What does the iPhone 6 look like. Geometry and appearance

Full review iPhone 6s.

In the fall of 2015, Apple presented its new 4.7-inch smartphone - the iPhone 6s. The novelty turned out to be outwardly identical to its previous iPhone 6, but technically it has improved more than noticeably. We analyzed in detail all the pros and cons of a smartphone in our review. You can buy iPhone 6s in online stores at the following prices: iPhone 6s 32 GB - 19 990 RUB.

Design

The appearance of the iPhone 6s has not changed significantly compared to its predecessor, the iPhone 6, which did not surprise anyone at all. Apple smartphones with the letter S traditionally look like previous models. However, the novelty did not become a complete copy of the iPhone 6.

First of all, the dimensions have changed. iPhone 6s has become heavier - only 15 grams, but they will really be felt, especially if you have used the iPhone 6 for a long time. The iPhone 6s has also recovered in thickness, which is 7.1 mm for a smartphone - 0.2 mm more the original "six". Smartphone dimensions - 138.3 × 67.1 × 7.1 mm.

The body of the iPhone 6s is all-aluminum (made from a single piece of aluminium, literally), but not the same as the iPhone 6. To create the cases for its new smartphone, Apple used 7000-series aluminum, commonly used in the aerospace industry. It is 60% harder than the previous aluminum used in the iPhone 6. The need for a stronger metal arose from Apple because of the amount of negative feedback regarding the iPhone 6 and its bendable body. In the case of the iPhone 6s, there will definitely not be such responses.

The first bend tests of the iPhone 6s showed that Apple was not in vain confused. The smartphone can still be bent, but this requires considerable effort. Just being in your pants pocket, the iPhone 6s will definitely not bend. However, sitting on a smartphone, as before, is not recommended.

The front panel of the iPhone 6s is identical to that of the iPhone 6, but there is one notable difference on the back. We are talking about the letter S, which is the only noticeable external difference between the “sixes” of two different generations. Interesting moment - last time the letter S appeared on the case cover only in the iPhone 3Gs, after which Apple stopped marking the S-versions of its smartphones in a special way.

Otherwise, the rear surface of the iPhone 6s is identical to the iPhone 6. The smartphone has all the same noticeable stripes of antennas and a protruding camera with a True Tone flash. There are also no changes on the side faces - all controls and the nanoSIM card tray remained in place. Let's remind you just in case. On the left side there are volume control buttons and a call mode switch, on the right side there is a power button and a SIM card tray, on the bottom side there is a 3.5 mm audio output, two microphones, a speaker and a Lightning connector.

In general, the sensations from using the device are exactly the same as from the iPhone 6. The smartphone is very compact, especially compared to the “shovels” that have come into fashion, it is not slippery at all, and thanks to the rounded ends it easily rises from any surface. However, using the iPhone 6s is most convenient with just two hands, the only way you can reach anywhere on the screen without the threat of falling smartphone.

iPhone 6s is available in four colors: silver, dark grey, gold and pink. The last color is new, introduced by Apple specifically to further interest the fair sex. In addition, the pink color is crazy in China, one of the main markets for Apple. All colors of the iPhone 6s case look great, as usual.

The smartphone comes in a traditional, but original packaging. On the front surface of the box there is a bright picture, which is one of the backgrounds of the main screen of the iPhone 6s. Smartphone standard package - Charger(5V, 1A), Lightning-USB cable, EarPods, SIM eject tool, flyers and stickers.

About cases

Finish talking about appearance and the design of the iPhone 6s should be quite important topic compatibility with the new cases from the iPhone 6. Despite the fact that the dimensions of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6 differ (albeit slightly), most cases from the original “six” fit the iPhone 6s perfectly.

But, alas, not all. Some covers and bumpers seem to fit normally, but may not completely cover the end of the case, or move away from one, and sometimes even two sides. At the same time, iPhone 6 cases do not cover the camera and buttons of the iPhone 6s, and this is the main thing.

Display

iPhone 6s received a 4.7-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1334 × 750 pixels (326 ppi). Apple decided not to go racing for competitors who bring the display resolution of their new products to Quad HD and higher, and retained their usual HD resolution. Can this be called a minus of the iPhone 6s?

Definitely not. The display is very bright (up to 550 cd / m2), with the widest viewing angles, there is no hint of graininess at all. Without becoming chasing the fashion introduced by other manufacturers, Apple continued to bend its own line. Instead of extra pixels, the company has kept the perfect balance between screen quality and performance. In addition, an increase in display resolution would certainly affect the battery life of the iPhone 6s.

The display coating of the iPhone 6s is anti-glare, due to which you can easily read text from the smartphone screen even in bright daylight. In addition, the display coating is oleophobic. Fingerprint marks are not so easy to leave on the iPhone 6s screen, and they are erased without the need for much effort.

Apple's claimed display brightness for the iPhone 6s is 500 cd/m2, but in practice the maximum brightness is 550 cd/m2. This also has a positive effect on the use of a smartphone on the street on sunny days. The minimum brightness of the iPhone 6s screen is 5.5 cd/m2. When the option to automatically adjust the brightness of the display is activated, the transition from one level to another is performed without flickering, including when it comes to sudden changes in ambient light.

The color gamut of the iPhone 6s screen is almost equal to sRGB, the contrast ratio is 1500:1 (against the declared 1400:1), the colors are saturated, but natural. The display of the smartphone, without a doubt, can be called one of the best among smartphones with a diagonal of up to 5 inches.

The main feature of the iPhone 6s display is the 3D Touch pressure tracking technology. However, we will talk about it in more detail below.

touch ID

The iPhone 6s comes with a second-generation Touch ID fingerprint scanner that is faster than the original version. The difference between the new Touch ID and the old one is noticeable to the naked eye. Recognition is performed almost instantly, and at first using a smartphone, this can even bring inconvenience.

The fact is that by pressing the Home button just to look at the lock screen, for example, to check notifications, you already risk unlocking the iPhone 6s. That's how fast the second generation Touch ID works. Therefore, willy-nilly, you will have to get used to, accustoming yourself to check notifications by pressing the power button.

The secret behind the amazing speed of the second generation Touch ID lies in the fact that the scanner is equipped with two processors for processing biometric data instead of the previous one. Each processor performs its own function, due to which their joint work ends much faster.

The procedure for setting up Touch ID has not changed compared to previous iPhone models equipped with a fingerprint scanner.

Hardware

iPhone 6s is equipped with a dual-core 64-bit Apple A9 processor with a frequency of 1.84 GHz. The processor architecture is based on ARMv8-A, Apple M9 motion coprocessor and PowerVR GT7600 six-cluster graphics chip. The amount of RAM iPhone 6s is 2 GB, built-in - 16/32/64/128 GB, depending on the model.

Note that the M9 motion co-processor was integrated into a processor-based system for the first time. Previously, it was located separately. Apple engineers implemented this solution not only to free up space under the iPhone 6s case. By integrating the co-processor into the processor, it consumes less power and also allows the "Hey Siri" feature to be active without having to be plugged into a charger. Recall that this feature makes it possible to activate the Siri assistant with the voice command “Hey Siri” on a locked iPhone.

Apple claims that the A9 processor is 70% faster and the graphics chip is 90% faster than previous models. Is it really?

In testing in the Geekbench 3 benchmark, the new Apple scored 2312 points in single-core mode and 3920 in multi-core mode. iPhone 6 in this test received 1423 and 2388 points, respectively.

In percentage terms, the difference was 38.4% and 39%, respectively.

Testing the performance of smartphone graphics chips in the GFXBench Manhattan (on-screen) benchmark went as expected. The iPhone 6s scored a strong 56.1 fps, while the iPhone 6 finished the test with a modest 25.8 fps.

Note: The on-screen test mode provides a 1080p image output on the smartphone screen.

In the complex benchmark Basemark OS II, a confident victory again for the iPhone 6s. The smartphone scored 2139 points against 1239 points of the iPhone 6.

Final testing was carried out in the JetStream browser benchmark, which evaluates the speed of devices on the Internet. The Apple A9 chip has done its job again. iPhone 6s - 118.9 points, iPhone 6 - 67.48. The difference is almost twofold.

Summing up all the above tests, we can summarize that the iPhone 6s received a serious performance boost compared to the iPhone 6, as promised by Apple. Separately, it is necessary to note the improvements in terms of the PowerVR GT7600 graphics chip, which really has become twice as fast as its predecessor.

Offline work

Capacity iPhone battery 6s is 1715 mAh, which is 95 mAh less than the iPhone 6. This fact a lot of surprises, since the iPhone 6s is slightly thicker and heavier than its predecessor. However, despite the reduction in battery capacity, offline iPhone 6s lasts longer than previous Apple smartphones.

Testing with a web script that simulates normal smartphone use showed that the iPhone 6s lasted 8 hours and 15 minutes without recharging. The iPhone 6, on the other hand, survived only 7 hours and 2 minutes in a similar procedure. The increase in battery life was more than an hour, although officially Apple claims the same autonomy of smartphones.

Three retests confirmed the battery life advantage of the iPhone 6s over previous models. From this we can conclude that the system on the Apple A9 processor is more energy efficient, and the integration of the M9 motion coprocessor into it did not go without a trace.

cameras

All iPhone models since the iPhone 4s have been equipped with an 8-megapixel camera. Apple was not at all interested that other manufacturers staged a real megapixel race - the company quietly improved its familiar 8 megapixel camera in every possible way. The result was impressive every time - Apple managed to significantly improve the quality of shooting cameras, while maintaining their previous resolution.

But, apparently, the potential of the 8-megapixel has been used up. iPhone 6s has a 12-megapixel camera with f/2.2 aperture, Focus Pixels autofocus, 4K video recording at 30fps, dual flash, and five-lens optics. In terms of technology, the camera has also been improved - it received improved noise reduction technology and an improved tone mapping system.

The main disadvantage of the iPhone 6s camera is reduced sharpness at the corners of photos and backgrounds. She frankly walks and in order for the picture to turn out good, you often have to take several frames. It is noteworthy that the iPhone 6 camera did not have such a problem. It is to be hoped that the snag is not in the iPhone 6s camera itself, but in software and with the next iOS updates, the floating sharpness situation will be fixed.

Otherwise, the iPhone 6s camera shoots "no worse" than the iPhone 6 cameras. That's right - there were no grandiose improvements, even despite the increased resolution.

I still want to end the conversation about taking photos on the iPhone 6s camera on a positive note. The shooting speed of the camera is impressive - it takes 1.7 seconds to create a picture, in HDR mode - 1.9 seconds. By comparison, the iPhone 6 took 1.9 and 2 seconds to complete these tasks, respectively. The main competitor of the iPhone 6s, Galaxy S6, these figures are noticeably higher - 2.2 and 2.4 seconds, respectively. In other words, Apple has reinvented the camera that lets you take pictures the fastest.

Examples of photos on the iPhone 6s camera

But where there are absolutely no complaints about the iPhone 6s camera, it is in shooting video. Shooting is performed without defects and artifacts in all major modes. The best part is that there are no problems when recording video with 4K resolution - the mode can be set by default and changed to worst quality only when there is not enough memory space or you need to shoot video at 60 fps.

As before, to switch shooting modes, users will have to exit the Camera app and go to Settings. Note that this will need to be done more often, as there are more modes. This is inconvenient, but probably in the next versions of iOS, Apple developers will still listen to users and place the shooting mode switches directly in the Camera app itself.

The software “chip” of the iPhone 6s camera was the ability to shoot Live Photos. The so-called "live" shots are three-second videos recorded in 1080p resolution. Record Live Photos in a special mode in the Camera app, and play back with a hard press using 3D Touch. On Mac computers, "live" pictures are played without problems, but on a PC it is not possible to open them. Similarly, with older iPhone models, you won’t be able to transfer a “live” photo from iPhone 6s to the same iPhone 6. This, by the way, is the main disadvantage of Live Photos. Due to existing limitations, you need to use the new feature with an eye on how and where you want to upload your creations after.

And if few people will be completely delighted with the main camera of the iPhone 6s, after all, no cardinal changes have happened, then the updated front camera will definitely please. Instead of the previous 1.2-megapixel front camera, the iPhone 6s received a 5-megapixel one. And in this case, the increase in resolution cannot be ignored. Pictures on the front camera of the iPhone 6s are excellent, albeit not without noise.

A notable feature of the front camera of the iPhone 6s is the Retina Flash. When taking a selfie, the smartphone screen is filled with white, highlighting the user's face. Retina Flash works, like everything from Apple, in a “smart” way. In complete darkness, the screen flash will be bright white, which will illuminate the face most strongly. If you are shooting in indoor lighting, the flash will have a softer color. Thanks to this analysis, Retina Flash will not blind the user unnecessarily.

3D Touch

The main software feature of the iPhone 6s was 3D Touch - new way screen interaction. 3D Touch technology monitors the pressure on the display, opening up a range of unique features for users. When hard clicking on various elements of the iOS interface, an alternative action is triggered, not the same as with a normal click.

Pressing hard on an app icon on the home screen causes a pop-up menu to appear with a list of commands that differs depending on the app. In Notes, these are options for quickly creating a new entry, photo, or sketch; in the App Store - options to go to the search and enter the activation code, etc. 3D Touch also supports third-party applications.

The functionality of 3D Touch is not limited to opening auxiliary menus on the main screen. In some standard applications, thanks to 3D Touch, new gestures appeared, which Apple called Peek & Pop. So, in the Mail application, iPhone 6s users will be able to preview the contents of any letter by forcefully holding it. Quite convenient.

3D Touch is an interesting feature, no doubt, but it is only really effective for certain tasks. We're talking about running commands that are hard to get to by simply opening the app. For example, in order to create a new entry in the Notes application in the usual way, the user needs two actions - launch the application itself and press the button for creating a new note. Using 3D Touch does not speed up this process, since creating a note is performed by the same two actions - pressing hard on the "Notes" icon and selecting the desired item. There is no smell of efficiency here.

However, there is a long list of commands that are really easier to perform through the 3D Touch menu. For example, when you press hard on the Tweetbot application icon, you can quickly send last photo. We have calculated the number of actions required in the normal performance of this task and using 3D Touch. Apple technology reduces the number of necessary actions exactly in half - from six to three. And this is just one of the examples. In fact, developers can introduce even more effective options for the 3D Touch menu than to improve the user experience for iPhone 6s owners.

Some personal impressions of using 3D Touch. The main thing that is necessary for the beginning of effective and beneficial use of the function is a habit. Initially, you only remember about 3D Touch while sitting at home in a relaxed atmosphere. In the hustle and bustle of the work day, the fingers automatically ignore the new smartphone feature, launching the options of the necessary applications in the most usual way. That is why 3D Touch takes some getting used to, and many will have to do it by force. When the interactions with the function are normal, it begins to bring benefits, which are greater, the more often and more actively you use the iPhone.

Sound

The iPhone 6s has also been improved in terms of sound. Apple's new one sounds much better iPhone 6 with the new Cirrus Logic 338S00105 DAC and two 338S1285 Audio IC amplifiers. iPhone 6s sounds richer and clearer, whether you play music through the speaker or headphones.

Prices

As of December 2019 You can buy an iPhone 6s in Russia at the following prices:

• iPhone 6s 32 GB - 19 990 RUB .

Outcome

The iPhone 6s is not a perfect smartphone, but Apple has succeeded in updating the line. The novelty has amazing performance, increased battery life compared to previous smartphones, finally an improved front camera, a great screen, an instant Touch ID scanner that responds to touch, and many original chips, the main one being 3D Touch. The only serious disadvantage of the iPhone 6s is the price.

In this regard, absolutely everyone can take a closer look at Phone 6s, even owners of iPhone 6s that look almost indistinguishable from the new iPhone 6. iPhone 6s will last a long time, with high quality and reliability, largely due to a more durable case.

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Apple annually releases new versions of the iPhone in the same way that Intel releases new processor architectures. Starting with the iPhone 3G, a device of a completely new design is released in the first year, and then its updated and, if necessary, somewhat corrected version. The iPhone 6 is the eighth in its lineup and represents the fifth generation of Apple smartphone design.

Each such launch attracts attention, but this time in particular - the mass of changes is so great. The previous iteration -- the iPhone 5 and then the iPhone 5s -- was essentially a timely design refresh of the iPhone 4. Despite a number of valuable innovations that Apple made to both models in 2014, the immediate predecessors of the iPhone 6 look very conservative in those qualities, which the user looks at first. Having won success in the first generations of the iPhone, Apple jealously guarded the formula once derived.

Quite a common sense of thought if you have the highest profit among all smartphone manufacturers. In this situation, the main thing is not to harm. And yet, the rule is especially relevant here: if you want to stay in place, you must run as fast as you can. Therefore, one has to agree to changes sooner or later, breaking habits and cutting the ends of backward compatibility. Notorious innovations were expected from Apple, by which they mean, often, purely quantitative indicators and a variety of hardware features: screen size, memory capacity, new wireless interface, NFC, etc., etc. By the time iOS 8 was released, the software side of the iPhone also had accumulated signs that were archaic by the standards of rapidly progressing mobile software, and lacked the features familiar to owners of Android devices.

Now we have two new devices - just the iPhone 6 with a relatively large 4.7-inch screen and the 5.5-inch "plafond" iPhone 6 Plus, combined with the new, eighth version of iOS, which we devoted a separate review. After a brief introduction to the iPhone 6, we had the opportunity to give it a closer look - to conduct a full set of tests of performance, screen quality and battery life. And besides, in order to form a full-fledged opinion about the new iPhone, the owner of previous versions needs to live with it for several days - everything is so different now. We also got the iPhone 6 Plus for testing, which you can read about next Monday, but for now we will focus on the main model of the line.

Packing, delivery set

As usual, let's start with the packaging. The box this time is absolutely minimalist. The content is shown only as a smartphone-shaped embossed protrusion. Everyone knows what's inside.

The scope of delivery has not changed compared to the iPhone 5 and 5s. These are Ear Pods, a 1m Lightning cable and a 5W power adapter. By the way, for more fast charging phone, you can use a 12-watt adapter from the iPad.

Design, construction

The main hallmark of the iPhone 6 is a larger screen than previous versions and all other design changes stem from this fact. The 4-inch matrix that was used in the iPhone 5 and 5s was replaced by a 4.7-inch display. The resolution at first glance is very strange, not corresponding to any of the HD formats - 1334x750. But everything becomes clearer when you look at the pixel density - it is still 326 pixels per square inch and has not changed since the iPhone 4. This time, Apple again did not touch the density to make it easier for developers of third-party applications to adapt them to the new screen, while maintaining most raster graphics. On the iOS desktop, the screen enlargement made it possible to place another row of icons, and they moved apart a little horizontally.

In principle, the very number of 326 PPI no longer amazes anyone. Among Android devices, screens with a resolution of more than 400 and even 500 PPI are in use, and for good reason. At a distance of 50 cm from the eyes on the iPhone screen, do not notice the pixels. In this sense, the term Retina is still justified. But as it is easy to see behind themselves and others, people often delve into the contents of the screen with more close range, on which the difference between 326 and 400-500 PPI is quite noticeable. The pixel density on the iPhone is enough to keep the ladders at the edges of icons and fonts from being noticeable, but this is perhaps nothing more than an acceptable minimum compared to the ultra-dense screens of the flagship Androids, which pack resolutions up to Full HD in format 5 inches

Apple apps are already adapted to the resolution of the iPhone 6, of course, and either display more content than they appear on the iPhone screen previous generation, or have larger elements (like a calculator, for example). Some of the third party programs are also ready for higher resolution. Lagging programs iOS 8 simply scales to the screen resolution, with the inevitable blurring of the picture. Simultaneously with the program window, the interface elements of the OS itself are scaled: the status bar on top and the keyboard. Otherwise, the difference in clarity would be striking.

Scaling can be applied to the interface of all applications globally. In this mode, the iPhone simply uses the graphics designed for the iPhone 5, stretching them to fill the screen. They are not scaled, and accordingly, they are not blurred, for example, photos in a regular “viewer”, etc. A function of dubious usefulness, but maybe someone is impressed by the idea of ​​​​using the increased screen resolution so that the interface elements simply become larger.

The iPhone 5 screen has one advantage that Apple was sorry to lose, judging by the fact that the iPhone 6 has a built-in compensating function. Namely, the fact that on a 4-inch matrix you can easily wield the finger of the hand in which you hold the smartphone. Judging by how popular shovels are on Android, most buyers are willing to give up this feature for the convenience of reading from a large screen. But there is also a stable group of connoisseurs of compact devices who are not happy with Apple's choice.

For them, there is such an option as Reachability: the screen shifts down half the height so that it is easier to reach the top buttons with your thumb. It is activated by double-tapping the home button. You just need to touch, not press. But the button itself did not become touch-sensitive - the capacitive sensor is the ring around the button, which is clearly visible on silver and gold iPhones. The ring works strangely: touches are reliably registered only when the fingertip completely covers the ring. Otherwise, the sensor misses signals, and at first, until you figure out how to approach it, it infuriates incredibly. The Home button itself has grown. The biometric sensor built into it works faster and more accurately than the first version from the iPhone 5s.

But back to the size of the phone. In fact, the large screen is difficult to handle with one hand, not so much because of the length of the fingers, but because of the fact that for this the device needs to be balanced in the hand. Reachability does not solve this problem, and the phone is now all the more striving to jump out of the hand thanks to smoothed shapes. Much more benefit from a branded case that provides a secure grip.

I must say that I personally always chose the second between screen size and compactness, but I adapted to the iPhone 6 unexpectedly quickly. Compared to flagship Android smartphones, the iPhone 6 seems quite moderate in size, and the convenience of a larger screen cannot be denied.

That's all for the most practical side of the new design. The rest is lyrics, but the logic dictated by the large screen can be traced in almost all features of the device. First of all, Apple got rid of the square corners characteristic of the iPhone 5. Quite justified for such a size, otherwise the case would have seemed bulky. All corners are now smoothed out, and even the front glass is curved around the edges to maintain a smooth transition from the sides to the screen.

The case is an all-metal "bed". In those places where the iPhone 5 flaunted glass inserts, now also metal, separated from the main part by strips of plastic. At least the top metal insert of the two is used as an antenna. Judging by how densely and evenly the grooves in the case are filled, Apple is probably running melted plastic into it, which solidifies already in place - just like it did in the HTC One.

The device has become thinner: 6.9 versus 7.6 mm for the iPhone 5. Due to the small, at first glance, difference, the iPhone 6 feels much thinner, and despite the large dimensions, it gained negligible weight - 129 versus 112 g. But Apple went to the trick: the front lens of the camera protrudes above the surface. However, it cannot be said that the build-up spoils the appearance of the phone so much. Another thing is that the designers, perhaps, should have sacrificed elegance in favor of a more capacious battery.

In general, the smooth body shapes are better suited for a large screen, especially the curved glass. But there is one subtle point: the iPhone 5, with its right angles and shiny bevels, gave the impression of a “quality piece of iron”, something on a par with a metal watch, cufflinks and other attributes of a respectable gentleman. The iPhone 6, however good it may be, doesn't have that. In addition, if you carefully feel the device, you can notice a very small, but indisputable decrease in the quality of mobile connections. All of the buttons and the mute switch still make a distinct "click" when pressed, but the button covers dangle just a little bit in their holes.

But I will make a reservation, these changes are relevant only for pure perfectionists. The new iPhone continues to lead the way in terms of materials and workmanship among gadgets available to the masses. So, say goodbye to the steel frame of the iPhone 4, and forget the strict forms of the iPhone 5.

A few words about bent iPhones. Although the issue initially concerns the iPhone Plus, the rumors cast a shadow over the smaller version as well. In principle, it is not news that aluminum as a material has its drawbacks. In particular, where plastic deforms elastically, metal can experience plastic, that is, irreversible, deformation. According to independent tests, in aluminum case Plus there really is a weak spot below the volume keys. However, the same tests showed that deformation occurs when a force of 40 kg is pressed, and this is far from normal operating conditions. So for the time being I am inclined to believe that the situation of the owners of bent phones is best described by a joke about a fool and a crystal penis.

Specifications

The iPhone 6 uses new system on a chip - Apple A8, which represents the third development of Apple with a CPU microarchitecture of its own design. What's most important about the A8 is that Apple this time out of using Samsung's manufacturing facilities, and Taiwan's TSMC is the silicon maker. A8 is one of the first SoCs produced on 20nm process technology. And the iPhone 6, along with samsung galaxy Alpha is one of the first gadgets to receive such chips.

If the design of the iPhone 6 for Apple is, in Intel terminology, "so" (that is, the debut new concept), then moving from Samsung's 28nm process to TSMC's 20nm is a tick. One way or another, despite the possible difference between the production of Samsung and TSMC, this promises either a decrease in heat dissipation or an increase in performance, which in turn can occur due to higher clock frequencies or the addition of new computing units per chip.

Judging by the data released by Apple, the A8 has moved more towards performance than economy. Namely, a 25% increase in CPU speed and a 50% increase in GPU performance compared to the A7 is claimed. The increase was obtained by increasing the number of transistors: from >1 billion to ~2 billion. However, the increased density of transistors on an advanced manufacturing process was partly used to reduce the die size: from 102 to 89 mm 2 compared to the Apple A7.

Apple, as usual, says very little about technical specifications SoC and this time nothing at all - about its architecture. Let's summarize the information that nevertheless surfaced.

⇡ CPU

From what is known, it follows that the Apple A8 uses an original design CPU, which differs little from the Cyclone architecture of the Apple A7 cores. Cyclone, like its improved version, runs on the ARMv8 AArch64 instruction set, and thus is a 64-bit CPU.

The Cyclone core is a "wide" superscalar processor capable of accepting 6 instructions per clock for execution. Due to this property, Cyclone achieves high performance at relatively modest frequencies, providing high ILP (instruction-level parallelism) of the executable code. The A7 and A8 have two Cyclone cores running at 1.3GHz and 1.4GHz respectively.

Chipworks Photos

By comparison, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 SoC found in flagship Android devices runs up to 2.5 GHz, but only executes 3 instructions per clock per core. The same applies to the NVIDIA Tegra K1, which includes 4 licensed ARM Cortex-A15 cores operating at frequencies up to 2.3 GHz. Since high frequencies already provide competitive single-threaded performance, Qualcomm and NVIDIA products have an advantage over Apple SoCs in the form of two processor cores, but real-world mobile OS applications have not yet learned to massively use such a number of threads. As we will see in the benchmarks, the Apple A8 feels quite confident in the confrontation with quad-core SoC rivals. In addition, the high frequency of these CPUs entails a high supply voltage, which also increases power consumption.

⇡ GPU

The IP (Intellectual Property) of the GPU Apple licenses from Imagination Technologies, this time the quad-core PowerVR GX6450 GPU. Four cores in this case means the largest GPU building blocks in the PowerVR Rogue - USC (Unified Shading Cluster) architecture. The USC analogy in the NVIDIA processor architecture, which is more familiar to our readers, is the SMX/SMM block.

The Rogue architecture is the most well known component of the Apple A8 SoC. In total, four USCs contain 128 FP32-compatible ALUs, and at 300 MHz the GPU has a theoretical performance of 76.8 GFLOPS. In comparison, the best GPU in mobile systems-on-a-chip, the NVIDIA Tegra K1, has 192 FP32 compatible ALUs (CUDA cores, in NVIDIA terminology) and 115.2 GFLOPS performance at the same frequency. In general, despite the fact that we do not know the GPU frequencies in the Apple A8, we should not expect outstanding performance in graphics tasks from the iPhone 6, but it will meet its competitors with processors adequate for smartphones with dignity in graphics benchmarks.

The differences between the Apple A8 and A7 in terms of GPU performance, let me remind you, should reach 50%. The PowerVR G6430 found in the A7 is no different from the new GX6450 in terms of the number of FP32-compatible ALUs we are interested in and their total processing power, but the newer GPU contains geometry and fill rate optimizations that should bolster Apple's claim. In addition, changing the IP of the GPU to the GX6450 will reduce the power consumption of the SoC at idle and under light load, since this GPU can turn off USC blocks individually. It also supports the progressive ASTC texture compression format.

In conclusion of the conversation about the iPhone 6 SoC, we note that the Apple A8 has a H.265 video format codec, which is used in the FaceTime messenger.

⇡ Memory

An LPDDR3-1600 DRAM chip is mounted on top of the A8 chip in the iPhone. The volume of 1 GB is discouraging, because Android smartphones have already mastered both 2 and 3 GB of RAM. A larger volume would allow more programs to be kept in Suspended mode without the need to re-open long-unused applications, but the practical value here is questionable. But in some resource-intensive applications, the lack of RAM is felt. Say, if you open 6-8 pages at the same time in Safari, then when you switch, they will reload. However, if you did not notice this in previous i-devices, then the lack of RAM will not bother the iPhone 6 either. Otherwise, the problem has not been solved yet. It is not clear which factor played a role here: either simple savings on the cost of the device, which reaches significant values ​​with such a large-scale production, or concern for a quality experience on iPhone and iPad of different generations. After all, if you give developers more RAM, then applications that quickly mastered new resources will no longer work as well on past devices.

As for ROM, Apple removed the 32 GB Flash model from the available options and added 128 GB. Prices are still in increments of $100, starting at $649 for the 16GB iPhone. In Russia, the starting price is 31,990, and each capacity upgrade costs 5,000 rubles. Here, too, it is difficult not to reproach Apple with excessive frugality. They could provide 32 GB of Flash memory in the basic version, especially since it is non-expandable.

⇡ Communications

The iPhone 6 uses Qualcomm architecture, which greatly simplified and improved the situation with cellular communications. First, instead of five varieties with a different list of supported LTE frequencies, there are now only two models of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. For the first, respectively, these are models A1549 and A1586, the LET frequencies of which are largely duplicated. Band 7 and Band 20, which are of interest to Russian users, are supported by both models, and only the less popular Band 38, which is used by Megafon and MTS, is only in A1586.

The MDM9625M is a Category 4 LTE modem that provides throughput up to 150 Mbps. But in order to get such a speed, the operator must provide a continuous range of 20 MHz wide (from Russian only Megafon can boast of this, which has two continuous bands of 40 MHz each in Band 7) or support either FDD-LTE (incoming and outgoing channels on different carriers). The third way to get peak input bandwidth is Carrier Aggregation: two carriers in different bands are combined, forming the 20 MHz bandwidth required for LTE Cat 4. To do this, a separate Qualcomm WFR1620 receiver appeared in the iPhone 6 in addition to the WTR1625L transceiver. However, despite the fact that the WFR1620 chip itself supports all standard frequencies, some bands are not available for it in the iPhone 6 configuration, in particular Band 20. VoLTE support has been added - voice transmission directly over the LTE channel without switching to GSM or CDMA, which was previously required .

The Wi-Fi module in iPhone 6 complies with the IEEE 802.11ac standard and supports a single spatial stream with a theoretical bandwidth of 433 Mbps PHY.

⇡ NFC

The iPhone finally got NFC support, but it's implemented in a rather specific way. Due to the metal case, the iPhone 6 cannot fit a large inductive antenna, as is done in devices from other manufacturers. Moreover, it is still not known exactly where the NFC antenna is located in the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. Judging by the results of the opening of the devices, which was carried out by iFixit, the most likely candidate for the role of the antenna is the upper segment of the metal case. And this imposes certain restrictions on the use of the interface. NFC operates at a frequency of 13.56 MHz, which corresponds to a wavelength of 22 m. If the antenna is so much smaller than the wavelength, as it is supposed to be in the iPhone 6 (and is not the usual inductor), then sufficient signal strength cannot be achieved from it. This explains the presence of the Active Load Modulation chip, which amplifies the outgoing signal. However, this does not improve the properties of the iPhone as a signal receiver. It is possible that in practice the device can only communicate via NFC if there is also an active device on the other end, and passive cards and NFC tags simply cannot be read.

However, in the iPhone NFC is intended for exactly one application - Apple Pay, which is an analogue of Google Wallet - a tool for contactless payment for purchases at POS-terminals. Apple Pay launches in October and will only work in the US at first. Apple enlisted the support of three major payment systems - Visa, MasterCard and American Express. Knowing Apple's bulldog acumen with partners, let's hope that Apple Pay has a more successful future than Google Wallet.

⇡ cameras

As the main camera, the iPhone 6, like the 5s, uses a sensor with a resolution of 8 megapixels and f / 2.2 aperture. But there are also significant innovations, the main of which is PDAF (Phase Detection Autofocus) autofocus. Autofocus works on the same principle in DSLRs. From the stream of rays from the object being photographed, the parts passing through the opposite parts of the objective lens are separated and directed to two separate sensors. Then the electronics compares the pictures, and the smaller the shift between them, the better the camera is focused. PDAF is a faster method than the contrast-based focusing used by most smartphones. Indeed, in good light, the iPhone 6's camera is extremely quick to focus when compared to the competition.

With a new ISP built into the SoC, iPhone 6 supports 1080p 60fps video recording. 720p is recorded at 240 fps. The characteristics of the front camera have not changed. The sensor still contains 1.2 megapixels and shoots video at 720p at 30 fps.

At one time, Steve Jobs stated that a 3.5-inch diagonal is the optimal size for a phone and nothing more is needed. A year ago, Apple already assured that 4 inches on the iPhone 5s is more than enough, clearly ignoring the trends in the growth of smartphone diagonals. And now, when no one can be surprised by the large diagonal of a smartphone, Apple makes a "revolution" and finally releases large phones with a diagonal of 4.7 and 5.5 inches (iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus).

The 4.7-inch Apple iPhone 6 is thin, its body thickness is only 6.9 mm, the height and width are 138 × 67 mm, and the weight is 129 grams. It's really very compact, and it's still quite comfortable to use with one hand, although it's not the most portable on the market. New from the eternal competitor, Samsung Galaxy Alpha, is more compact in all respects with the same diagonal. You can compare the dimensions of the new iPhone with LG Nexus 5 - with a diagonal of almost 5 inches, its body dimensions are comparable to the Apple iPhone 6, but such a comparison is not very correct, since the Nexus 5 is much thicker (and cheaper). In general, the iPhone 6 is definitely compact, but you can’t call it a champion in size.

What is the reason? And the frame is to blame: the lower part remained unchanged, since there is the usual Home button, but the upper frame could be cut, it seems superfluous. But this did not happen, apparently, for the sake of the symmetry of the phone. The side bezels certainly don't seem thick, but there's potential for a "narrower" model here too.

As for the appearance in general, Apple designers decided to use the principle of “new is well forgotten old”: iPhone 6 is very similar to iPod Touch. Unlike previous models, the iPhone 6, in addition to the large diagonal, received rounded edges, its power button moved from the top to right side, and round raised volume keys became oblong. But the mode switch button remained on the left side and did not undergo any changes. Note that all these innovations are very reminiscent of the design of a typical Android smartphone, although they are dictated by pragmatic requirements: the phone should lie as comfortably as possible in the hand (rounded shape), the power button can be pressed while holding the iPhone 6 with one hand (whether it was on top, it was would be uncomfortable to stretch).

The case, as usual, is a single piece of metal with plastic strips for antennas on the back. In our opinion, the stripes do not look very nice: on the iPhone 5S, the implementation of the space for the antennas seemed prettier to us. Separately, it should be said about the camera lens - it rises slightly above the surface of the case, which is a little disturbing when using an iPhone. Probably, many expected that the iPhone 6 will receive protection from water and dust, but this did not happen. Build quality is predictably high. The case of the Apple iPhone 6, despite various rumors and disputes, is durable, the smartphone does not creak or bend during daily use. By the way, the case passed tests for flexibility by independent experts ConsumerReports, in which it outperformed a strong . By the way, for those who are interested in seeing the strength tests of the new iPhone 6, there is another interesting video.

Performance - 4.2

The Apple iPhone 6 uses a new 64-bit dual-core A8 processor running at up to 1.4GHz along with an M8 motion co-processor and 1GB of RAM. The coprocessor in this case is responsible for processing data from the sensors of the smartphone, and new processor, according to the company, has become much faster. In general, the characteristics of the processor, the amount of RAM on the iPhone 6 cause a slight stupefaction: it seems that we have some kind of budget Android smartphone, but no, this is Apple's flagship.

In this case, it is important to understand that the games available in the App Store were created for the iPhone, so there should not be performance or compatibility problems, as is often the case with Android devices. As our tests have shown, the results of the Apple iPhone 6 in daily use are excellent. In synthetic tests, the iPhone 6 also showed decent results. It scored 2,920 on GeekBench 3 cross-platform benchmark and 17,444 on 3DMark's Ice Storm Unlimited benchmark, comparable to LG G3 (16,711), Samsung Galaxy S5 (18,231), or LG Nexus 5 scores. (17,827). And if you remember about the “modest” two cores, the “low” frequency of 1.4 GHz and “only” 1 GB, against the quad-core “monsters” with frequencies from two-and-a-half GHz and a bunch of GB of RAM, then the result of the Apple iPhone 6 more than impressive.

Memory - 5.0

Options for the total amount of built-in memory of the Apple iPhone 6: 16 Gb, 64 Gb and 128 Gb. It was decided not to release the version with 32 Gb: apparently, they decided to simplify the choice for the consumer. You can't count on a memory card: as usual, the iPhone does not have a slot for a memory card, and it will not be possible to increase the initial amount of flash memory. Therefore, it is worth thinking about it properly, it makes sense to immediately fork out for more memory. Against the backdrop of many Android smartphones, which often have a microSD card slot, this looks like a drawback. But at the same time, a very rare Android smartphone can immediately boast 128 Gb of internal memory. In addition, you are offered 5 Gb of iCloud storage for free, and you can increase the amount for an additional fee. Apple assures that storing data in iCloud is safe, but as you probably remember, shortly before the presentation of the Apple iPhone 6, photos from iCloud were leaked. Although it is more likely to be associated with a targeted attack on specific accounts, and not with a hacking of the cloud service as a whole.

Peculiarities

A typical feature of the Apple iPhone 6 is the atypical Lightning connector, instead of a USB connector, as on most portable devices, and the need to use iTunes to download any data to the smartphone. Also, a feature of the Apple iPhone 6 is the excellent optimization and combination of the "stuffing" and the operating system. As a result, the consumer receives the most balanced device that works stably and quickly. One of the "revolutionary" features is the Apple Pay payment system, which works with NFC and is expected to be launched in the US in October. True, the system does not function in Russia and the prospects for its operation in our country are still very vague.

The iPhone 6, like the iPhone 5s, has a Touch ID sensor - a fingerprint scanner. His work did not cause any complaints from us, he recognizes the "owner" without any problems. Using your finger, you can unlock your smartphone, as well as buy applications and music without password authorization.

Competitors

For August, 2015 Apple iPhone 6 can be bought at the price of 47,000 rubles. The main competitors of the iPhone 6, based on its characteristics and price, are the Samsung Galaxy S5, Sony Xperia Z3 and, given the same diagonal, Samsung Galaxy Alpha.

Like a year earlier, the first two Android smartphones are not as comfortable to use in one hand due to the larger diagonal and weight. You can’t say the same about the Samsung Galaxy Alpha: it’s lighter, at the same, shorter and even a little thinner than the Apple iPhone 6. It seems that it was released as a potential competitor to the latest "apple" smartphone. In terms of body materials, Apple iPhone 6 is a clear leader: all-metal body against glass on Sony Xperia Z3 and plastic Samsung Galaxy S5. There was only hope for the Samsung Galaxy Alpha: many believed that it would be the first metal Samsung smartphone. However, the miracle did not happen - there is only a metal frame on the sides in it, everything else, as always, is made of plastic. At the same time, the Apple iPhone 6 for some reason did not receive water protection, unlike the Xperia Z3 and Galaxy S5.

All three competitors run on the Android OS, which is both a disadvantage and an advantage compared to the iPhone 6. Android smartphones are always easy to connect to a computer and upload any data to them. At the same time, the owner of the Apple iPhone 6 does not need to once again think about compatibility with applications from the App Store or worry about the speed of the phone. If you don’t mind putting up with the “closeness” of iOS in favor of speed, then you can safely choose the iPhone 6. If you plan to often upload movies, documents or any data from your computer to your phone and vice versa, then it’s better to choose Samsung Galaxy Alpha, Sony Xperia Z3 or Samsung Galaxy S5.

The Galaxy S5 and Xperia Z3 displays outperform the Apple iPhone 6 only in terms of pixel density, which many people find excessive. Galaxy Alpha has a lower resolution, 1280 × 720 pixels, but, like the Galaxy S5, it offers a Super AMOLED display that will provide viewing angles and brightness no worse than on the iPhone 6. Whether it’s better or not, we’ll see when we buy a smartphone on tests, after all, such displays are a little fib with color reproduction, most likely, it will turn out to be worse than the display on the iPhone 6.

Let's see what the next generation will offer - whose presentation will take place next year.

The iPhone, one of Apple's most iconic products, has changed a lot this year. The one and only, special, original suddenly ceased to be so. Now there are two of them and you will have to choose which one to buy. The task, I will say right away, is not an easy one, and if you think that you will pick up both new items and immediately understand everything, I have to disappoint you - it is difficult to decide. On the one hand, an iPhone with ideal proportions, on the other, an iPhone for ideal content consumption. Let's try to choose?

Before a full review, watch our short video from the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus - short and most important. Enjoy watching:

Design: iPhone 2G is alive!

The appearance of the last two generations of the iPhone, to put it mildly, is boring. Yes, the iPhone 5s looks like a jewel with sharp edges, but for a long time I wanted something new. And we know that the new is the well-forgotten old, which is why the iPhone 6 in the hands so much resembles the first Apple smartphone.

Rounded edges, a solid piece of aluminum and a comfortable fit in the hand. I'm talking now about both models - iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, since they are identical in design, the differences are only in size and in some pieces of iron.

The new iPhone could be a real revelation for me, because I always wanted a real smartphone of the future - a stylish, but no frills plate of aluminum and glass. This would be a novelty if someone in Apple's design department would have pulled Jony Ive when he came up with the design of the antenna module in the iPhone 6. The lines that you see on the back cover look mediocre. And on the example of thin and neat stripes on the back cover of the Taiwanese flagship HTC One M8, it’s even somehow sloppy and this is strange. Nevertheless, one can get used to this feature (disputable, by the way, this is a matter of taste).

After two days of using the iPhone 6 already seems familiar. Eyes already refuse to look at the 4-inch display, hands reach for the thin body and fingers want to run over the glass of the new smartphone again. Its edges are slightly rounded, so that the gadget looks and feels like a solid piece made of correct materials.

The only caveat is that it is slippery, so I recommend thinking about buying a cover in advance. It seems that Apple accessories are just right.

Other noticeable external changes include separate volume buttons, which are now recessed into the case and are pressed incredibly clearly. Same shape power button moved from the top to the right side. The thumb rests directly on her right hand or index left. The first few hours, of course, you continue to rummage around the top edge in search of a button, but over time everything falls into place - this is the only place where you can comfortably reach your finger and lock / unlock the device.

Regarding the protruding camera module. He didn't bother me at all. Yes, it is noticeable, but the iPhone lies flat on the table and does not stagger when you press it from one side. Maybe there is still a minimal, almost imperceptible movement, but in the usual scheme of use you do not notice this. I tried to poke the module with my fingernail, but it didn't work.

Screens: Steve was wrong

iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6 and iPhone 5s

Immediately after the release of the iPhone 4 (3.5-inch screen), Steve Jobs commented at a press conference on the situation with smartphones equipped with large screens:

It is impossible to manage them with the help of hands, no one will buy them. They are just like Hummer SUVs.

Four years later, his successor Tim Cook presents two new SUVs. One - with a large screen, the second - with a huge one.

The screens of the new iPhones have been greatly increased in size compared to previous models. This is striking when you pick up the iPhone 6, and, perhaps, shocking when the iPhone 6 Plus falls like a shovel on your fingers. An awkward "hmmmm-hmm" quickly changes the surprise - the quality of the display and the picture on them is head and shoulders above than in the iPhone 5s.

The display perfectly displays the colors, they are natural - not dull and not violently burnt, as in the screens super amoled, which are actively promoted by Samsung in Galaxy smartphones. Viewing angles, I think, the maximum possible. Just imagine that you turn the iPhone to face you, and the text on the screen remains perfectly readable. Yes, thanks to the new polarizing film in the iPhone 6/6 Plus, the display behaves much better in the sun than the iPhone 5s.

With the screen of the iPhone 6 Plus, the situation is exactly the same as with the iPhone 6. If you do not take into account that its size for the user of the "five" will seem extremely large. The iPhone seems very unusual with such a screen and, it seems to me, that's what Apple intended. This is practically a new device that can "eat" some iPad mini users and start the process of turning iPads into full-fledged computers with touch screens, predicted by many.

• iPhone 6: 4.7 inches, 1334 x 750 pixels

• iPhone 6 Plus: 5.5 inches, 1920×1080 pixels

Is 1920 by 1080 resolution enough for a 5.5-inch screen? With head. And do not believe those who recommend urgently switching to QuadHD displays, which are already in some Android smartphones - LG G3 and Samsung Galaxy Note 4. The human eye can only distinguish pixels at up to 300 ppi, while in the iPhone 6 Plus it is as much as 401 pixels per inch. The race of characteristics has not yet led to anything good. iPhone against the backdrop of top-end Android gadgets is a vivid example of this.

Iron: simply better

Talk about technical specifications in the world mobile devices Apple is not accepted. Where did you hear users of different generations of iPhones talking about processors, RAM and, sorry, overclocking? But you want this, right? Then here's a comparison of two smartphones in the Geekbench iOS application to calculate processor speed:

Yes, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus this moment the most powerful smartphones Apple has ever made. They run on the same new-generation Apple A8 processor clocked at just (both for modern world smartphones) 1.4 GHz. Feel free to add the M8 coprocessor here, which helps to clearly count the number of steps taken and calories burned. Random access memory- 1 GB, same as iPhone 5s. But was it ever enough? It's not a Mac.

What is the result? By general impressions iOS 8 runs slightly faster on the iPhone 6/6 Plus than on the iPhone 5s. The difference is very small, literally minimal, but it is there. It's Apple's traditional magic when you pick it up new iphone, after which you no longer want to use the "old" one.

Yes, games load a moment faster, the multitasking menu with previews appears in a second, but this is far from main feature new iPhones. Oh yes, if you are confused by the operation of iOS on a 5.5-inch display with Full HD resolution, I will say that there are no problems. Both smartphones work almost identically, if you do not take into account minor slowdowns in just a few games (Real Racing, he is). This is an optimization question to ask developers. I've played Asphalt 8 updated to run with Metal GPU DATA, Modern Combat 5 and the graphics are, I must admit, impressive.

Battery: Powerful but no innovation

To be honest, it’s not easy to understand in two days how the batteries in the new Apple smartphones behave. No, not even possible. I can say one thing for sure - my iPhone 5s, which I have been using for about 8 months, during this time held a charge many times worse than both new items that lay side by side. Yes, the battery in the iPhone 5s could “get tired” during this period of operation, but the fact remains that in the evening my smartphone lay down to rest with 0% charge, while the iPhone 6 had 30% left, and Plus, it seems, was ready to work even before lunch the next day. He had about 55% charge left. Worthy.

The numbers you can find on Apple.com speak for themselves. The iPhone 6 can last up to 250 hours in standby mode, while the iPhone 6 Plus will last 384 hours in the locked state. The younger model will be able to show you about five films of medium length, the older one - all seven. The figures are not bad, but not revolutionary. And so I would like innovations in mobile batteries, but not this year, unfortunately. Now mobile photography is in vogue and here you will definitely like everything.

cameras: where are my megapixels?

There is none of them. More precisely, there are as many of them as in last year's model. And in the year before last, and even in the iPhone 4S. You were deceived, framed and pushed outdated iron at a sky-high price. You are wrong.

iPhone 6

iPhone 6 Plus

Indeed, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have an ƒ/2.2 aperture 8-megapixel camera, but with new lenses. One of the most impressive technologies in these cameras is Focus Pixels. This is a phase focusing system that seriously reduces focusing time with camera movements. The principle of its operation is as follows: you take your iPhone out of your pocket, open the Camera application and start frantically taking pictures of several objects around you at once, sharply changing the position of the smartphone. No additional focusing occurs, it seems that the camera reads the picture around you immediately after you took out the phone. Forget "tap to focus" - now iPhone does it for you.

iPhone 6

iPhone 6 Plus

The quality of the pictures is at a high level, the minimum of soapy scenes when photographing indoors is really impressive. This is especially true of the iPhone 6 Plus with its optical stabilization system, which can take amazing photos. With straight hands, you can create real masterpieces, print them out and hang them on the wall.

iPhone 6

iPhone 6 Plus

Apple also worked on video quality. The cameras in the two new products can shoot FUllHD video at 60 frames per second, while slow-mo videos can now be made in two formats - 120 and 240 frames per second. Together with cinematic stabilization during video shooting, we get the most desired mobile video camera of a real video maniac.

iPhone 6 Plus Features: mini iPad mini

No wonder I said above that the iPhone 6 Plus does not seem like just a new smartphone or the second model of this year. This is something new that may soon affect other Apple devices. For example, on the iPad mini. I sincerely do not understand why the user needs a small tablet with a 7.9-inch screen when there is an iOS smartphone with a 5.5-inch display that is always in your pocket. It is simply designed to consume content in huge quantities - you want to watch movies, play action games and arcade games, surf the Internet through Safari or, for example, do video editing through the iMovie application. This is the ultimate gadget for the active user who is on the edge. That is, it is really huge for a phone, but at the same time it is so-and-so convenient during use. In addition, Apple took care of the pioneers and made some changes in iOS 8 that are only available on the iPhone 6 Plus.

First, it's landscape mode, like on the iPad. The desktop, icons, content - everything is in a horizontal position. This feature is activated in Settings -> Display and Brightness -> Appearance. Here we select the normal mode, where by default work is available in a horizontal position.

If you select the "Magnify" mode, all icons and text will become a little larger. It is promising, but we need the support of developers who optimize their software to work in this mode.

Another point is changes in the location of some interface elements in standard applications. For example, in Mail and Messages, dual screen mode is enabled, like on the iPad. This also includes the supposedly improved keyboard, to which the shortcut buttons for the “Copy, Cut, Paste” functions have moved, but they take some serious getting used to. It seems that the system is not finalized. Either the iPhone 6 Plus was released ahead of schedule, or they simply overlooked it.

Unlike other manufacturers of large smartphones, Apple did a good job of making them more convenient. While competitors are introducing complex schemes for controlling large screens into interfaces, Cupertino simply adds one, but useful feature. Double tapping (not pressing) on ​​the Home button lowers the entire interface of any application so that you reach the status bar with one finger. Simple and convenient.

There is also a problem with the display of some applications. No, I didn’t notice any pixels, but the software that looked normal on the screen of the iPhone 5s now looks strange on the 5.5-inch Godzilla. There is a lot of space on the screen, but the interface elements are stretched and look somehow awkward or even clumsy. I think developers are already aware of this nuance and are already revising the interfaces of their programs.

About not the most important: boxes and kit

Pay attention to the changes in the appearance of the boxes from the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Now they are completely white without any pictures, except for the name of the model on the side. The silhouette of a smartphone is embossed on the lid of the box. It looks unusual and unusual. Everything is much simpler with the kit - everything inside the box is the same as with the iPhone 5s: EarPods, Lightning cable, charger and a bunch of paper materials with a paper clip to open the SIM slot inside.

What to choose?: instead of conclusions

iPhone 6

iPhone 6 has changed a lot compared to previous models and has become undeniably better. The most popular (and, therefore, the best, right?) smartphone on the planet has become even better, it is already being swept from store shelves, bought, advised, and taken to countries where there is no Apple Store. This is a definite hit for the next 12 months. The screen is finally bigger, but the smartphone is still comfortable to use, an improved camera, an NFC receiver with support for Apple Pay (does not work for us) and a new design. I don't have a single word for you against buying an iPhone 6. Except for the iPhone 6 Plus.

iPhone 6 Plus

For the first time in the history of the iPhone, we have to choose between two iPhones - a powerful and a second powerful novelty, but with a larger screen. The latter has its own charisma, it attracts with its unusualness and magnificent screen, which in any case will always be with you. It is really very difficult to choose, but I can recommend you something. Do not even expect to come to the store and immediately make a choice there - it's impossible!

Twist in your hands, take a closer look, spend an hour there, but think through all the scenarios for using your future iPhone, but do not buy anything. A few days of rest, the information will be digested and you will get the result - you will definitely be drawn to one of them.

5.00 out of 5, rated: 2 )