CUPERTINO, Calif. — The iPhone 6 is about the only phone that can make your iPhone 5 look fat and schlumpy.
The first thing you notice when you get your hands on one is that the iPhone 6 is pleasing to the touch: The aluminum feels great, the screen is big, bright and beautiful. This is the total package, possibly the best smartphone ever made, and definitely the best in class. I’m not ashamed to say I tried to sneak out of Apple’s demo tent with one.
Unfortunately I didn’t manage to pilfer one of the new phones, but you can be sure I’ll be pre-ordering the iPhone 6 Plus come September 12. A few seconds with it and my once-beloved iPhone 5 looks horribly outdated. Even the slim leather wallet case I use to hold credit cards and my office passkey looks really clunky now. Hopefully I’ll be getting rid of that, too, courtesy of Apple Pay.
I hate to sound like a fanboy, but I totally suspect the iPhone 6 could be the best phone ever made. For starters, it’s unbelievable that you can have a camera this beautiful on a phone. It really takes it up another notch. With the other larger-screen phones (Android and Windows), there’s always something wrong — the battery life or bulk — but there are no compromises with the design of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
After taking it for a spin, it looks like everything works really well. It’s big, fast and beautiful. It’s the total package. I’m going for the iPhone 6 Plus. I want the bigger screen and it fit well in my pocket. The only potential problem is sitting on it. I keep my phone in my back jeans pocket, and I’m afraid I might crack it if I sit on it. We’ll see.
I do wonder, however, whether the smaller one is really the best size, especially after talking to the other journalists about which one would be more practical. Size is always a key issue when it comes to how you use these devices. I used to think the iPad mini was the perfect size for the iPad — portable and functional — but over time it turns out that I like the bigger iPad Air screen better and use it a lot more. That may well be the case with the iPhone 6. The price seems incredible for what you get: We’re going in the direction of better, faster, smaller and cheaper.
While the killer feature on the iPhone 5s was Touch ID, it pales in comparison to Apple Pay. Being able to use your phone to pay at supermarkets, drugstores and hotels is huge – this is going to change how we go about our daily lives.
I can see it now. In three or four years, the person pulling out a credit card will be like the little old lady who gets out the checkbook in the grocery store line. Some things like parking meters or dive bars may never catch up to NFC payments, but for a lot of other things, swiping your watch or your phone will be the way to go. Welcome to the future now.
Leander Kahney is the editor and publisher of Cult of Mac.
Leander is a longtime technology reporter and the author of six acclaimed books about Apple, including two New York Times bestsellers: Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple’s Greatest Products and Inside Steve’s Brain, a biography of Steve Jobs.
He’s also written a top-selling biography of Apple CEO Tim Cook and authored Cult of Mac and Cult of iPod, which both won prestigious design awards. Most recently, he was co-author of Cult of Mac, 2nd Edition.
Leander has been reporting about Apple and technology for nearly 30 years.
Before founding Cult of Mac as an independent publication, Leander was news editor at Wired.com, where he was responsible for the day-to-day running of the Wired.com website. He headed up a team of six section editors, a dozen reporters and a large pool of freelancers. Together the team produced a daily digest of stories about the impact of science and technology, and won several awards, including several Webby Awards, 2X Knight-Batten Awards for Innovation in Journalism and the 2010 MIN (Magazine Industry Newsletter) award for best blog, among others.
Before being promoted to news editor, Leander was Wired.com’s senior reporter, primarily covering Apple. During that time, Leander published a ton of scoops, including the first in-depth report about the development of the iPod. Leander attended almost every keynote speech and special product launch presented by Steve Jobs, including the historic launches of the iPhone and iPad. He also reported from almost every Macworld Expo in the late ’90s and early ‘2000s, including, sadly, the last shows in Boston, San Francisco and Tokyo. His reporting for Wired.com formed the basis of the first Cult of Mac book, and subsequently this website.
Before joining Wired, Leander was a senior reporter at the legendary MacWeek, the storied and long-running weekly that documented Apple and its community in the 1980s and ’90s.
Leander has written for Wired magazine (including the Issue 16.04 cover story about Steve Jobs’ leadership at Apple, entitled Evil/Genius), Scientific American, The Guardian, The Observer, The San Francisco Chronicle and many other publications.
Leander is an expert on:
Apple and Apple history
Steve Jobs, Jony Ive, Tim Cook and Apple leadership
Apple community
iPhone and iOS
iPad and iPadOS
Mac and macOS
Apple Watch and watchOS
Apple TV and tvOS
AirPods
Leander has a postgrad diploma in artificial intelligence from the University of Aberdeen, and a BSc (Hons) in experimental psychology from the University of Sussex.
He has a diploma in journalism from the UK’s National Council for the Training of Journalists.
Leander lives in San Francisco, California, and is married with four children. He’s an avid biker and has ridden in many long-distance bike events, including California’s legendary Death Ride.
You can find out more about Leander on LinkedIn and Facebook. You can follow him on X at @lkahney or Instagram.
54 responses to “Why the iPhone 6 looks like the best phone ever”
not sure about the camera, i like how its flush on the 5s, worried the phone won’t lay flat while on a desk
Why does it have to lay flat on a desk?
OCD.
I thought about the same thing mr. or ms. “Concerned” But then I realized I’d be putting a case on it anyway, and so it will in fact lay flat. :)
Its not an issue for most people I think…
I’m not sure what the numbers are, but PLENTY of people get a case for their iPhone… Apple probably knew this and that’s why they don’t mind making the camera a little bulkier.
apple needs to let people place apps anywhere on the screen. having a note 3, all my apps are along the bottom…where I can reach the.
Eh? they can do that now… you seem confused.
I think what he means is, you don’t have to have icons across every page. You only put icons up that you want, and the rest of them are in a list to choose from when needed.
I do this now….all the apps I need are on page one in the order I like to use them pertaining to where on the screen is convenient….the rest are filed into folders that I name appropriately (or list if you like) and are moved to subsequent pages that I scroll to when required.
well, I am a Note user. ;)
when did this become an option, in ios8? I’m not seeing it on my work ipad.
btw, I’m speaking of being able to not have the apps all start at the top left of the screen. an example would be to have only one app on a screen and have it on the lower right corner, near my thumb. is that possible?
it is indeed possible and easy to do. Has been in every iOS version that I can remember.
It is possible, I think. My home screen doesn’t have any icons on it, other than the static folders on the bottom row. I don’t like looking at apps on the screen. I like having access to them, I like having them on my iPhone, but I don’t like looking at or for them.
You can also double tap the home buttons and the apps come down to you if it’s up high.
double TOUCH
curious. what happens to double tab home for app switching?
double ‘clickling’ is for app switching whilst double tapping (similar to how you use the macbook trackpad) is for the single-hand feature of having the apps come down to you.
Wow, I’ve had my 5s 1 year come November. I didn’t realize until this morning by double tapping I could arrange the apps that way. Once again this proves the adage, “you learn something everyday”, is true.
You can’t do that on the 5S. Only the 6
Well, it happens a bit more often with Apple users, considering they are seldom accustomed to receiving new features to learn.
Great assumption Mr. Jobs. He would be so proud of you.
And now Apple releases a 5.5″ screen to your shagrin.
Apple makes defective expensive crap! The defective charging port will fail quick! Apple covers up defects. Android devices are much better. Best thing I ever did was switch to Android.
Now I can just pop in a fully charged battery any time. My phone has had a large screen for years now. Try switching people you will save a lot and never go back. Apple sucks!
Then why are you on this website troll?
Hook, line, sinker. Mission accomplished.
Ecosystem. It’s the main reason why developers and consumers flock to Apple. They are the only company with a polished and solid desktop to mobile ecosystem. Focus on the user experience. I’ll pass on lugging around extra batteries. One day of battery life is just fine. I’d plug it in every night regardless of it’s charge level.
The fact that they don’t have to develop an OS based off of 123292 different phones, is exactly why their focus is exemplary.
Then buy something else you idiot. Nobody is forcing you to buy it
The charging port is actually pretty decent. You apparently haven’t used it much.
Am I the only one who thinks it looks like a Samsung gone wrong? I liked iPhones because they looked like iPhones. This is becoming more Samsung orientated. Glad I bought the 5s, so much better in terms of looks than this is.
Although I prefer iPhones and their associated ecosystems, I think the HTC M7 is the best looking phone ever. And the sharp edges of the iPhone looked sick and now the iPhone 6 looks like a Samsung phone :((
Then buy an HTC M7!
Department of the redundancy department.
The new moto x with wood backing options, looks pretty swank as well. I kinda like the new iphone, actually.
Who keeps their phone in their back pocket?!
Not him for long because it’s going to crack. I know someone who puts the 5S in their back pocket and one day they sat on it the wrong way getting into their car and SNAP the screen cracked.
With how thin the iPhone 6 is it’s definitely going to happen even easier. It’s more like the iPad Air now. Which is a great device for it’s thinness and light weight but feels MUCH cheaper than previous iPads because of it. The glass feels like plastic.
My Nexus 5 is in my back pocket while I drive and walking around.
at the same time!?
Women who have small front pockets. Fact.
Yeah I’ll give you that.
Best phone? ahah he amk he…
Never mind all this other nonsense and blubbering. Does the phone sit stable and flush when placed flat on a table with that camera protruding out like that? ….or will I be forced to use a case?
The other thing is those huge lines on the back will have to grow on me. I hated them during the leaks and I hate them now. But I guess I can fix that with a nice slim case.
Also I printed out the size models and I’m definitely going with the 4.7″ Space Grey with 64GB. Reason why is it closely retains the compact feel of the 5S but is much thinner and still has a much larger screen
The 5.5″ feels GOOFY in my hands… not as much the width but how tall the phone looks. It’s even taller than the Galaxy Note which already was laughably large when I tried it out. Might as well hold an iPad Mini up to your head and try to not look weird. Especially since it looks like you’ll need a case to fix that protruding camera adding even MORE width & height to the phone.
Optical image stabilization is nice and all. But for a landscape home screen and split screen apps I rather just switch to my iPad Air and keep the phone compact like it should be.
P.S. Why does the Space Grey on the iPhone 6 look like a different color than the Space Grey on the iPhone 5S? It seems much lighter and less of a differentiation from the silver color than the iPhone 5S was.
You won’t be forced to buy a case — it will be your choice.
Why does it have to be stable and flush on the table?–what do you want to balance on it?
The new iphone is what it is. I’m pretty sure there is a purpose and reason for each and every element of design on the phone. The lines on the back are for the NFC sensor. Take it or leave it!
I agree with you about the 6+ size. It’s not a practical size in my opinion. Just buy the other one!
As much as I thought the Note was massive, you actually get used to it if you haven’t got child-like hands. It’s pretty much a relative comparison if you think about it. When I grab an iphone, it feels like I’m a giant, making me feel more like all that is man with a scrawny phone.
Of course, there’s that part of me that looks funny when I put a giant tablet up to my head, but it DOES create more shade for my pasty skin.
Ha!! Lol!! et al!! Kudo’s sir!!
iPhone 6 needs a 14mp camera and a 3mp front camera. The whole photography experience needs to be rebooted on the iphone. The platform is looking old and tired. Same ole Icons, no novel new applications, same sounds, meh. Just another rebrand.
Why I need 14 or 16 or 20mp photo if its gonna be full of chroma noise?
Both cameras have been upgraded. More megapixlels doesn’t mean a better camera. It is about how it captures light. If you need to do high end photography, get a DSLR. This is a phone!
Agreed.
Who made the new design? Samsung? Haha. Yeah nice screen, bit late but
still, welcome to 2012. Btw did you guys already forget how you said
that 3.5″ screen is perfect and shouldn’t be bigger.
Sammy Note 4 will rape this iPhone 6 before breakfast.
Want a better everything? For a better price? The Sony Xperia Z3 has a better 1080p Trumillious live led display, 3100 mAh battery(2 days), 20.7 MP 1/2.3 G LENS Camera(4k), ISO 12800, 3GB RAM, a better design, more durable, shatterproof Dragontail glass,Aluminum,IP68 Waterproofing, Stereospeakers, S-FORCE sound, and PS4 remote play.
Yes sony experia z3 and even the z2 is practically better then the new iPhones and can be bought much cheaper. I like iPhones but I feel they didn’t do enough this time around. It doesn’t have that revolutionary feel that the older iPhones had when released. This one feels more like playing catch up.
Dear Leander Kahney, can you go tell that “Robert LeFevre” how to properly write an article? Look at this mess of an article. And the title is a flat out lie! http://www.cultofmac.com/294849/apple-makes-everything-obsolete/
You are literally lying thru your teeth , the iphone 6 is already outdated . And you complain of the bulk of android phones when the iphone 6 has a smaller screen yet is bigger and bulkier then the lg g2 from last year , and the iphone 6 plus at 6.3″ long is more then half an inch longer and wider then the note 3 and lg g3 yet the iphone has a smaller display .the lg g3 and note 4 which both pack a larger 2k screen than the iphone 6 plus are much smaller and sleeker profile phones.
Ip6 is like.a android phone from 2012