iPhone 6s not full redesign, but Apple's best update yet
After a week with the iPhone 6s, I'm convinced that Apple has once again managed to create a great mobile experience. The "S" series of iPhones has long been known to feature more incremental updates than revolutionary ones, but despite the fact that the iPhone 6s is not a base model, it stands to impress with many of its new features. It is not a completely new experience, but one that takes an already good experience and makes it even better.
The largest noticeable difference between the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s is speed. The newly improved TouchID is so fast that unlocking your phone feels nearly instantaneous. In addition, waiting for apps to load is a thing of the past. This is a result of the new A9 processor which Apple touts as offering 70 percent faster CPU performance and 90 percent faster GPU performance than its predecessor.
To make the experience even better, Apple has added 3D touch feature of its Apple watch to its lineup of phones. 3D Touch adds depth to multi-touch and allows the user to select additional options by applying force to the screen. It makes many every day tasks easy, such as creating a new reminder, by simply allowing the user to select additional options. "Peek and Pop" gives the user the ability to see a quick preview of webpages, emails, and other items, with the ability to "pop" these items by applying a bit more pressure. In addition, 3D touch now transforms the keyboard into a trackpad.
Through features like these, 3D Touch offers many useful tweaks that offer great improvements to iOS overall. 3D Touch is combined with Apple’s Taptic Engine to provide instant feedback to the user when force is applied to the screen. When one applies pressure to the screen, a response is given back to the user in the form of a tap. This is the same technology that powers the feedback of Force Touch on the Apple Watch and the new trackpads on this year’s lineup of MacBooks. It is extremely precise and gives the user the feeling that the phone has directly responded to the amount of pressure applied.
In addition to the speed bumps and new interaction methods provided by 3D Touch, the entire iPhone is tougher than ever. The enclosure is made up of the same durable 7000-series aluminum, used in the Watch Sport as well as by the aerospace industry. In addition, Apple has added new, stronger ion glass that it claims is the strongest in the industry.
Even more amazing is the fact that Apple has nearly waterproofed the iPhone 6s, a feature that they did not advertise at all. According to Engadget, “Apple packed in a new gasket around the sides of the phone, and it encased every cable connector on the phone’s logic board with a waterproofing material.” This contrasts with the method of protecting external ports used by most companies, resulting in more effective water resistance. It is highly effective and will most likely result in far fewer customers at the Genius Bar after dropping their phones in the toilet.
In addition to adding more functionality and durability, the iPhone 6s has received a major boost in camera specs. The new camera now shoots at 12 MP and is capable of recording 4K video. A new image signal processor, along with other hardware and software enhancements, have also been added to make images even better. After taking some photos, I could easily observe the increased sharpness and quality.
Despite the fact that the iPhone 6s is not a base model, it holds many new features that will greatly enhance the way consumers use their iPhones. 3D Touch offers the biggest user interaction update since multi-touch itself. Enhancements in hardware offer a faster device than ever. New materials and design make the iPhone 6s the most durable iPhone yet. The iPhone 6s can be summarized with the lyrics of a popular Daft Punk song: harder, better, faster, stronger.