This time as well Apple has introduced two new smartphones, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus with the most prominent difference being different size. There are several similarities and differences between the two devices but is one device better than the other?
What went wrong with iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s last year?
If you remember, last year apple presented iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s. The iPhone 5c offered a polycarbonate shell as against fine metal build of iPhone 5s and compromised on Chipset (64 bit A7 vs 32 bit A6) and other features. The most highlighted touch ID fingerprint scanner was also missing on iPhone 5c.
In spite of all these differences, there was just $100 price difference (10k INR difference in India at launch time) between the two. Why would someone not spend $100 dollar more and get a metal build future proof smartphone? Well apparently there wasn’t much reason for the same and iPhone 5c wasn’t a hot sell. Prices fell eventually.
What is different this time?
This time Apple has presented iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus which fall in separate league. Apple has maintained the right amount of similarity and difference between the two units to justify the $100 price difference.
All major features and user experience will remain consistent across both devices and the target audience for both devices will remain discrete. On the whole, iPhone 6 and 6 Plus makes more sense than iPhone 5s and 5c.
What are the key differences between iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone 6?
The difference between the two narrows down to the following:
Display
The iPhone 6 has a 4.7 inch Retina HD display with 750 x 1334 pixels (Dual Domain pixels : skewed pixel matrix for better viewing angles and colors) amounting to 326 ppi, while the 5.5 inch display variant flaunts more 1080 x 1920 pixels, 401 ppi. The size difference will matter more than the difference in pixel density.
Battery Life
Apple has always surprised us with its energy efficient OS and chipsets, managing decent backup form seemingly small battery capacities. iPhones have been sticking to 10 hours of battery backup since last few years and the scaling of form factor has allowed apple to use bigger batteries. The latest A8 chipset is also 50 percent more energy efficient according to Apple.
The iPhone 6 houses a 1800 mAh battery with 10 days of standby time, 14 hours of 3G Talk time, 50 hours of music playback and 11 hours of video playback, while the iPhone 6 Plus manages to squeeze out 16 days of standby time, 24 hours of talk time, 12 hours of WiFi browsing, 14 hours of HD video and 80 hours of audio from its 2915 mAh battery.
Also: iPhone 6 VS iPhone 6 Plus Comparison Overview
Optical Image Stabilization
Both new iPhones flaunt 8 MP iSight camera with f2.2 wide aperture, 1.5 micrometer pixel size,1/ 2.6 Inch camera sensor, full HD video recording and a 2.1 MP Front facing unit. But iPhone 6 Plus also incorporates Optical Image Stabilization for less noise during motion photography. The iPhone 6 on the other hand manages with digital image stabilization.
Recommended: Optical Image Stabilization VS Electronic Image Stabilization
Key Specs
| Model | Apple iPhone 6 | Apple iPhone 6 Plus |
| Display | 4.7 inch, 1334×750 | 5.5 inch, 1920×1080 |
| Processor | Apple A8, M8 co processor | Apple A8, M8 co processor |
| Internal Storage | 16 GB, 64 GB, 128 GB, Non-Expandable | 16 GB, 64 GB, 128 GB, Non-Expandable |
| OS | iOS 8 | iOS 8 |
| Camera | 8 MP/ 1.2 MP | 8 MP/ 1.2 MP, OIS |
| Battery | 1800 mAh | 2915 mAh |
| Price on 2 Year Contract | $199/ $299/$399 | $299/$399/$499 |
Transition from 4 inch to 4.7 Inch and 5.5 Inch
Not everyone wants a bigger phone. Since Android lacks in high end compact phone, users looking for high end compact smartphones didn’t have many options but to resort to an iPhone. Those who have been loyal to iOS ecosystem thus far, will find iPhone 6 more appealing. Switching from 4 inch iPhone 5s to 5.5 inch phablet shouldn’t be very appealing to all iPhone loyalists (is spite of all software to enhance one handed usage), at least for now.
The larger display iPhone will be more appealing to users in Asia, who have been clamoring for such a device for a long time. This will help Apple to further spread its wings in markets like China where it sees huge growth potential. This new iPhone will also be more appealing to users switching from other OS platfoms to enjoy the perks of iOS on a larger display.
With most people demanding bigger displays OEMs don’t have much choice. Moto X went bigger and so did Apple iPhones.
Is iPhone 6 better than iPhone 6 Plus?
Both phones run same iOS 8 fueled by same Apple A8 chipset and M8 co-processor and offer similar set of features including the highlighted Apple Pay.
iPhones has never been about specs. The battery life has more or less improved on both devices, and both retina HD displays are expected to be stunning irrespective of difference in pixel density.
We are not yet sure how much difference OIS will bring about in photography segment, but with this feature, Apple has marked iPhone 6 Plus as a superior iPhone rather than just a bigger iPhone catering to different audience.
