Opinions: Should you buy the iPhone 6?

The new iPhone range was announced a couple of nights ago with massive media frenzy. Most of it is from websites trying to get that extra nudge of traffic towards their platforms. You have to hand it to Apple for creating some of the most talked about corporate events ever – and this happens twice a year!

Highlights of Apple’s announcement included:

1. Brand new iPhone with two new, previously non-existent sizes: iPhone 6 at 4.7″ and iPhone 6 Plus at 5.5″.
2. Apple’s first attempt at the wearable market with the brand new Apple Watch.

Many concerned citizens asked me today about my thoughts on all this. Where does Apple stand now in relation to the competition. There’s so much good offering out there, how can we choose?!

Here’s what I personally think of Apple’s latest gadget adventure, but first, let’s start off with a Disclaimer:

1. This is my personal opinion and is not reflective of AbsoluteGeeks’ standing on the matter.
2. I have not tried any of the new iPhones yet; this opinion piece is purely based on the news that was announced and released by Apple and the tech media pundits out there.

End of Disclaimer

Design

As always, Apple’s designs are unparalleled. They make some of the most beautiful gadgets money can buy. This is applicable to all tech they create without exception. Their superiority in this field is perhaps only somewhat matched by HTC with their smartphone build and design qualities.

Apple takes lots of points here.

Software

iOS 8 has seen many incremental improvements from iOS7, most of which have been inspired by Android: widgets (any Android device since Android launched), open sharing options (any Android device since Android launched), Health (Samsung and recently LG), messaging (WhatsApp and co), Keyboard (Swype and the many other customizable and interchangeable Android keyboards), iCloud Drive (Dropbox, Google Drive, Box, Microsoft OneDrive, etc), NFC and mobile payment (NFC has been on many smartphones for years; Google Wallet has been around and operational for a while as well).

Apple used to claim that companies like Samsung copy its products and features. In fact, they’ve been stuck in legal battles for years about this.

It is true that Apple was once a great innovator and that Samsung had copied or took queues from many of its design and software features. However, this stopped being the case about 2 years ago, which is about the same time Android device sales started to skyrocket (also, around the same time the legendary Steve Jobs passed away!).

Apple fans argue and say, yes, they’re not new features, but Apple makes them look nicer and perform better than any of their counterparts. I’d agree with the former and disagree with the latter. As I said, Apple is superior when it comes to design, and this includes its apps and software UI. However, as far as performance is concerned, Android has become an extremely stable system since Jellybean, and most of the features highlighted above perform extremely well on other smartphones.

Apple doesn’t get any points for features, but gets points for design, again.

Hardware

It’s a very simple equation. At an extremely competitive market, tech companies need to provide devices in highly competitive prices, albeit, without compromising build and software quality, richness of features, unique traits and other considerations like camera and accessory quality and interoperability.

Apple cannot, financially speaking, afford to create a device that is so well built and include the best in class hardware they’d prefer to include. Something’s gotta give. Samsung sacrifices with the plastic covers. When they released the Galaxy Alpha, they had to compromise on some of the hardware in favor of build quality. HTC One (M8) sacrifices the camera. Nokia sacrifices with the thickness of their phones. Something’s always gotta give.

In the iPhone’s case, it’s some of the hardware. This is why they couldn’t launch the phone with hardware better than what’s already out in the market, in some cases up to 5 months ago.

Check the table below for a top phablet abbreviated comparison, coupled with the release dates of each device:

Apart from the 64-bit processor, the Note 4 and LG G3 win in almost every spec! The iPhone has lost its leadership in innovation and advancement here. They’re no longer the first to have high-end hardware specs in the market.

Bottom Line

When it comes to hardware and features (again, 64-bit processors aside), the terminology used shouldn’t be “OMG look what the iPhone has” and should be more like “OMG, look what the iPhone finally has or finally managed to have”!

The iPhone has the following going for it:

1. Superior design and build quality (both in form and UI)
2. Advanced and well-built Apple eco-system
3. Some better looking apps

The iPhone has the following not going too well for it:

1. Higher price compared to similar or better phablets
2. Locked and highly inflexible ecosystem of interoperable apps and hardware (increases dependency on the ecosystem and reduces flexibility to switch in the future, or get a smart watch from another vendor, for example)
3. Hardware and features will quickly be considered old-generation

For many, buying the new iPhone is a no brainer. They’ve been eagerly waiting for it. They’re big iPhone and Apple fans and are deeply immersed into the Apple ecosystem and wouldn’t imagine themselves buying any other smartphone. If I were them, I’d do the same.

If you’re thinking should you buy an iPhone 6 or not, then at least you’re in the right mindset. It means you’re considering your options, which is good. Ultimately, what you should get highly depends on what works for you, what you look for in such a personal and important device as your smartphone.

I own a MacBook Air, which I love very much, but that isn’t enough reason for me to get the iPhone 6/6 Plus. There are many things more than the interoperability I look for in the device I use the most during the day.

While design on other phablets is not bad at all by any means, especially the HTC One (M8) and LG G3, the iPhone continues to lead the pack with a stunning design and attention to detail inside out. Many people care about this more than features, memory size and processor capacity and that would be enough for them to go for the iPhone if they can afford it.

Those looking for more flexibility and/or more personalized features have a bouquet of options out there in the form of a range of Android phablets, each with their own differentiating set of features and add-ons. I suggest they look into them first before making a decision as financially costly as that of buying the iPhone 6/6 Plus.