"The only thing that's changed is everything." Apple's ad copy is as much pre-emptive pushback as it is marketing hyperbole. It's an early defensive against the sentiment that the latest iPhone is little more than iteration.
That despite the fact that this refresh doesn't get a redesign or even a new number, there's enough going on behind the scenes to justify iPhone 6 owners making a beeline to their nearest Apple Store.
Of course, as the ensuing lines around the block and record-setting sales numbers demonstrated, Apple never really had anything to worry about. Hardware upgrades, the rollout of iOS 9 and a handful of innovative new features like 3D Touch make the 6s (and, by extension, the 6s Plus) the best iPhone yet—but that was never really up for debate.
In a world where 87 percent of the smartphone marketshare belongs to non-iOS devices, the real question is whether Apple has managed to maintain its position at the top of the heap.
Classic Good Looks
There's been some debate over the years as what precisely the "s" stands for. The first time it seemed to be "Speed," and then "Siri," and then, perhaps, "Security"? This time out I'm betting on "squeezy" due to all of that hot 3D touching action. One thing's for sure, however—it's not "Style."
Not that the iPhone 6s is a bad-looking phone. It's not. It's perfectly lovely. It's just that, well, you'd be hard-pressed to pick it out of a lineup with its predecessors. But that still makes it one of the best-looking handsets around. In fact, the only real tell is on the rear of the device. Tucked away toward the bottom, just under the word iPhone, is a small capital "S" in a lonely little box.
The other giveaway is weight. It's subtle, but it's there. The letter S amounts to an additional 13 grams, a minute but detectable (if you go looking for it) difference likely at least somewhat attributable to a new build material – a 7000 Series aluminum alloy. Apple's quick to point out that it's the same stuff the aerospace industry uses. What the company doesn't mention, of course, is why.
Odds are if you and your skinny jeans weren't personally impacted by Bendgate, you've stashed that away in the overflowing mental file cabinet reserved for minor industry scandals. But Apple surely wasn't able to shake it off so easily. The company's still a ways off from intentionally bendable displays, so it's in Apple's best interest to make sure the handset can survive the standard wear and tear of its owners' front pockets.
The new build material, coupled with a stronger grade of glass, has made for a more durable phone, as third-party drop tests have confirmed (I'm frankly way too squeamish to put my own phone through similar stress tests). Though we're still talking about a thin glass and aluminum phone here.
There's a reason the company isn't tossing around words like "rugged" and "durable" in its press material. You're going to want to get a case for the phone. I don't care how much you love that new Rose Gold finish.
That New Rose Gold Finish
Speaking of—I have to admit, I'm a lot more taken with it than I anticipated. I'm still not entirely sure what constitutes "Rose Gold" – it's something akin to a metallic pink, apparently. But I dig it. Like the standard Gold before it, Apple's managed to embrace a new color just on the edge of gauche, but pulls it off with aplomb.
In fact, it's really more of a hue than a proper color, a slight change to the rear of the device that's barely detectable in certain lights. And, of course, it's the clearest way to broadcast to the world that your feet are firmly planted in late-2015 with the 6s, not one of those lousy 2014 models.
Screen Time
The screen was the thing last time out. The company continued to give to an industry and user base rapidly embracing much larger devices, upping the standard phone's screen from 4 to 4.7 inches, while going for broke with the 5.5-inch iPhone plus.
Apple seems to have found the sweet spot(s) for now and is standing firm with those sizes and their respective display resolutions. That's 1334 x 750 at 326 pixels per inch in the case of the 6/6s. It's an excellent display, sharp and rich, with a full range of colors. It does feel like a slight missed opportunity for Apple to one-up—or at the very least catch up—to some of the extremely high-def displays from the likes of Samsung.
Of course, the same caveat applies—until higher-def content becomes more prevalent for the small screen, these distinctions likely won't make a huge difference to most users. And the lack of movement on this front is mostly likely an indication that the company plans to take a big step forward this time next year when the 7 rolls around.
That doesn't mean that Apple left the display alone. In fact, the screen holds one of the iPhone's biggest steps forward this generation. Or rather, just behind the screen.
A Touching Display
"For iPhone 6s and 6s," says the silky smooth British-accented voice of Jonny Ive, "we're introducing an entirely new interaction—and an entirely new dimension to the way you experience the iPhone."
I'll admit, I wasn't entirely sold by 3D Touch during Apple's keynote. Frankly, the whole thing felt like a bit of a gimmick—an attempt to squeeze a little more life from a space that's become fairly stagnant of late. But, then, who am I to second-guess the godlike voice of Jonny Ive?
After playing around with the 6s, I'm still not convinced that this presents some major step forward for smartphones as we know it, but once again I'm pretty impressed by Apple's execution. The feature works in a fairly straightforward manner: capacitive sensors have been added to the display's backlight, detecting the distance between the front and rear of the screen. That means the phone now knows the difference between a touch and a full-on press.
But while the ability to detect such tiny movements is impressive, the real key to the feature's success lies in its implementation. At the moment, it's still pretty limited, with few non-Apple apps having adopted it thus far. The potential for truly innovative applications of the technology, however, is already pretty clear.
Much of the 3D Touch-based interaction is confined to the desktop. Press the left corner of the screen and all of the open apps pop up for quick switching or closing. Press down on a compatible app and the screen will buzz with some friendly haptic feed while a small window full of shortcuts pops up.
Messages, for instance, offers up options for a new message and links to conversations, while Safari displays links for the Reading List, bookmarks, and tabs. Most are fairly limited, but a few really stick out. Take the Camera app, which has a quick link to selfies, slow mo video, and just plain old photos.
The real gem of the bunch, however, is Apple Maps, where a quick tap while get your lost ass directions home or will drop a pin at your current location, so you can find your way back, Hansel and Gretel-style. There are a smattering of third-party apps that have incorporated the functionality—Twitter, for instance, offers up search, tweeting, and messaging from the home page.
Most of the in-app integration comes in the form of preview. Safari and Mail offer up quick peeks at messages and links with a tap. Pretty cool, if not exactly life-changing. Notes, meanwhile, adjusts the width of finger-drawn lines based on the pressure applied. Again, neat, not life-changing.
The feature that really won me over, however, is perhaps the simplest. While typing in a compatible app, press down on the keyboard and you can freely move the cursor around the text to fix mistakes. Like I said, simple, but for anyone who's ever attempted to correct a spelling error by touching the text, this thing is a godsend. Trust me.
Small touches, but nice touches. How much of a role they'll actually play in users' lives is another question altogether. I loved the Notifications addition to OS X, but I rarely actually use the thing. But if enough third-party developers come up with truly innovative uses for the technology, it could actually be a game changer. Let's meet back here in six months to discuss.
The Guts
Getting back to that initial question, my best guess is that the "S" once again stands for speed. Inside the newly reinforced, if otherwise generally samey-looking, body are a bunch of souped-up guts.
The biggie here is the company's next-gen proprietary processor, the A9. Apple is predictably guarded about the specifics of the chip, though it does promise "performance once found only in desktop computers," which, let's be honest, could mean just about anything.
For most daily tasks this bump doesn't mean a whole heck of a lot. Even so, put head-to-head, the 6s does open up apps noticeably more quickly. The A9 does boast some impressive benchmarks on-par with other top devices. That sort of processing power will really start being useful for playing graphically intensive games.
Vainglory, the multiplayer online battle arena title used to demonstrate the company's new Metal API during a keynote late last year, plays quite smoothly. And if anything, it's a portent of the future, when the combination of heavy-duty hardware and developer-friendly interfaces mean the company will finally have the mobile gaming system it's always wanted. In the meantime, the chip is mostly future-proofing.
The Wi-Fi and LTE have been bumped up as well. Apple claims speed boosts up to double their predecessor. That's probably a bit of wishful thinking, but there are some noticeable gains here when the phone is placed side-by-side with the iPhone 6, with videos loading a few seconds faster over Wi-Fi.
The M9 deserves a mention here as well. The little motion co-processor is integrated into the A9 chip, banding together a slew of sensors, including the accelerometer, compass, gyroscope, and barometer. Apple seems to be looking to make standalone fitness trackers obsolete here, bringing metrics for a slew of different activities to Health, including running and walking pace, steps, distance, and elevation changes.
Cooler still, the chip ensures that Siri is always on as long as the phone is. Even when the screen is off, a simple "Hey, Siri" will wake up Apple's sassy assistant to deliver the weather, sports scores, restaurant recommendations and the like.
For all of the amped-up innards, there is one sadly overlooked area. And it's a biggie. The battery life is pretty crummy. Leaving aside the so-called "Chipgate" discrepancy, I was pretty disappointed with performance overall. The company has souped-up the phone all over the place but left the battery unchanged—that means quicker drain while performing the same activities.
Depending on how much you put your handset through at any given time, going a full day without plugging it in may be pushing it. And there's none of the quick charging seen on devices like the Moto X to fall back on. Battery life really ought to be a primary focus for all manufacturers moving ahead. Here it feels like a big old blindspot.
Camera
The same, thankfully, cannot be said about the camera. The 12-megapixel one on the rear is great. It captures crisp photos with true-to-life colors. The shots are tighter, sharper, and brighter than their predecessor, and the autofocus goes to work faster. The camera also handles low-light photos quite well.
Behold these two pictures of Charlie Brown taken in candlelight with the 6s and 6. It's like night and ... much darker night.
The camera is even capable of shooting stunning 4K video, though playing it back at full resolution is a different matter entirely. Even the front-facing camera has been bumped up to 5 megapixels, which is capable to taking some pretty solid selfies, if you're into that sort of thing (and if you are, please practice safe selfies, everyone). And then there's live photos.
Silly, strange, fun live photos, a sort of proprietary animated GIF shot in 12-megapixel sharpness. Once shot, they can be viewed in the camera roll by pressing down or set as a live wallpaper for the home or lock screen. The format will also be available to view on other Apple devices like the Apple Watch and Macs running Mavericks.
Final Thoughts
So, is the best iPhone the best smartphone, peroid? Apple's got some pretty compelling arguments here. The company has put even more shine on an already terrific phone, turbocharging the internals, boosting the camera, and adding 3D Touch, a good feature with the potential for greatness. All of this, coupled with iOS 9, makes for a terrific smartphone experience.
It's a shame that the battery casts such a pall over the proceedings. It shouldn't be a deal-breaker for the vast majority of users, but it keeps a great phone from being ideal.
That one niggling detail aside, the iPhone is a pretty tough proposition, maintaining Apple's longstanding beautiful marriage of hardware and software in a beautifully designed package. And while there's probably not enough here to convince iPhone 6 owners to drop another $600+, iOS fans due for an upgrade will be more than happy with the handset.
