It’s late September, which can only mean one thing in the tech world: Apple has released their new iPhone. As usual with the new model of iPhone, the screen is bigger and the processor is newer and stronger.
Before I go any deeper into this review, I feel I should write this disclaimer: I am a Machead. I have owned Apple products my entire life. I currently own a Macbook, iPad, iMac, iPod touch, iPhone 4, and now an iPhone 6. So, I am heavily invested in the Mac ecosystem.
As with every numbered iteration of the iPhone, the exterior of the phone gets an overhaul. The design has moved away from the squared off sides introduced by the iPhone 4, to a completely rounded edge, similar to the iPhone 3G. The body of the phone is made up of an aluminum shell that houses a larger 4.7-inch screen that seamlessly blends into the body. This screen is one of the key new features for the phone.
The previous iPhone had a 4-inch screen, meaning if you cradled it in your hand, you could still reach the top of the screen from the bottom of the phone. With the new screen, this is no longer true. The new screen size indicated that the iPhone has moved out of the niche market that it created as the smaller smartphone, and into the realm that companies like Samsung have been dominating for years. But this isn’t necessarily a bad quality to have. iPhone 6 users can finally have a true 16:9 display in hand, being that previous phones had a display that wasn’t the true 16:9. This lead to a screen that made digesting content in list form easy.
The hardest thing to adjust to with the new design is the relocation of the power button from the top of the device to the right side. This move is unsettling at first. I found myself shuffling the phone in my hand, trying to get to the top of it to turn it off. An additional consequence of this move is that the power switch of the phone is parallel to the volume buttons on the phone. This could lead to several embarrassing episodes where the phone goes off in class. Imagine this: you try to turn the volume down but accidentally press the power button, and the phone continues to go off. By the time you have realized your mistake, you have been sufficiently embarrassed.
The other side of the coin to the new iPhone is the operating system it’s running on: the all new iOS 8. iOS 8 introduces several new features including Apple’s Health Suite and Apple Pay.
The Health Suite, or simply Health, provides a place for all the fitness apps to combine their data. For instance, if you use one app to track your running and one to track your sleep patterns, those apps can now have one location they all dump their data to. This is complemented by the iPhone’s built-in sensors that constantly track how far you walk in a day, how many steps you take and how many flights of stairs you climb.
The most significant feature that iOS 8 has added is Apple Pay. While it won’t be available until October, if executed correctly, it could become Apple’s primary revenue stream in the next 10 years. Apple Pay takes advantage of the Near Field Communication (NFC) chip in the phone and the fingerprint scanner. Apple Pay stores your credit card information within the phone, then allows you to pay using your thumb print as a “passcode” to access it. You can then pay for app features on your phone or for items at registers with NFC enabled registers. For example, you could walk up to a Coke machine on campus, place your phone near the machine put your finger on your phone and get a Coke. If Apple Pay becomes a universally accepted form of payment, Apple would take a small portion of each charge on the card.
The phone starts at $199 for a 16GB device on a two year contract. There are also 64 and 128GB versions for an additional $100 each.
The iPhone 6 isn’t a major step forward. It’s the phone that consumers have demanded, mainly because it hosts a bigger screen, more power and a great OS. If you like previous iPhones you’ll feel right at home with this one. If you have been an Android user before, you may like this one for its larger screen.
