“Of the two models, I chose the iPhone 6, and so this review is of the smaller 4.7-in. model,” Michael deAgonia writes for Computerworld. “I’ve since spent over ten days with it — including using it during a camping trip, where the iPhone tracked our progress during a hike to the summit of Pikes Peak in Colorado.”
“After a few weeks of using the final build and after speaking to colleagues and friends (as well as receiving email complaints and requests for help), it’s clear that the bugs are more numerous than I originally thought,” deAgonia writes. “Making matters worse, days after the iPhone 6 and iOS 8 were released to the eager public, Apple engineers let loose an update to iOS 8 (version 8.0.1) that disabled Touch ID and cellular connectivity on the new phones.”
“Well, enough is enough. Apple users have always loved that things ‘just work’ — but Apple’s software missteps are doing a lot to damage that reputation,” deAgonia writes. “Apple leadership owes their customers quality, and if Apple engineers are biting off more than they can chew, then leadership needs to push for more accurate and realistic deadlines than the ones they keep imposing on themselves in order to capitalize on the holiday season. Software (and hardware) should be released when ready, not due to some arbitrary and unrealistic schedule.”
“That being said, I love the hardware: it’s sleek, gorgeous and incredibly well built,” deAgonia writes. “So despite problems with the OS, I can still whole-heartedly recommend this phone. I’m sure that iOS 8 will continue to improve as regular updates come down from Apple. As it stands, the hardware is phenomenal, and in concert with the iTunes app ecosystem, future integration with Yosemite (the next operating system for the Mac) and the potential of Apple Pay, the iPhone 6 should be another winner for Apple. It’s just unfortunate that Apple’s subpar execution is getting more news cycles than the best iPhone lineup the company has ever shipped.”
Read more in the full review here.
Related articles:
Apple posts new how-to guide: Switching from Android phone to iPhone – September 16, 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
Schitt happens, regardless of the best laid plans of mice and men.
Well, the old boy seems to have given a decent, honest review of his experience. iPhone, iPad, Macs are simply the absolute best there is, and will save us consumers money for the work we need to do. That’ll work.
SMH… this article lost credibility with me as soon as he started blaming Apple for the problem of others. Credit where credit is due and blame where blame is due.
This guy’s issues with iOS 8 were because “apps stopped responding to touchscreen input”, etc, etc. To me it seems that this is on the App Developer and not Apple or iOS 8. Unless of course he meant this was occurring on 1st party apps, which his article does not specify as being the case.
Also, he references the “bug that deletes users documents from iCloud Drive” in his review. Yet makes NO REFRENCE to this being limited to BETA testers, as iCloud Drive has not yet launched to the masses.
An OS update that causes apps to exhibit bugs they previously didn’t is Apple’s responsibility to a large degree, especially if this happens to multiple apps.
I haven’t had any problems though.
It’s funny how he has seemingly no idea how seriously buggy and totally unready for prime time android and Microsoft mobile os’s are. Looks like a clear case of cognitive dissonance or there’s something else driving his agenda. Whatever it is, it’s certainly not a product of rational and coherent thinking.
You don’t review Kia and BMW the same way. What impresses you on a KIA (lower wheel noise than in prior generation, for example, or more ergonomic layout of the panel), you don’t even notice on a BMW, as it is supposed to be that way, and you make noise over most insignificant things, which were supposed to be impeccable (an imperceptible wobble on the gear stick, windshield wipers that don’t elegantly retract below the hood, etc).
The two standards exist for a reason: expectations for MS or Android are significantly lower straight out of the gate. It is much like when you have two kids, one extremely intelligent, the other not much; you’re happy when the other one just passes the test, you are pissed off when the smart one doesn’t score 100%.
That may be how you test things, Predrag, but that is absolutely NOT how benchmarking is done in any industry. Objective tests are done wherever possible (on both product AND service), and then the VALUE equation is determined by factoring in lifetime costs.
With complex items like vehicles, using brand as a proxy for value or quality is ludicrous. BMW offers cheap runabouts in Europe too, you know.
Well said. If reviews said the iPhone had an 80% satisfaction rating and the latest Samsung also did, these two seemingly identical ratings are completely different things.
Get real, if you had used Android you would know that there are very few bugs, let alone ones that brick your phone or wipe out data. It is you that is irrational and non-coherent. If you want to bury your head in the sand and ignore the recent problems with the release of IOS8 (even IOS7) you can, but do not criticise others for expressing the truth.
Crap water-fall development methodology… The only solution is to continue their testing while creating at least one early release non-developer volunteers (i.e. users who would not have access to dev kit spread across their market region and device type – volunteers will be required to agree to a simple guidelines such as they may loose all their data on the device and will have the ability to restore from say their MAC). I am confident a large no a very large group of people would volunteer to be pre-mass-release early adaptors and would be willing to report issues.
Yes the issues will leak publicly but then the damage will be minimal or negligible. Apple is already trying this with OSX (I am glad to see) and the same should be done with iOS.
Combine that with an easy to use support page and this should catch all major issues before average Joe/Gill have to suffer and nothing for the click-whores to write about, at least on this topic.
C’mere, let’s have a hug. Buuuut first this kickintheballs.