iPhone 6 vs. iPhone 6s Buyer's Guide

Apple's smartphones have been released on a "tick-tock" cycle since 2008. The iPhone 6 lineup represented a "tick" year, which involved a complete design overhaul, while the iPhone 6s lineup was part of a "tock" year, which generally focused on camera and processor improvements, new features such as 3D Touch and Live Photos, and incremental refinements like faster Touch ID, LTE, and Wi-Fi. 


From a distance, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s lineups look and feel like virtually identical smartphones. It is true that both models share several attributes, but the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus have many features that are not included on the year-older iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. So, which one should you choose to purchase or upgrade to? What about the rumored iPhone SE and iPhone 7? Let's take a closer look. 

Shared Features Between iPhone 6s and iPhone 6

Design

Apple fulfilled consumer demand for larger-screen smartphones with the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus, and it retained those sizes for the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. If you prefer another screen size, the so-called 4-inch "iPhone SE" is expected to be announced at Apple's rumored March media event. All older iPhones released in 2013 or earlier also measure between 3.5" and 4" diagonally. 

Virtually all other design aspects of the larger iPhones are the same, including a unibody aluminum shell, 2.5D curved glass, round edges, pill-shaped volume buttons, circular speaker grilles, and more. Apple has always stuck with nearly identical designs for iPhone "S" models, including the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS in 2008-09, iPhone 4 and iPhone 4s in 2010-11, and iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s in 2012-13. 

iOS 9

iOS 9 is focused on intelligence and proactivity, enabling iOS devices to learn user habits and act on that information through app suggestions, notifications, and a customized "Siri Suggestions" interface populated with the user's favorite contacts and apps, nearby places, and relevant news stories. 

iOS 9 includes several new features and improvements beyond Proactive Siri and Search, including Apple News, Apple Maps transit routing, Notes checklists and sketches, app thinning, a simpler HomeKit setup process, under-the-hood battery life enhancements, built-in two-factor authentication, and more. 

Battery Life

The iPhone 6s has a 1715 mAh battery, which is smaller in capacity than the 1810 mAh battery that was in the iPhone 6. The iPhone 6s Plus has a 2750 mAh battery, also smaller in capacity than the 2915 mAh battery that was used in the iPhone 6 Plus. 

Apple may have used a smaller battery to make room for vital 3D Touch components in the new iPhones, both of which include a new part called a "Taptic Engine." The Taptic Engine provides haptic feedback for 3D Touch gestures and also powers the vibrations for alarms and notifications. 


Nevertheless, efficiency improvements introduced with the A9 chip and other performance enhancements have resulted in the two devices offering the same battery life as the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. 

On paper, the iPhone 6s offers up to 14 hours of talk time, 10 days of standby time, 11 hours of video playback, 10 hours of Internet use on LTE. The iPhone 6s Plus offers 24 hours of talk time, 16 days of standby time, 14 hours of video playback, and 12 hours of Internet use on LTE. 

New Features Found Only in the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus

Faster A9 Chip with 2GB of RAM

iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus have a 64-bit Apple A9 chip with 2GB of RAM for up to 70% faster CPU performance and up to 90% faster graphics compared to the 64-bit A8 chip with 1GB of RAM in iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. The upgrades result in apps opening slightly quicker and overall improved speed across iOS, apps, and games. 


Apple has also directly embedded the M9 motion coprocessor into the A9 chip for increased performance and efficiency. Both the iPhone 6's M8 and iPhone 6s's M9 connect to the accelerometer, compass, gyroscope, and barometer for fitness tracking, but only the M9 is efficient enough to detect audio input in the background for always-on "Hey Siri"functionality on iOS 9 or later. 

Improved Cameras with 4K Video

iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus have an upgraded 12-megapixel rear-facing iSight camera and 5-megapixel front-facing FaceTime camera, compared to an 8-megapixel iSight camera and 1.2-megapixel FaceTime camera on iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Coupled with the A9 chip, this translates to faster auto focus, and improved color accuracy, details, and sharpness, particularly in low light. 


The FaceTime camera's jump to a 5-megapixel sensor is especially noticeable, resulting in significantly reduced noise for "selfies" and other photos. The front-facing shooter still lacks LED flash, but Apple introduced a new feature called "Retina Flash" that flashes the display when you take a photo. The feature is based on a custom chip that makes the display flash up to three times brighter than usual. 


Camera+'s comprehensive gallery of side-by-side iPhone camera comparison photos
iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus can also capture 4K video at 30FPS, allowing iPhone users to take videos with incredible levels of detail. 4K video joins 240FPS Slo-mo video and Time-Lapse video, both features introduced in past-generation devices. Time-Lapse video gains new stabilization features with the new iPhones. 

Apple also says the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus cameras have improved local tone mapping, improved noise reduction, panoramas up to 63 megapixels, playback zoom, and the ability to shoot 8-megapixel still photos while recording 4K video. iPhone 6s Plus also exclusively has image stabilization for video. 

Live Photos

Live Photos is a new feature exclusive to the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. When enabled, the feature captures an extra 1.5 seconds before and after a shot, with the footage being used to animate the photo with movement and sound. The result looks something like a short GIF. 

When a 3D Touch press is used on a photo, it comes to life with animation to add a bit of context. Live Photos are not true videos, but rather a combination of a 12-megapixel JPG with a MOV file that contains 45 frames playing back at around 15 frames per second. Live Photos take up about twice the space of normal photos. 

Live Photos can still be viewed on iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. 

3D Touch

iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus models have new pressure-sensitive screens that can detect the level of force applied to the screen, allowing for a new technology called 3D Touch. The new feature builds upon traditional multi-touch gestures like tapping, pinching, and swiping by introducing two more interactions called Peek and Pop, Quick Actions home screen shortcuts, and pressure-sensitive drawing in supported apps. 

Peek and Pop enable you to preview content within iOS apps without opening it. If someone sends you an address in Messages, for example, you can press down the screen lightly to Peek at the location on Apple Maps, without leaving the conversation. If you want to view more details about the address in Apple Maps, you can press a little bit harder and the Pop gesture will switch you to the app. 

Quick Actions are one-tap shortcuts that work right from the Home screen by firmly pressing on the icon of any supported stock or third-party app. By pressing on the Facebook app icon, for example, a Quick Actions menu pops up with shortcuts for writing a post, uploading a photo or video, taking a photo or video, or viewing your personal profile. Many popular apps have been updated with the feature. 

But is 3D Touch something that you will use? For some iPhone users, the feature is not as natural of an experience as tapping, pinching, or swiping, so it may take some time before Peek and Pop gestures become registered in your muscle memory. Even then, Peek, Pop, and Quick Actions trim only a few seconds off most tasks. Ultimately, the convenience of 3D Touch comes down to personal preference. 

Faster Touch ID

iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus have a next-generation Touch ID sensor that detects your fingerprint faster, but the difference only amounts to a fraction of a second over the iPhone 6. Some users have complained that the new Touch ID is actually too fast, preventing access to the Lock screen when pressing the home button. 

Faster LTE and Wi-Fi

Apple says data speeds on the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are theoretically up to twice as fast -- up to 300 Mbps -- with LTE-Advanced, and the 23 supported LTE bands are the most of any smartphone. 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi‑Fi with MIMO is also up to twice as fast on iPhone 6s, with theoretical speeds up to 866 Mbps. The improvements lead to faster web browsing, messaging, video buffering, and other data-based tasks. 

Other Features

• More Colors and Storage: iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are available in Gold, Rose Gold, Silver, and Space Gray with 16GB, 64GB, and 128GB storage capacities. Meanwhile, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are currently only offered in Silver and Space Gray with 16GB and 64GB storage.
• 7000 Series Aluminum: Apple addressed iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus bending issues, colloquially known as Bendgate, by switching to 7000 series aluminum on the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus have 6000 series aluminum. Apple alsostrengthened weak points of the new iPhone shell for increased durability.

Side-by-Side Comparison

iPhone 6

• 4.7" and 5.5" Screen Sizes
• Ion-strengthened glass
• 6000 Series Aluminum
• A8 Chip/M8 Motion Coprocessor
• 1GB of RAM
• 8-megapixel rear-facing camera
• 1.2-megapixel front-facing camera
• Up to 1080p video recording at 60FPS
• Focus Pixels
• Panoramas up to 43 megapixels
• Touch ID
• LTE
• 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi‑Fi
• Bluetooth 4.2
• Hey Siri

iPhone 6s

• 4.7" and 5.5" Screen Sizes
• Stronger ion-strengthened glass
• 7000 Series Aluminum
• A9 Chip/M9 Motion Coprocessor
• 2GB of RAM
• 12-megapixel rear-facing camera
• 5-megapixel front-facing camera
• Up to 4K video recording at 30FPS
• Focus Pixels
• Panoramas up to 63 megapixels
• Faster Touch ID
• LTE Advanced
• 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi‑Fi with MIMO
• Bluetooth 4.2
• Always-on Hey Siri
• 3D Touch
• Live Photos
• Retina Flash
• Playback Zoom

Pricing

• iPhone 6 (16GB): $549
• iPhone 6 (64GB): $649
• iPhone 6 Plus (16GB): $649
• iPhone 6 Plus (64GB): $749

Pricing

• iPhone 6s (16GB): $649
• iPhone 6s (64GB): $749
• iPhone 6s (128GB): $849
• iPhone 6s Plus (16GB): $749
• iPhone 6s Plus (64GB): $849
• iPhone 6s Plus (128GB): $949

Apple's iPhone Upgrade Program, Trade Up With Installments, and carrier financing are also available. 

Which iPhone Should You Buy?

Buying Later

If you are planning on purchasing a new iPhone, consider holding off for about six months if possible. Apple's much-rumored iPhone 7 will likely be released in September, and the next-generation flagship smartphone is expected to be significantly different than the iPhone 6s. 

Multiple sources have reported, for example, that Apple will remove the 3.5mm headphone jack on the iPhone 7 in favor of an all-in-one Lightning connector for audio output, charging, and connecting peripherals. 

The iPhone 7 would support Lightning-equipped headphones, along with Bluetooth wireless headphones as usual. Apple may also release a digital-to-analog adapter that supports EarPods and other wired headphones with 3.5mm stereo jacks. The device may also have adual-lens camera system. The new hardware could be based on LinX technology, allowing for brighter and clearer DSLR-quality photos and several other major advantages. 

Other rumors claim the iPhone 7 could have a fully waterproof design, stereo speakers, no rear antenna bands, a flush rear camera, and wireless charging if readied in time. The device is expected to be thinner overall and, like the iPhone 4, iPhone 5, and iPhone 6, could have an entirely new design aesthetic. The screen sizes will likely remain 4.7" and 5.5" like the previous two generations. 

Meanwhile, Apple will reportedly launch a new 4-inch iPhone at its rumored March 21 media event. The so-called "iPhone SE" is expected to resemble an upgraded iPhone 5swith an A9 chip, 12-megapixel rear-facing iSight camera, 16GB and 64GB storage capacities, NFC for Apple Pay, VoLTE calling, and more. The device will likely be Apple's entry-level iPhone and could have a lower price accordingly. 

Buying Now

If you must purchase a new iPhone now, the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus are unsurprisingly Apple's best smartphones right now. The A9 chip, 3D Touch, Live Photos, improved cameras, second-generation Touch ID, faster LTE and Wi-Fi, and many other new features are worthwhile upgrades, while the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus remain good options for budget-conscious customers. 

If you you take a lot of photos with your iPhone, consider purchasing the iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus. The smartphones have significant camera upgrades, including higher-megapixel iSight and FaceTime lenses, 4K video recording at 30 FPS, Retina Flash, larger panoramas, and optical video stabilization on the iPhone 6s Plus. 

The iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus are also ideal if you plan on keeping the iPhone for a while, as both smartphones are notably faster and will remain more competitive with future-generation devices. Apple's A9 and A9X chips will likely continue being used in 2016 devices, including the so-called "iPhone SE" and new 9.7-inch iPad. 

3D Touch is also a major new feature that makes the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus worthwhile. Apple has included similar pressure-sensitive screens on the Apple Watch and MacBooks, and it will likely expand the technology to other devices going forward. Many developers are still updating their apps with 3D Touch support. 

Nevertheless, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are still very capable smartphones for those on a budget. Apple no longer sells Gold or 128GB versions of the devices, but the models that remain are each $100 cheaper than the comparative iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus model. Both smartphones should continue to receive the latest iOS updates for at least three to four years. 

Ultimately, choosing between the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6 comes down to price and features. You can decide to save $100 by purchasing the older iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus, or put that money towards a package of new features, including an A9 chip, 3D Touch, Live Photos, improved cameras, second-generation Touch ID, faster LTE and Wi-Fi, 7000 series aluminum, and more.
Visit our website:  www.pixotritechnologies.com  , http://pixotrigames.com/

Apple hires Aubrey Plaza to explain 3D Touch on the iPhone 6S

Two new ads for Apple's under-used features

Apple released two new video ads yesterday highlighting the more novel features of the iPhone 6S. 3D Touch, which works like the right-click function of a computer mouse for your phone screen, lets you quickly execute an app's most-used actions and also "Peek" and "Pop" webpages, links, emails, and the like. Not every app has 3D Touch support, but a handful of major ones like Facebook, Spotify, and Twitter do. So Apple may be using this video spot, called "Less Time" and featuring actress Aubrey Plaza, to help explain to everyday iPhone users how to take better advantage of it.

3D Touch lets you "do a ton of stuff in a lot less time," the narrator says. "Like look at a site without going to it, or watch a video without opening it. You can do pretty much everything faster." Plaza shows off how you can use Peek to look at a flight time from an email without having to click through.

"YOU CAN DO PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING FASTER."

The second ad highlights Live Photos. By enabling Live Photos through the phone's camera app, you can capture a GIF-like moving image that captures the moments before and after a shot. When you press down hard on the screen, you can see it come to life. "Live Photos are more than just photos," the narrator says. "Every time you take a picture, you get more than just a photo. You get to relive a moment."

Both the Live Photos and 3D Touch spots seem to suggest customers may not be getting the most of the new iPhone's force-sensitive touchscreen — and need a reminder to do so. But both ads are surprisingly fun and well produced, as Apple ads tend to be, so they may just nudge an iPhone 6S owner to start using the new features more.

• Visit our website:  www.pixotritechnologies.com  , http://pixotrigames.com/

What is the true formatted storage capacity of an iPhone, iPad or iPod? And why is it different to the advertised capacity?

What is the true formatted storage capacity of an iPhone, iPad or iPod - how many songs, films, apps and games can they hold? And why is the true capacity lower than the advertised figure?

We wouldn't call it a ripoff (although two people suing the company evidently think differently), since Apple puts "actual formatted capacity less" in the small print. But it is a bit confusing. In fact, there are a few different reasons why iPhones, iPads and iPods report a different formatted storage capacity to the one that is advertised by Apple on its website, and we'll go through them in this article. We also detail the true storage capacity of each model of iPhone, iPad and iPhone - explaining this in real terms, so that you know how many films, music tracks, photos, apps and so on your device can hold.

Before we start, here's the reported capacities we've been seeing for each of the four current storage tiers for iOS devices. Bear in mind that these are approximate (we've seen some variation between models and versions of iOS), but they give an idea of the shortfall you should be expect from the advertised storage capacity.

• 128GB: approx. 114GiB
• 64GB: approx. 56.5GiB
• 32GB: approx. 27.5GiB
• 16GB: approx. 11.5GiB

You'll notice that I've used the unit 'GiB', or gibibyte, even though iTunes clearly uses the unit GB. I'll explain why this is, and the difference between the two, in the next section.

iPad Pro (128GB model): approx. 114GiB, or 122.4GB. 30,600 songs OR 81 films OR 229 TV shows OR 19,125 photos OR 4,080 apps OR a combination of these

iPad Pro (32GB model): approx. 27.5GiB, or 29.5GB. 7,375 songs OR 19 films OR 55 TV shows OR 4,609 photos OR 983 apps OR a combination of these

iPad Air 2 (128GB model): approx. 114GiB, or 122.4GB. 30,600 songs OR 81 films OR 229 TV shows OR 19,125 photos OR 4,080 apps OR a combination of these
iPad Air 2 (64GB model): approx. 56.5GiB, or 60.7GB. 15,175 songs OR 40 films OR 113 TV shows OR 9,484 photos OR 2,023 apps OR a combination of these
iPad Air 2 (16GB model): approx. 11.5GiB, or 12.3GB. 3,075 songs OR 8 films OR 23 TV shows OR 1,921 photos OR 410 apps OR a combination of these

iPad Air 1 (32GB model): approx. 27.5GiB, or 29.5GB. 7,375 songs OR 19 films OR 55 TV shows OR 4,609 photos OR 983 apps OR a combination of these
iPad Air 1 (16GB model): approx. 11.5GiB, or 12.3GB. 3,075 songs OR 8 films OR 23 TV shows OR 1,921 photos OR 410 apps OR a combination of these

iPad mini 4 (128GB model): approx. 114GiB, or 122.4GB. 30,600 songs OR 81 films OR 229 TV shows OR 19,125 photos OR 4,080 apps OR a combination of these
iPad mini 4 (64GB model): approx. 56.5GiB, or 60.7GB. 15,175 songs OR 40 films OR 113 TV shows OR 9,484 photos OR 2,023 apps OR a combination of these
iPad mini 4 (16GB model): approx. 11.5GiB, or 12.3GB. 3,075 songs OR 8 films OR 23 TV shows OR 1,921 photos OR 410 apps OR a combination of these

iPad mini 2 (32GB model): approx. 27.5GiB, or 29.5GB. 7,375 songs OR 19 films OR 55 TV shows OR 4,609 photos OR 983 apps OR a combination of these
iPad mini 2 (16GB model): approx. 11.5GiB, or 12.3GB. 3,075 songs OR 8 films OR 23 TV shows OR 1,921 photos OR 410 apps OR a combination of these

iPod touch (128GB model): approx. 114GiB, or 122.4GB. 30,600 songs OR 81 films OR 229 TV shows OR 19,125 photos OR 4,080 apps OR a combination of these
iPod touch (64GB model): approx. 56.5GiB, or 60.7GB. 15,175 songs OR 40 films OR 113 TV shows OR 9,484 photos OR 2,023 apps OR a combination of these
iPod touch (32GB model): approx. 27.5GiB, or 29.5GB. 7,375 songs OR 19 films OR 55 TV shows OR 4,609 photos OR 983 apps OR a combination of these
iPod touch (16GB model): approx. 11.5GiB, or 12.3GB. 3,075 songs OR 8 films OR 23 TV shows OR 1,921 photos OR 410 apps OR a combination of these

How many files can an iPhone, iPad or iPod hold?

Okay, how did we come up with these numbers? Let's look at each file type, and how much storage space it takes up ion average. We'll also consider what can influence its size.

Music file sizes: How many songs can an iPhone, iPad or iPod hold?

This depends most importantly on the quality of files you use: high-quality song files take up more space (but sound better, assuming the speakers you put them through are also good enough to do them justice), but also on the file format and whether you go for lossy or lossless sound. A single song encoded as an mp3 at a bitrate of 128kbps - a fairly respectable but not particularly high bitrate - takes up about 1MB per minute, so let's assume an average of 4MB per song. That's what Apple has used in the past to create estimates for the iPods.

But you may well find songs are drastically larger than that. If you buy songs from iTunes, for instance, the standard bitrate is 256kbps, which means such tracks are on average twice as large. And longer tracks can catch you out too, if you're into dance music or classical, for example.

Movie file sizes: How many films can an iPhone, iPad or iPod hold?

As with music, there are many file formats that can be used for video, and this will cause file sizes to vary substantially. Again, we'll use Apple's standard, which is H.264 1.5Mbps video at a resolution of 640x480, with 128kbps audio. This translates into a file size of 800MB per hour. Slashfilm reckons the average length of a Hollywood film is 110 minutes, which would be about 1.5GB. A 40-minute TV episode would be about 533MB.

Photo file sizes: How many photos can an iPhone, iPad or iPod hold?

This depends on the resolution of the image - which in the case of photos is a function of the number of megapixels on the camera that took the shot. Apple estimates an average of 6.4MB per photo for its advertised capacities, but you may find they are smaller, particularly if taken on older models of iPhone or iPad themselves - the iPad Air 1's rear-facing camera, for instance, has a rating of 5 megapixels, and photos taken with this are likely to take up a little over 1MB. Screenshots taken with iPad games might be more like 2MB to 3MB.

Again, though, we'll stick with Apple's standards for ease of comparison with the iPod numbers.

App file sizes: How many apps and games can an iPhone, iPad or iPod hold?

iOS app (and game) sizes can vary enormously. My iPhone currently holds 39 apps taking up 2.2GB, which works out at an average of 56MB. My iPad Air has 133 apps taking up 53.35GB, a far higher average of 401MB, but this is skewed by the fact that I do most of my gaming on the iPad and games - particularly high-end games, which I love - take up lots of space. And by a couple of apps that are exceptionally large because of the many smaller documents they contain.

You should bear in mind, you see, if you're looking through an existing device's 'About' menu to see what you're storing and how much space it's taking up, that many apps are rated as taking up the space allocated to documents they let you view - a comic viewer app with masses of comics in it, for instance, might look like a huge app, but would be far smaller with a sensibly sized library.

The iPhone therefore probably gives us a fairer estimate of average app size, and indeed the average across all users (rather than focusing on a tech journalist with a tendency to download high-end apps for testing) is probably lower still. In October 2012 ABI Research reported that the average iOS app was 23MB. The averages are likely to have increased further since then, so we will use a very rough estimate of 30MB per app. But gamers should expect their favourite apps to take up considerably more space.

Other file sizes: How many files and documents can an iPhone, iPad or iPod hold?

We won't go through the average size of every single file or document that an iOS device can store, but here are some sample sizes for extremely approximate storage visualisation:

• pdfs: About 300KB to 500KB is about average for a two-page pdf.
• Comics: a 50-page comic stored as a .cbr file seems to average between 10MB and 20MB on our system, but these things vary enormously. Our version of The Killing Joke, which is 64 pages long and stored as a .cbr, is 55MB.
• ebooks: Amazon’s estimates for the Kindle’s storage capacity use an average figure of a little under 900KB per ebook.
• Podcasts: an hour-long podcast might be about 50MB.
• Ringtones: a 15-second, good-quality ringtone might take up about 700KB, but you could trim that down with a lower bitrate.

Is it fair that an iPhone or iPad's true storage capacity is less than its advertised capacity?

The methods used when calculating and advertising device capacities might seem unfair - indeed, it would be a more honest assessment for companies to advertise the available storage - but it's the way things are for the time being. Most do acknowledge this discrepancy, of course, but usually in the small print. Apple's phrasing is "actual formatted capacity less", and explains the situation quite comprehensively with this post. Amazon fairly openly says that only 1.25GB of the Kindle's 2GB of storage is available for 'user content'.

Which? ran a test and found that Apple's smartphones are actually among the most frugal in using up storage with initial installs, although you may find it harder to prune iOS than you would with other systems.

Note that a separate issue arises when a large amount of storage is allocated to something called 'Other' when you connect a device to iTunes - perhaps as much as 20GB or more! This is not normal, and is an issue that lots of people have faced. Check for one of the suggested fixes online. 

Visit our website:  www.pixotritechnologies.com  , http://pixotrigames.com/