tech

Review: Larger iPhones eliminate reason to switch

29 Comments
By ANICK JESDANUN

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29 Comments
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What a surprise! An obvious Apple Fanboi says the new iphone is great.

14 ( +21 / -7 )

As much as Jobs was smart and forward thinking, his resistance to a larger iPhone screen was a bone-headed and stubborn decision that cost Apple a lot of sales and customers.

It's about time! It should've been done at least 4 years ago.

4 ( +7 / -3 )

Fandroid guys: go to the article about Samsung launching something I can't remember, that poor thing no one cared about. It received only one comment after two days, while all iPhone articles are the most commented. Let Apple alone, you're looking like more and more envious of us.

Back to the topic: I have been using a 16G 5S for one year now, never used to the full. I wonder that these guys in need of a 64 of 128G take pictures of everything they see. I am highly dependent on my iPhone, but I can't imagine using 64G and thinking it's not enough. Wow!!

-13 ( +8 / -21 )

I had a chance to try out the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6+ at a local Apple Store.

I prefer the smaller iPhone 6, given I own a Samsung Galaxy S III, which is almost exactly the same physical size. It feels like holding a larger screen, thinner version of the iPhone 5C. It's still pretty nice to hold your hand despite the large size compared to the iPhone 5/5S models. The display is certainly spectacular--bright and very sharp, a hallmark of the iPhone.

Personally, the potential of the iPhone 6 has yet to be really unlocked--it will take the arrival of HealthKit and Apple Pay in October 2014 (and eventually the Apple Watch in January 2015) to really assess just what the phone is capable of.

0 ( +6 / -6 )

I love to hear from the japanese why they adore Crapple phone over Sony.

-4 ( +7 / -11 )

@lostinnagoya: Oh man. I need all the space I can get. I constantly take pictures and videos and I have TONS of music on my phone. I don't put my movies on my phone thats for my tablet. TONS of Movies and TV shows for my son and myself. Not to mention lots of apps and even more pictures.

2 ( +5 / -3 )

But not everybody wants a larger phone. For them the new iphones not only eliminate the reason to switch, they also eliminate any desire to upgrade.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

The larger iPhone has given me a reason to switch next time my contract is up. It's just too big to be practical. I have no idea why, after 30 years of reducing the size of mobile phones to make them more manageable, suddenly bigger would be better. There are a few of these kind of people and Android caters to them perfectly. Apple has just locked out all of the normal people who use mobile phones and when the 5S stops being sold, many people will be searching for ways to escape Apple's ecosystem which will have a chain reaction to iPad, Apple Watch, and of course the neglected OSX, which many people have been cajoled towards in recent years with the promise of 'it just works' while the most recent half-arsed builds bring back frustrating memories of Windows 98. Apple has not only become the new Samsung of mobile, they have also become the new Microsoft of computer operating systems. Jobs is currently rolling like a spinning beach ball in his grave.

3 ( +7 / -4 )

This same 'apple fluff piece' has appeared in three different news outlet's online presence and each time the same has been said about it (the article) being an advertisement piece for apple. Shilling appears now with no effort made to hide the fact which clearly shows that journalism has become a lazy as the design and innovation at apple. These new apple 6 phones have nothing really new that hasn't already been on a phone since 2012. The same BS then comes out that while it may have been out on phones since 2012 it was never really adopted until now because apple put it on their phones. Well, that clearly shows you the power of the sheeple. If they beet loud enough, then the NFC function that has been around since 2012 now becomes accepted by the masses. It wasn't acceptable before but now it is because? Well, security was the issue before and now it's not? That speaks volumes to the kind of users that would blindly go and adopt something that those who who questioned it before (non-apple product users) stayed away from. Apple knows that its customers will follow them of the cliff so they pretty much get away with anything and their sheeple customers love it. Apple changes the iOS which causes all kinds of hell for your personal storage and purchased apps and music it lost but they bitch and come back for more. Apple users still don't care that they never own anything apple because apple with the flick of a switch can kill their phone's usability with an iOS update, an oxymoron if there ever was one. And everything is either apple's way or the highway. Yeah, living with your parents in their basement and being told what time to be home and in bed probably would bother too many apple users either.

4 ( +8 / -4 )

Frankly, for those people who wanted the iPhone 5/5S screen size, Apple should have continued production of the iPhone 5C, but use the internals of the iPhone 5S. And price the phone so it is reasonably priced unlocked--US$349 for 16 GB version and US$399 for 32 GB version.

By the way, Apple went to a bigger screen size for one reason: the aging Baby Boomer population. These older people with their poorer vision aren't interested in a phone with a too-small screen, and as such want a phone that is easier to read the display.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

so iPhones are easier to use and more dependable.

This exactly! Nothing more needs to be said. It's like between Windows and Mac... Same situation. You really don't need all that freedom of customization to get things done that matter. What you need for that is a reliable platform. Apple knows this and it has always been one of their most important reasons.

-3 ( +4 / -7 )

Now if they would just make one with a micro SD slot instead of forcing folks to buy more expensive models.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

I prefer smaller one, having ipad separately.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

"But the new iPhones are a big deal for one simple reason: Only Apple has the advantage of building both the hardware and the software..."

ROTFLMAO! The writer is so ignorantly mistaken. Where's the Apple factory that makes the component modules?

Too funny.

Just imagine if you could pop out the memory yourself and pop in a 128GB uSD card on which to save the 4K videos you've taken on holiday and then wirelessly watch them on your 4K TV. Oh, maybe iFones will have that capability in... 2018?

0 ( +4 / -4 )

@wonderer13

I love to hear from the japanese why they adore Crapple phone over Sony.

Software Ecosystem iPod / iTunes DNA Build quality & finish Marketing & ubiquity

The above 5 points are also the reason why most Android OEMs (bar Samsung) have failed to make inroads into the market. It's Samsung vs. Apple and the rest are losing money fast.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

After 3 years it is a big deal that they now have a phone to equal the Galaxy s III? Big screen for us older dudes who can't see on those middle school looking tiny Apples, NFC, decent camera, less boxy 1950's look. But you can remove the back of a Samsung in 10 seconds and add an SD card, or change the battery. Not on an Apple. Locked for life at the factory in Zhengzhuo. With Samsung/LG you have complete freedom and are not locked into the Apple universe.

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

you can remove the back of a Samsung in 10 seconds and add an SD card, or change the battery. Not on an Apple.

Number of times this has been an issue for me in the four years I've had an iphone: 0

4 ( +4 / -0 )

I have no agenda of Apple versus Samsung but unless you're printing and blowing up photos 16 megapixels is overkill. Even 8 megapixels is more than enough. I would say that about 5 megapixels is all you need for posting photos online. And as the article states but doesn't detail : "Their cameras have higher megapixel counts — though that’s just one factor in what makes a good photo." It's actually one of many other factors of what makes a good photo and camera.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

"...Only Apple has the advantage of building both the hardware and the software, so iPhones are easier to use and more dependable...In my limited tests..."

What absolute drivel. Ars Technica and Android Authotity have made much better reviews, with the later comparing the new iPhone to Android in a much better light:

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2007/07/iphone-review/

http://www.androidauthority.com/iphone-6-plus-vs-521180/

Someone stop this amateur from writing tech reviews.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

"...Only Apple has the advantage of building both the hardware and the software, so iPhones are easier to use and more dependable...In my limited tests..."

What absolute drivel.

If it was absolute drivel, you wouldn't have people flocking to buy phones with so-called 'outdated technology'. People are buying it for a reason, and my reason (along with millions of others) is that it's user friendly, works well, and holds up over time.

4 ( +4 / -0 )

"If it was absolute drivel, you wouldn't have people flocking to buy phones with so-called 'outdated technology'. People are buying it for a reason, and my reason (along with millions of others) is that it's user friendly, works well, and holds up over time."

The reason is they are sheeple/cult members .

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

The reason is they are sheeple/cult members .

If you were talking about some company that had minor sales, I may agree. But no company gets to the level that Apple does with a faulty product. It just doesn't happen. There is something that people like enough to buy iphones in droves, and trying to explain it off as being 'sheeple/cult' is ignoring reality.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Many people will keep buying apple products because they already invested a lot of money in their Itunes store, thats all, and yes,apple is appealing to people because everything is integrated to apple ecology just like once Sony did, if you want a really big phone, just get a tablet! I just wondering why the writer said he likes to run with his big Iphone , just get a simple more lite ipod nano!! lol

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

" There is something that people like enough to buy iphones in droves, and trying to explain it off as being 'sheeple/cult' is ignoring reality."

Bleat, bleat, says the sheep. Each new incarnation of the ifones have been a PR gulling of the simple-minded.

How's that iOS8 "upgrade " working out for you?

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

@John

I'm no Apple fanboy, but seeing how Samsungs outsell i-phones by a wide margin, how can you call buyers of the latter "sheep"?

Surely it's the other way round?

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

Honestly, how many people around the world are lining-up and camping out for days even weeks for Android Phones and or Samsung Galaxy Phones? How Many?

10's to 20's ? (I hear crickets in the field)

Apple has and always will outsell Samsung, Sony, and the rest of the "competition" but honestly, as precisely engineered as Apple products are, and how uniquely designed Apple Products continue to be - There will always be Apple - and everyone else.

I have the new iPhone6 (Gold) and it has completely blown away my expectations.

Hands down to the Engineers at Apple and Hats Off to Tim Cook and his Brilliant Team - You guys ROCK!

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

SaketownSep. 23, 2014 - 03:22AM JST Honestly, how many people around the world are lining-up and camping out for days even weeks for Android Phones and or Samsung Galaxy Phones? How Many? 10's to 20's ? (I hear crickets in the field) Apple has and always will outsell Samsung, Sony, and the rest of the "competition"

Let's compare facts from first quarter of 2014. Apple shipped close to 44 million iPhones worldwide for 15 percent marketshare in Q1 2014, that compares to 89 million smartphones shipped for Samsung and 31 percent marketshare during Q1 2014. Let me know who is selling more?

2 ( +2 / -0 )

I have had the an iPhone 6 on my hands, it's amazing. If iPhone 5S was like a jewel, the 6 feels like a pure gem. The touch of it is exquisite, and the screen is gorgeous, the iOS 8 is the best version of all them. I strongly recommend an upgrade for those who haven't done it yet. It is worth. I loved the 4S and 5S design, but this one has no comparison. No wonder analysts expect expect 100 million iPhone 6 to be sold in the next months.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

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