Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Smooth experience, better battery life & shorter load times > Slight increase in pixel density
 
Last year I got the 6 Plus because it had the bigger screen.

This year, I got the 6S Plus for the same reason, but hesitated, because I am so clumsy with it. I have to put it into a tank like case, or else I would break it, which I did the first week, last year.

If the 6S was spec for spec the same as the 6S+, but 4.7, even if it were thicker, I would go for the 6S.

I do like the larger screen for one reason, it's easier to read. Otherwise it's difficult to trot around. I know it's in my pocket, and I drop it a lot.

I have never seen 4K or quad HD on a phone, so I don't know what that would be like. I am not missing it one way or another. I don't think I would miss 1080p either. Mostly its the optical stabilization on the camera I am more concerned with.
 
  • Like
Reactions: CVUSA and bchreng
Just be happy with what you get. The iPhone display is overall really good. Contrast, viewing angles, accuracy are among the best. I get it. There's really great displays out there. But unless that difference is a deal breaker to you then those of us that buy iPhone know it offers the best overall experience.

I do think that for the 7 it'll go 1080p for the 7 and 1440p for the plus. Oled or mled display to offset power consumption. But either way I'm satisfied with the display now.

I also think they will upgrade the screen to OLED on the iPhone 7. My assumption on the biggest feature on the 7 is battery life.
 
I also think they will upgrade the screen to OLED on the iPhone 7. My assumption on the biggest feature on the 7 is battery life.

Idk. iPhone 7 if it goes up in resolution they'll probably try to tout this feature somehow. 3d touch part 2 would somehow expand on its features. Minor improvements on camera, cpu/gpu. Stay 2 gb ram. Maybe a new color (seems like they wait until the s line to release new colors). Animated wallpapers too if they go oled or mled.
 
I've been toying around with the idea of going back down to the 6s so I've been playing around with a 6 this weekend.

The biggest concern I have is 3DTouch might not be as useful in a 6sPlus (for most people with regular-sized hands) because of the reachability factor. I can get away with one-handed use most days but it's usually just a stretch and quick tap to open an app. With 3DTouch the interaction with the app icons will be a bit longer so I think that's going to pose more of a problem with the 6Plus (in the one-handed scenario).

But I've gotten spoiled by the 6Plus screen so I'm ruined now. No going back for me.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: MarkCollette
I'll refer you to Steve :

Basically, the human eye can't discern more than around 300ppi at the typical viewing distance of an iPhone/iPad.

The OP is very disappointed about a lot of things in iOS devices. I'm guessing he's some sort of cyborg with enhanced abilities the rest of us can only dream of. ;)

Oh jeesh, this was immediately debunked. Please stop falling for marketing BS as gospel. Sorry, but it is really frustrating when people take the word of a marketing powerhouse like apple as fact. :-(
 
I think not.



I'll refer you to Steve :

Basically, the human eye can't discern more than around 300ppi at the typical viewing distance of an iPhone/iPad.
Oh jeesh, this was immediately debunked. Please stop falling for marketing BS as gospel. Sorry, but it is really frustrating when people take the word of a marketing powerhouse like apple as fact. :-(

Yep, it's complete and utter nonsense. I don't even have to hold an iPhone 6 closer than normal to tell the difference between 326 dpi on that phone vs 401 on the 6 Plus.
 
  • Like
Reactions: bhayes444
After watching that video, I'm not sure if I can tell either. Comparing a Galaxy S6 Edge + to a 6+ to a 6 about a footor two away from my face, I'm not sure if I can see a difference. :confused:
 
It depends, "normal" viewing distance will vary from person to person but I think the Retina claim is based on 10"-12"? I'd say I typically use my phone 8" when out and about and maybe a tad closer when reading in bed.

Then it would be nice to know the maximally maximum DPI the human eye can see when held at the closest comfortable distance (6 inches?) for when we can lay this DPI issue to rest. Not that I'd want to pay a premium for more, but it's good to know what others find useful too.
 
Fine, you say its debunked. I've not heard that. Post some proof please from a reputable source.

http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jsid.186/abstract

Abstract
There has been a rapid increase in the resolution of small-sized and medium-sized displays. This study determines an upper discernible limit for display resolution. A range of resolutions varying from 254–1016 PPI were evaluated using simulated display by 49 subjects at 300 mm viewing distance. The results of the study conclusively show that users can discriminate between 339 and 508 PPI and in many cases between 508 and 1016 PPI.
 
Yep, it's complete and utter nonsense. I don't even have to hold an iPhone 6 closer than normal to tell the difference between 326 dpi on that phone vs 401 on the 6 Plus.

Again, just because you can see a difference, for some content, between one screen and another, doesn't mean it's the DPI. If the content is the exact same image or video content, then it will be scaling it differently for each display, which can add it's own artifacting. Now, if vector text looks more or less jaggy, then that would be a more solid indicator of DPI being a factor.
 
I'd rather have 326PPI pixel perfect display, than having 3x density downscaled to 2.7x. Also, you can't just no-brain bump the pixel density without it affecting the UI elements' size.
The downscaling is something that saddens me as well. I had really though the 6s+ would switch to a native display, especially to coincide with 4K video recording and playback support. That being said, I would still prefer the higher pixel density with downscaling quality loss over that of the 6/6s.
 
Again, just because you can see a difference, for some content, between one screen and another, doesn't mean it's the DPI. If the content is the exact same image or video content, then it will be scaling it differently for each display, which can add it's own artifacting. Now, if vector text looks more or less jaggy, then that would be a more solid indicator of DPI being a factor.

When I can see a substantial difference between an iPhone 6 and a 6 Plus, it's the DPI. :)

The downscaling is something that saddens me as well. I had really though the 6s+ would switch to a native display, especially to coincide with 4K video recording and playback support. That being said, I would still prefer the higher pixel density with downscaling quality loss over that of the 6/6s.

It's downsampling, which is potentially one of the reasons text looks so good on the 6 Plus. Games use similar methods to achieve higher quality images on lower res displays.

See:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=509076

With the above argument, it's possible I prefer downsampling to 1080p than just rendering 1080p content at 1080p. Apparently there are some artifacts under a microscope, but I've never seen them, and as we've established, I'm VERY picky. I've yet to see any 1080p phone that looks as "sharp" as the iPhone 6 Plus display. 1440p phones are another matter, of course...

The one obvious downside to the 6 Plus is that it doesn't handle the OS as smoothly as the 6. Roll on the 6s Plus!
 
When I can see a substantial difference between an iPhone 6 and a 6 Plus, it's the DPI. :)

I would actually think that scaling artifacts would be more pronounced than slight DPI differences, so the more of a difference you see the less I would think it's DPI. But again, it depends on what the difference is. All I see here are people saying they notice a "difference". No one's explained the type. For all we know, the 1080p resolution is triggering a CSS rule to use a completely different asset altogether, if it's a web served image. Really, what I'd expect by now is someone to take a high resolution picture of the two phones side by side to show what they're talking about, instead of repeating a "difference". Just telling me what you think it is, holds zero weight by itself.
 
I would actually think that scaling artifacts would be more pronounced than slight DPI differences, so the more of a difference you see the less I would think it's DPI. But again, it depends on what the difference is. All I see here are people saying they notice a "difference". No one's explained the type. For all we know, the 1080p resolution is triggering a CSS rule to use a completely different asset altogether, if it's a web served image. Really, what I'd expect by now is someone to take a high resolution picture of the two phones side by side to show what they're talking about, instead of repeating a "difference". Just telling me what you think it is, holds zero weight by itself.

I'll do that for you tonight. No problem. The difference is DPI, period. Text looks sharper, less pixelated etc on the 6 Plus. It's crazy to me that people tell me (and zillions of other people) that they're not seeing that.


"Display Resolution and PPI

Both the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are what Apple calls Retina displays, which simply means that the pixels cannot be resolved with normal 20/20 Vision at the typical viewing distances for the displays, which for these screen sizes is typically 11 inches or more. That is the origin of the often misunderstood 326 Pixels Per Inch ppi. The iPhone 6 has a 1334x750 pixel display with 326 ppi and the iPhone 6 Plus has a 1920x1080 pixel display with 401 ppi.



While the display on the iPhone 6 has almost identical performance to the iPhone 6 Plus, it only has a 1.0 Mega Pixel display, significantly lower than the 2.1 pixels on the iPhone 6 Plus, and the 2.1 to 3.7 Mega Pixels found on all of the other leading Smartphones. While its 326 ppi and 1334x750 resolution qualifies it as an HD Retina display, there are a number of other significant advantages for going to higher resolutions that exceed the limits set by normal 20/20 Vision. For one, it is particularly important to have as many pixels as possible when digitally rescaling images from their native resolution to the display that they are being viewed on. Most images require rescaling and most rescaled images (from either higher or lower resolutions) with fine text and graphics look noticeably to considerably better in side-by-side comparisons on the iPhone 6 Plus with 2.1 Mega Pixels compared to just 1.0 Mega Pixels on the iPhone 6. Twice as many pixels to work with makes a noticeable visual difference. In addition, even with content at their respective native display resolutions, fine text and graphics look better on the iPhone 6 Plus. The display on the iPhone 6 is none-the-less still a Very Good display, and most buyers will be happy with its performance. We’ll examine this in detail below."

http://www.displaymate.com/iPhone6_ShootOut.htm
 
It's downsampling, which is potentially one of the reasons text looks so good on the 6 Plus. Games use similar methods to achieve higher quality images on lower res displays.

See:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=509076

With the above argument, it's possible I prefer downsampling to 1080p than just rendering 1080p content at 1080p. Apparently there are some artifacts under a microscope, but I've never seen them, and as we've established, I'm VERY picky. I've yet to see any 1080p phone that looks as "sharp" as the iPhone 6 Plus display. 1440p phones are another matter, of course...

The one obvious downside to the 6 Plus is that it doesn't handle the OS as smoothly as the 6. Roll on the 6s Plus!
The reason I'm sad about the downscaling is that I was expecting a native 1242p display on the 6s+. You would agree that a native 1242p display would have been better for the 6s+, would you not?

Also, downsampling may help in certain games, but the general UI is a different matter. I always keep my 13" rMBP and riMac running at their native resolutions due to the fuzziness that results from running higher-than-native, although I'm sure the effect is less apparent on the higher pixel density 6s+.
 
I also think they will upgrade the screen to OLED on the iPhone 7. My assumption on the biggest feature on the 7 is battery life.

I highly doubt the iPhone 7 will be OLED. Not after they spent 4-5 years developing 3D Touch technology that specifically uses the backlight to measure distance changes of the display panel to the backlight when pressing it in. They wouldn't spend all that time to get it working they way they want it, only to toss it and implement a new way after just one year.
 
  • Like
Reactions: lordofthereef
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.