iPhone 6S sales have been disappointing. Not real world disappointing, but disappointing for Apple. A big reason for this is the perception that there’s little difference between the iPhone 6S and its stunningly successful predecessor, the iPhone 6. But is that true...?
In short: No. While the iPhone 6S looks identical to the iPhone 6, under the surface there are major differences between the two phones.
So let’s break them down and see if you find Apple’s changes compelling enough to warrant an upgrade - especially with iPhone 7 leaks proving both worryingly depressing yet extremely controversial.
iPhone 6S (left) vs iPhone 6 (right) - externally the differences are very minor but some are very... [+]
Design & Size - Bigger, Heavier But Better
Let’s get this one out the way - visually the iPhone 6S is a disappointment. Yes ‘S year’ models typically change little on the outside but where the iPhone 6S is slightly different it is for the worse:
- iPhone 6 - 138.1 x 67 x 6.9mm (5.44 x 2.64 x 0.27in) and 129g (4.55oz)
- iPhone 6S - 138.3 x 67.1 x 7.1mm (5.44 x 2.64 x 0.28in) and 143g (5.04oz)
Yes the iPhone 6S is actually slightly larger than the iPhone 6 and 11% heavier. We will come to ‘why’ in the next section, but the good news is the iPhone 6S does retain the same premium build quality and feel as the iPhone 6.
More importantly, however, it is far stronger. Following the iPhone 6 Bendgate fiasco, Apple has upgraded the iPhone 6S chassis to use 7000 Series aluminium which makes the phone almost 3x stronger. Given the iPhone 6S is also (unofficially) highly water resistant, these are decent trade-offs for the weight gain.
Read more - Galaxy S7 Vs iPhone 6S Review: Easy Wins, Big Losses
Displays - Ageing Beauty But Smarter Brains
Wrongly many think it is the aforementioned 7000 Series aluminium which makes the iPhone 6S heavier, but the material actually weighs no more than the softer 6000 Series in the iPhone 6.
Instead the added bulk comes from the iPhone 6S’s new display tech:
- iPhone 6 - 4.7-inch LED-backlit IPS LCD, 1334 x 750 pixels (326 ppi), 65.6% screen-to-body ratio
- iPhone 6S - 4.7-inch LED-backlit IPS LCD, 1334 x 750 pixels (326 ppi), 65.6% screen-to-body ratio. 3D Touch
Yes, the clear differentiator here is the addition of 3D Touch. Here a new module inserted under the iPhone 6S display enables it to detect the pressure of screen contact and so launch different commands.
3D Touch support on the iPhone 6S (pictured) is still patchy but improving slowly. Image credit:... [+]
Apple calls these ‘Peek and Pop’ with a heavier touch primarily launching previews (for emails, web links, etc) without actually opening them and further increase in pressure causing them to ‘Pop’ open. 3D Touch is also used for shortcuts on app icons to jump directly into different features and start particular commands.
Read More - Galaxy S7 Vs iPhone 6S Review: Easy Wins, Big Losses
The problem is support and consistency. Not all app third party apps support 3D Touch and implementation is inconsistent at best making it largely guesswork as to where the functionality is offered. As a result adoption by users has been mixed and its value questioned despite the obvious potential.
Even outdoors the Galaxy S7 (right) has a dramatically sharper and more vivid display than the... [+]
This isn’t helped by the fact the iPhone 6S also makes no significant improvements to its screen quality. With rivals like Samsung offering 2K (2560 x 1440) OLED panels, Apple’s iPhone 6S 750p LCD simply doesn’t match up - even if it looks fine in isolation.
Performance - Major Speed Upgrades
One area where the iPhone 6S cannot be faulted, however, is its performance:
- iPhone 6 - Apple A8 - CPU: Dual-core 1.4 GHz Cyclone; GPU: PowerVR GX6450, 1GB RAM
- iPhone 6S - Apple A9, CPU: Dual-core 1.84 GHz Twister; GPU: PowerVR GT7600, 2GB RAM
While the numbers imply the iPhone 6S has an advantage, in reality it delivers a hefty 70% boost in CPU performance while GPU (graphics) performance is a massive 90% better. The iPhone 6 remains no slouch but, combined with the efficiencies of iOS (despite its ongoing troubles), the iPhone 6S is blisteringly quick and silky smooth to use.
That’s not the only speed improvement though as the iPhone 6S has a second generation Touch ID fingerprint reader which works twice as quickly as Touch ID 1.0 on the iPhone 6. As the latter wasn’t slow so you may question how valuable this is, but once you experience it you won’t want to go back.
Lastly the iPhone 6S gets support for faster 4G with a 300Mbit-capable 4G modem compared to the 150MBit-capable iPhone 6. With 4G speeds typically far below 150Mbit though you’re unlikely to gain much real world benefit from this.
Next page: Cameras, Battery Life, Storage Options, Value and Verdict...
Cameras - All Change For Little Benefit
Having lost its photography crown to the Galaxy S6, the iPhone 6S was expected to come out with all guns blazing and, looking at the specs, you’d think that was the case:
- iPhone 6S - Rear: 12 megapixel sensor, f2.2 aperture, Focus Pixels, EIS, dual-LED flash, 4K video recording. Front: 5MP Front Camera, f2.2 aperture, 720p video recording
- iPhone 6 - Rear: 8 megapixel sensor, f2.4 aperture, Focus Pixels, EIS, dual-LED flash, 4K video recording. Front: 1.2MP Front Camera, f2.4 aperture, 720p video recording
In reality, however, the iPhone 6S camera is a disappointment.
The iPhone 6S camera is an improvement over the iPhone 6, but not by much - Image credit Gordon... [+]
Yes, it’s still excellent but it offers very little tangible improvement to the iPhone 6.
In fact it actually performs worse than the iPhone 6 in low light and it still lacks optical image stabilisation (OIS) like the iPhone 6 Plus, instead using electronic image stabilisation (EIS) as a cheap substitute. This makes it no match for current champ, the Galaxy S7.
The iPhone 6S (right) is no match for the Galaxy S7 Edge (left) in low light. Image credit: Gordon... [+]
But it isn’t all bad news. iPhone 6S owners now get 4K video recording (even if that will be overkill for some) and the front facing camera has had a significant - and long overdue - upgrade from 1.2MP to 5MP with a faster aperture. Here selfie fans will rejoice.
Battery Life And Charging - Unacceptable Stagnation
If the iPhone 6S camera offered little improvement from the iPhone 6, at least it was starting from a strong place but this simply isn’t true for battery life and charging. Both were two of the iPhone 6’s biggest weaknesses and Apple has scored a real own goal by making no effort to improve this with the iPhone 6S:
- iPhone 6 - 1810 mAh capacity battery
- iPhone 6S - 1715 mAh capacity battery
Yes you read that right, the iPhone 6S actually has a smaller battery than the iPhone 6.
Thanks to optimisation in the new A9 chipset, the new iPhone doesn’t actually have worse performance but there are no improvements whatsoever. Apple also continues to ignore fast charging technologies so its phones take almost two hours to charge (double that of rivals and who can also quick charge to 30%+ in 10-15 minutes).
In short Apple let everyone down here and it has become a key factor in the widespread perception that the company prioritised new gimmicks with the iPhone 6s ahead of core improvements the iPhone 6 needed.
Read More - iPhone SE Vs iPhone 6S Review: Which You Should Buy?
The iPhone 6S (left) and iPhone 6S Plus (right) are noticeably heavier, but still beautifully made.... [+]
Storage And Price - The 16GB Curse Continues
And the iPhone 6S doesn’t finish off its claims for your affections strongly either:
- iPhone 6 - 16GB ($549), 64GB ($649)
- iPhone 6S - 16GB ($649), 64GB ($749), 128GB ($849)
Yes somehow Apple has deemed it acceptable to continue offering a 16GB base model for a smartphone costing $650.
As bad as this was with the iPhone 6, it is worse with the iPhone 6S because its 12MP camera sensor produces 50% larger file sizes and 4K video recording requires double the space of 1080p making it the equivalent of an 8-10GB iPhone 6.
Yes you can scale down the iPhone 6S camera to 8MP in settings and drop 4K video recording to 1080p, but then you’re just compromising two of the main features of the new phone.
As I’ve said before, this is totally unacceptable but hopes are high it will change soon.
In the meantime the iPhone 6 is still available in 16GB and 64GB capacities with Apple offering $100 off its original asking price. This makes choosing between the new and old phones harder than it should be.
Bottom Line
The iPhone 6S is a fine phone in isolation, but as a follow-up to the phenomenally successful iPhone 6 it is a disappointment.
iPhone 6S (right) is a disappointing upgrade that faces a major challenge from the much cheaper... [+]
The lack of visual changes are understandable for an S model and the stronger chassis, faster performance and potential of 3D Touch are all highly commendable. But the iPhone 6S camera shows signs of stagnation, its display quality is well behind rivals and a 16GB base model is exploitative.
Given a straight choice between the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6, everyone would (and should) choose the iPhone 6S. But, despite Apple’s valid claims that there are many improvements under the surface, it is what stays the same in the iPhone 6S as much as its differences which make it a lackluster upgrade.
My thoughts? Take a look at the budget friendly and surprisingly brilliant iPhone SE...
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