Apple’s iPhone 6 Plus: First Impressions

iPhone 6 Plus

I received my white iPhone 6 Plus via UPS late Friday afternoon. After signing ‘here, here, and also here’ for the Plus, I greedily ripped off the simple, yet elegant packaging much like a small child on Christmas morning.

During the Apple Keynote on September 14th, CEO Tim Cook announced that the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus were revolutionary devices like you’ve never seen before, and man was he right! As soon as I held the 6 Plus in my hand, I knew that this was going to be Apple’s Android-killing smartphone.

The iPhone 6 Plus is super speedy (read, scary fast) with the new A8 processor, very responsive, and very, very big. To be honest, I am trying still getting used to the new, huge size. When comparing the 6 Plus to my old iPhone 5S, it’s like comparing Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to “Mini-Me” in Austin Powers — it’s just that big!

But you know what makes the size even better? 😉 The new Retina HD display! Scrolling down my Instagram feed has never been more beautiful! Black and whites are sharp, colors are saturated perfectly and everything is vivid and super, easy-to-read clear. (My mom tried using it for 5 minutes and didn’t even need her reading glasses!)

One little thing that annoys me, however, is that some App Developers have not yet updated their applications for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus’ new, larger displays – UGGH! This causes some apps to look pixellated, or it makes menus and text larger than needed to be (much like the 2x zoom button when opening iPhone applications on iPads).

I haven’t really put the 6 Plus’ camera through its paces quite yet, but I am planning on going to the beach sometime this week to test it out. (Follow my Instagram for these pictures!)

The iPhone 6 Plus is major contender for best smartphone on the market, if not the only one! The bigger and clearer screen, faster processor, and at first impression better camera,  all together really exemplify Apple’s ability to read the market’s needs and develop a smartphone that people will really want to use and buy!

Stay tuned for my full review of the iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone 6 coming soon.

What You Need To Know About Apple’s iPhone 6 and iWatch Event

Apple Sept. 9 Event

Tim Cook kicked off the event with a big bang by announcing two new iPhone’s: the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus. The Apple CEO showcased a new type of payment system that Apple has been working on, dubbed Apple Pay. The now famous “One Last Thing…”  revealed the widely-rumored Apple Watch. If you want to learn more about all of these new and exciting products from Apple, keep on reading my roundup of Apple’s September 9th Event!

iPhone

Tim Cook revealed two types of iPhones – the 4.7 inch iPhone 6 and the 5.5 inch iPhone 6 Plus – that’s 1.5 inches bigger than the iPhone 5S! Both iPhone 6 models are lighter, clearer, faster, bigger, and even have more memory than the previous model; with 16 GB, 64 GB, and 128 GB flavors!

The resolution of both models have also been cranked up! The iPhone 6 crams in 1334 x 750 pixels and the 6 Plus has an amazing 1920 x 1080 pixels. The result? Clearer and darker text, more vivid and brighter colors – what more could you ask for!

Both of the new iPhone 6 models are also thinner – with the iPhone 6 coming in just 6.9mm and the iPhone 6 Plus at 7.1mm, which is pretty incredible compared to the iPhone 5S’ 7.6mm.

In addition, both the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus boast updated cameras: with an upgraded primary camera at the rear, with Focus Pixels and Autofocus technology to allow for faster focus (a feature normally found on DSLR’s!)  Video capabilities have also been upgraded on both new models:  HD 1080p video at 30fps. “Burst-mode for selfies” and better slo-mo video at 120fps or 240fps round out the camera upgrades.

The iPhone 6 models are faster with the addition of Apple’s A8 processor. As a result, the iPhone 6/6 Plus have up to 25% faster processing power and 50% faster graphics as compared to the previous iPhone 5S.

Now, you’re probably thinking to yourself: “With all these new features and additions, what about the battery life?!”. Well, fret no more! Apple has heard the concerns about the iPhone 5S’ battery life, and increased the battery on both of the new iPhone 6 models to make it 50% more efficient than the previous model. Wahoo!

Apple Pay

Using the NFC chip in the iPhone 6 models, 6-model owners will be able to use their devices to pay with a tap for everyday purchases with a new feature Apple announced yesterday, called Apple Pay. Apple Pay’s goal is

to revolutionize the “fairly antiquated payments process” with Touch ID, Passbook, and the “Secure Element”, a dedicated chip that sores encrypted payment information.

“This whole process is based on this little piece of plaster, whether it’s a debit or credit card”, CEO Tim Cook said on stage. “We’re totally reliant on the exposed numbers, and the outdated and vulnerable magnetic interface – why by the way is five decades old – and the security codes which all of us know aren’t so secure.”

Apple Pay plans to change all that! Here’s how it works: add a credit card from your iTunes account, or add a new card using the phone’s iSight camera. Once your card is on file with Apple Pay, you’ll be able to use your phone to check out at participating vendors — both brick and mortar, as well as online — by authenticating with Touch ID.

In a store, you’ll hold your iPhone in front of a reader and place your finger over the fingerprint sensor to confirm. In an app, you’ll select Apple Pay as your payment method and confirm with Touch ID. Additionally, Apple Pay works with the newly announced Apple Watch – which makes buying things even more streamlined. “That’s it!” Cook adds. “It is so cool!”

Apple Watch

The famous “one last thing” for the event was the announcement

and long-awaited revealing of a new smartwatch, named Apple Watch. The Apple Watch is Apple’s first foray into the world of wearable technology. Completely customizable and personal, the Apple Watch combines fashion with technology in extraordinary ways.

Apple Watch works directly with a user’s iPhone (with a brand new user interface!), for example: recieving an email will cause the Apple Watch to lightly vibrate on your rist. Raise it up to look at the notificaiton, and the Apple Watch will turn on for you. You can then swipe up on the screen ot view action buttons that you can fully interact with.

When it comes down to choosing an Apple watch, you have three options: the Apple Watch (leather), Apple Watch Edition (18-karat gold), and the Apple Watch Sport (a rubber polymer that holds up well to sweat and gym use). The actual watch face depends on the collection of Apple Watch you choose. And since watches are certainly not “one size fits all”; there are two sizes of Apple Watch that have matching sized bands.

Apple Watch requires an iPhone (generation 4 and up) to work, pricing will begin at $349 ,and it will be available to purchase in “early 2015”. Apple hasn’t given a lot more info on the Apple Watch, however you can check out the dedicated Apple Watch site here.

2014 WWDC Event Recap: What You Need To Know

On June 2nd, 2014, Apple held it’s 25th annual Worldwide Developer Conference in lovely San Francisco, California. During the 10:00 AM keynote, Tim Cook took the stage to announce the newest software versions for Mac and iOS: OS X Yosemite and iOS 8, respectively.

Mac

At the Keynote, Apple’s SVP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi, announced the features of their newest Mac software, OS X Yosemite. Yosemite is one of the biggest software updates in the history of Macs – with a new, clean design (resembles iOS 7), updates to Notification Center (app widgets – yay!), iCloud Drive, as well as improvements to Mail, Safari, Spotlight, and more.

With a public beta coming sometime this summer, and a shipping date set for Fall, OS X Yosemite is sure to be a big hit! Apple has added many highly-requested features to their newest operating system, such as AirDrop between iOS and Mac (finally!), and the ability to receive/send phone calls and text messages from your Mac, which is connected via iPhone – pretty impressive!

My favorite features of the new update are the translucent app-windows, a “dark mode” feature that dims toolbars to focus on your work, as well as the new Spotlight search, which now basically lets you search for everything and anything on your Mac, Internet, iTunes, and beyond – extremely cool and future-esque!

iOS

Apple also announced the newest version of operating system for their iPod, iPad, and iPhone line of devices, iOS 8. As with OS X Yosemite, Apple really listened to what the people want – even adding some features previously only available through the jailbreak community as well!

iOS 8 big highlight additions include: * Interactive notifications (quick pull down of the banner) * Better Spotlight search * Group Message improvements and the abilities to add/delete members * An updated keyboard with predictive text capabilities dubbed QuickType * A much-rumored Health app * The ability to password protect certain apps like Photos or Messages * And much, much more!

In an interesting twist, Tim Cook also announced that the iOS 8 software would be more open to developers. Cook even added the option of using a third-party keyboard instead of the regular Apple Keyboard – which is something that’s been on many developers’ wishlist for years!

Other Announcements

Tim Cook reiterated “Continuity” – a new feature that is a part of both iOS 8 and OSX Yosemite. Continuity blurs the lines between phones, laptops, iPads, and desktops. One of the two main features of Continuity is an improved AirDrop which finally allows users to transfer photos and documents between iOS and Mac devices. The second main feature of Continuity adds a “Handoff” feature, which through Wifi/Bluetooth, your computer and iOS device exchange program information in real time. For example: lets say you start to draft an email on your iPad, but then quickly realize that it’s longer than expected, and you would rather write it on your Mac. Now with Handoff, there’s no need to worry about accidentally deleting all of your email text or saving it as a draft and having to wait for your computer to sync. Handoff, with with just a tap of a button, simply allows you to pick up right where you left off on your iPad, on your Mac! Three words: brilliance, speed, and efficiency.

Overall

Overall, WWDC 2014 brought HUGE Apple announcements, and it certainly was a big day for Tim Cook & Team! If you want to read more about Mac OS X Yosemite, Apple has dedicated a page specifically for it here. Additionally, here is the page with more information about iOS 8.

Also, be sure to keep checking back to TeagueLoughman.com for my official review of iOS 8 in the coming weeks!

Pre-WWDC: What You Should Do

 

wwdc14-home-branding

Tomorrow’s the big day – Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference kicks off tomorrow (June 2nd) in beautiful San Francisco!

Apple has a Keynote planned for 10AM Pacific time tomorrow morning, and in it they are rumored to be announcing the latest version of their iOS software, iOS 8, which will officially ship sometime this fall.

If you want to get your hands on iOS 8 early, you need to register your iPhone’s UDID through a developer’s account so your iPhone doesn’t become bricked or unusable.

In my opinion, the best website to do this is iOSReg. To register your UDID, it is just $3.99 and you will have an email confirmation and your iPhone registered in under 1 minute — which is the fastest UDID register-time available on the internet! Here is the full link: www.iosreg.com

If you need any help registering your iDevice or have any predictions or comments about the WWDC Keynote tomorrow morning, make sure to drop your comments below!

Also, look for another post coming later this week with a full iOS 8 walkthrough!