“At a press conference held on July 16, 2010 to address the iPhone 4 antennagate issue, a reporter asked about increasing the size of the iPhone’s 3.5-inch screen, to which Jobs replied ‘no one’s going to buy that’ because ‘you can’t get your hand around it,'” Matt Humrick writes for Tom’s Hardware. “Even while its competitors and some of its customers embraced larger screens, Jobs didn’t abandon his belief, for right or wrong, that a phone should be easy to use with one hand. Would Jobs approve of the new 4.7-inch iPhone 6? Maybe, but the 5.5-inch 6 Plus would most certainly have resulted in a tirade from Steve and the immediate dismissal of employees. In the post-Jobs era, Apple responds to market pressure. But I wonder, is this a bad thing?”
“The iPhone’s industrial design is its most discernible feature, a combination of style, materials and build quality unmatched by other smartphones, making it one of the most lustworthy gadgets to stuff in a pocket. For the past four years the iPhone’s all-aluminum body had flat sides with sharp, angular edges. The new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus keep the all-aluminum chassis, but now the edges are rounded, giving the phones a smooth, sleek aesthetic,” Humrick writes. “The biggest design change isn’t the curved edges, but the larger screens they wrap around.”
“After using both for several weeks, my old 5s now feels like a child’s toy. Yes, size does matter. The larger text is easier to read and reduces eyestrain. The larger keyboard makes typing faster and easier. And with more content on-screen, there’s less time spent scrolling and zooming,” Humrick writes. “The 4.7-inch iPhone 6 finds the right balance between size and mobility. It still comfortably fits in one hand and with a little bit of a stretch, I can still reach the whole screen. This phone was a joy to use.
“I was really looking forward to trying out the 6 Plus, but the first few days only brought disappointment. Handling this beast just felt awkward and not being able to do everything one-handed was frustrating. After about five days, my opinion began to shift,” Humrick writes. “By adjusting my grip, I found I can perform basic tasks like checking email with only one hand. Using two hands and the new landscape view creates new possibilities, like writing an article or working on a spreadsheet, things I wouldn’t even think about doing on the 5s or iPhone 6. The 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus is a boon for power users who can adapt to the larger size.”
Tons more in the full, comprehensive review here.
Related articles:
ZDNet reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPhone 6 Plus: ‘Superb design and solid build quality’ – October 28, 2014
Forbes’ long-term iPhone 6 Plus review: ‘This beautiful freak is the iPhone’s future’ – October 22, 2014
Digital Photography Review: Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus offers a very good smartphone camera – October 21, 2014
Apple looks to have significantly underestimated the popularity of 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus – October 21, 2014
Apple shifts order ratio to hugely popular iPhone 6 Plus, away from iPhone 6 – October 7, 2014
Samsung is running scared of Apple’s hot-selling, 64-bit iPhone 6 Plus – September 29, 2014
Re/code reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPhone 6 Plus: ‘A statement phone,’ not a ‘plastic toy’ – September 17, 2014
The Telegraph reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPhone 6 Plus: ‘It’s peerless’ – September 17, 2014
Computerworld reviews Apple’s 64-bit iPhone 6: ‘Sleek, gorgeous and incredibly well built’ – October 1, 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
The 6 is a nice piece of kit (mine is a 16GB iP6), but hardly lustworthy. It looks like a big 5th Generation iPod Touch which had the look first.
A beautiful woman might be lustworthy, but a phone? Nah.
It’s definitely lustworthy compared with a motorola Razr-i or google nexus 5. You just haven’t seen how brown the grass is on the other side yet.
Brown and scorched.
I’ve never previously been too bothered by how thick my iPhone has been, being thin is no bad thing, but previously I would have sacrificed that for a bigger battery. In the case of the 6 and 6 plus I think it’s actually very important that they’ve made them thinner. I have the 6 and it may be in part that I’m still getting used to the bigger size in my pocket, I’m currently certain that had it been even as thick as the 5 it would have been very noticeable and perhaps unpleasant. If the delay was so they could make them this thin whilst improving the battery life then personally I think it was a great decision. Personally, if they were thicker I would have stuck with the 5s. The way the glass meets the curve at the side of the phone is brilliant as well. It really is a stunning piece of hardware.
I still love the ability of the 5s being able to stand on its flat side with no other support. For the level or slo-mo vid taking without having to use a tripod or anything else. Try that with the 6 (or 6+).
Great idea for a third party kick stand built into a case for the iPhone 6’s. Might be one already available.
Absolutely agree – it’s one of the best ways to capture video discreetly in any public place.
As useful as being able to turn off the shutter sound for stills photos.
Realling digging my new iPhone6 *except* for one thing. Moving the power button to the side really screwed-up using the up-volume button to snap a shot. The opposing squeezing action, down on the volume button and (unfortunately) up on the power button often kills the power right in the middle of a photo moment! A huge error in an otherwise brilliant design IMHO.
TOTALLY AGREE….it’s the only thing that has bothered me. I HATE HATE HATE the new location of the power button.