymore. Life is good!
The Verge’s tech coverage has been steadily getting worse. We need and article about a guy that’s bought a phone that’s too big? Presumably as he’s a tech writer he has seen other 5.5″ smartphones and can understand dimensions?
Stop whingeing, sell your phone on eBay or Craigslist, buy a smaller one, donate any profit to charity and grow up.
I wish we would rate articles like we can rate people comments. because some articles are shit. This article is a waste of time with not content.
Are he and his wife hobbits or dwarfs? The 6 Plus is big, but they make it sound like they received an iPad mini . . . .
I have big hands and a big head, so the 6 plus works for me. Not everybody.
Everyone just out of their teens (and many who aren’t) wants to be a reviewer but what they usually end up reviewing is themselves. This guy buys a 6.25″ phone, intending to carry it in a shirt pocket? The Ring of Power may swell to fit a dark lord and shrink to fit a Hobbit, but I think most people are aware that phones don’t do that.
One thing that the bendgate nonsense (and many reviews like this one) shows is that there are a lot of people who simply must have the biggest and most exotic gizmo to hit the streets and when it doesn’t turn out to be shooting out fairy dust, they are disappointed.
If you want a phone that will fit in a pocket, BUY a phone that fits in a pocket. (What’s the emoticon for whacking a guy up side his head?)