iphone 6 vs iphone 6s

phillyman36

Golden Member
Jun 28, 2004
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Hey can someone explain to me any reason why someone with a iphone 6 would switch to a iphone 6s? The only difference I see is the 3d touch for shortcuts better camera(which i don't really use that much) and the cpu/gpu is updated. Is the cpu/gpu much more powerful to upgrade for the money?
 

TheStu

Moderator<br>Mobile Devices & Gadgets
Moderator
Sep 15, 2004
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It is faster, both CPU and GPU
It has double the RAM, which means things will reload less when you're switching apps
It has 3D Touch, which looks (haven't tried it yet) legit, and should open up new app interactions
It is built from stronger aluminum, so it should be more resilient

How much money are you talking? For $100 or less, I would go for it.
 

phillyman36

Golden Member
Jun 28, 2004
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I have the iphone 6. Its paid off. I guess after I trade in the old phone the balance would be about $480(estimated) $20 per month for 24 months on Tmobile.
 

Artdeco

Platinum Member
Mar 14, 2015
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The s update is usually not worth it for owners of the initial release model.
 

Rakehellion

Lifer
Jan 15, 2013
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It is faster, both CPU and GPU
It has double the RAM, which means things will reload less when you're switching apps
It has 3D Touch, which looks (haven't tried it yet) legit, and should open up new app interactions
It is built from stronger aluminum, so it should be more resilient

How much money are you talking? For $100 or less, I would go for it.

It has a SELFIE FLASH!
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
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I upgraded for a few smaller reasons. The ability to use Hey Siri at any point is actually quite nice if you have HomeKit-enabled home automation devices. It's also nice for me when I'm doing work in the garage or the kitchen and my hands are dirty. I tend to listen to music, and if I want to change the song, the last thing that I want to do is get that gunk all over my phone. :p 3D Touch sounds interesting, and I'd like to see if it can make my workflow more effective. I don't think it'll be as helpful as TouchID, but we'll see. 4K video could be fun, but I think I'll gain more out of the higher resolution when dealing with zooming at lower resolutions.

The only negative thing is that while I'm gaining 4K video capability, I'm losing some low-light capability as well.

Ultimately, an upgrade should make your phone experience better. For example, I went from the 5 to the 5S for TouchID, and I was quite pleased with that.

I have the iphone 6. Its paid off. I guess after I trade in the old phone the balance would be about $480(estimated) $20 per month for 24 months on Tmobile.

If you want the most value out of your current phone when upgrading early, you should avoid the easy trade-in route. Trading in a newer phone is rarely a good deal for a consumer. For example, I could trade in my 6S+ 128GB for ~$400... or sell it for $600-700.
 

Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
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I upgraded for a few smaller reasons. The ability to use Hey Siri at any point is actually quite nice if you have HomeKit-enabled home automation devices. It's also nice for me when I'm doing work in the garage or the kitchen and my hands are dirty. I tend to listen to music, and if I want to change the song, the last thing that I want to do is get that gunk all over my phone. :p
I'm using Hey Siri on my iPhone 5s. It's not limited to the 6s.
 
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Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
126
I'm using Hey Siri on my iPhone 5s. It's not limited to the 6s.

The 6S is the only one that lets you do it when the phone isn't plugged in. In my example, I keep my phone in my pocket with headphones plugged in.
 
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Midwayman

Diamond Member
Jan 28, 2000
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The s update is usually not worth it for owners of the initial release model.

In this case, the ram might be worth it alone. Its easily the largest upgrade from last year's model of any phone on the market.
 

Artdeco

Platinum Member
Mar 14, 2015
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The Siri update with 9.X is pretty good, I'm impressed.


In this case, the ram might be worth it alone. Its easily the largest upgrade from last year's model of any phone on the market.

LOL, I know, bought 3, one to flip... I bought a 6 and 6+ for myself last year, doing the same again this year.
 
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Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
23,715
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The 6S is the only one that lets you do it when the phone isn't plugged in. In my example, I keep my phone in my pocket with headphones plugged in.
Ah I see. The only time I'd really need this is in the car, or perhaps in a workshop or something like that as you suggest, but in both situations plugging it in isn't a big deal.

In this case, the ram might be worth it alone. Its easily the largest upgrade from last year's model of any phone on the market.
I wouldn't upgrade from a 6 to the 6s just for the RAM, but I would not buy a 6 last year because of the limited RAM. :)

I'm waiting a few months for iOS 10 and the iPhone 7
Same. I'll upgrade then. The 6s that just got delivered is to replace my wife's 5. Actually, the 5 is fine even with iOS 9, but her mom needs to upgrade to something beyond my hand-me-down iPhone 4, so this was a good excuse to upgrade. I'll give the mother-in-law the old iPhone 5. Plus I wanted my wife to get a better cameraphone for kid pix.

This will be the very first time in our history I have a lower end phone than my wife. And in this case, I'm two generations behind with my 5s.
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
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I actually forgot about one nice thing with 3D Touch. First, I'll admit that I'm not all that great at 3D Touch. I'm so used to using light touches (so light that sometimes they barely register) that I fail to activate 3D Touch. :oops: Anyway, one nice thing is the new "trackpad mode". You use a hard press on the keyboard, and it turns it into a trackpad as long as your finger remains on the keyboard area. I've had a lot of issues in the past selecting things with my mammoth sausage fingers, so it's nice to have an easier way to do it! :p

Ah I see. The only time I'd really need this is in the car, or perhaps in a workshop or something like that as you suggest, but in both situations plugging it in isn't a big deal.

Yeah, if I preferred to use the speaker (or I had a dock speaker) while in the garage or the kitchen, then it wouldn't be a big deal.
 

ultimatebob

Lifer
Jul 1, 2001
25,135
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It has a SELFIE FLASH!

And is comes in Pink... er... "Rose Gold"! That should be enough to convince you to upgrade if you are a Hollywood celebrity.

But, seriously, the force touch gestures look handy. They sure as hell aren't enough to convince me to spend $750 on a new phone, though.
 

AznAnarchy99

Lifer
Dec 6, 2004
14,705
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And is comes in Pink... er... "Rose Gold"! That should be enough to convince you to upgrade if you are a Hollywood celebrity.

But, seriously, the force touch gestures look handy. They sure as hell aren't enough to convince me to spend $750 on a new phone, though.

Been using the phone throughout the day so far and I got to say it's gonna be a long time of readjusting habits for force touch, especially since most apps don't have features for it yet.
 

rugby

Senior member
Oct 11, 2001
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I upgraded from a 128GB 6+ to a 128GB 6s+ because I could. And my family plan allows for an upgrade every year so I use that for myself and pass the phones down.
 

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
19,458
765
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If you are happy with your current phone, just wait for the iPhone 7. $480 to upgrade from your paid off iPhone 6 sounds like a ton of money. In your case, I would upgrade your GTX760 graphics card or get a new larger 1440P monitor.
 

weevilone

Member
Jun 24, 2012
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I am replacing my 6 Plus with the 6S Plus mostly for the camera improvements, but the other things are nice as well. I paid the phone off and will sell the old model for a good bit, but I was surprised to see that Verizon offered $300 off an iPad with new iPhone purchase. Sure, that's off full retail.. but it's still a GREAT way to replace the wife's iPad3 with an Air2.

Disclaimer: Verizon requires that the new iPad be on a 2 year service contract (lol, at tablet contracts when phone contracts go away). Doesn't matter for me since the old iPad 3 was already on Verizon service and would have been so indefinitely anyways.
 

Aikouka

Lifer
Nov 27, 2001
30,383
912
126
I am replacing my 6 Plus with the 6S Plus mostly for the camera improvements, but the other things are nice as well. I paid the phone off and will sell the old model for a good bit, but I was surprised to see that Verizon offered $300 off an iPad with new iPhone purchase. Sure, that's off full retail.. but it's still a GREAT way to replace the wife's iPad3 with an Air2.

Disclaimer: Verizon requires that the new iPad be on a 2 year service contract (lol, at tablet contracts when phone contracts go away). Doesn't matter for me since the old iPad 3 was already on Verizon service and would have been so indefinitely anyways.

It looks like Verizon has a default offer of $200 off on a 2-year contract. I wonder if I could talk them into giving me that $300 deal. :hmm:
 

LouieST

Member
May 29, 2015
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2
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I have an iphone 6, and I'm not planning to upgrade to 6s. Maybe I would think about it when the iPhone 7 is released. :p