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Debating whether iPhone 6 is a "futureproof" choice

F

fermer

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 29, 2015
17
3
Canada
Hi,

I'm debating what iPhone to buy: 6 or 6s.
For me, the difference between the two would be around $350.
My goal is to get a phone that I can enjoy for at least two years. By saying enjoy, I mean not experience a huge performance drop in terms of speed and avoid drastic lagging.
For instance, I find iPhone 5s quite satisfactory for today's time; iPhone 4s/5 however are too slow for my liking.
I do understand that the performance will be surely also affected by future iOS updates, while it is a common occurrence that older iPhones are not friendly to new iOS releases. lol

I find a $350 investment into a 6s "tock" iPhone to be really substantial personally. To be honest, I don't need to have the new 3d Touch or Live Photos features. However, spending the extra $350 will be worth it if it means that I can better "futureproof" my phone and possibly resale it in 2-3 years at a better value. I guess I'm more concerned if the inclusion of 2gb RAM or the A9 chip in the iPhone 6s and its effect on "futureproofness" compared to the iPhone 6.

I realize that there is no clear answer, but would still like to ask the community for recommendations.


Thanks.
 
My iPhone 5 is future proof. Still use it. It is no longer my primary phone but it does everything I ask of it.

If it hadn't been for Apple forcing me to iOS 9 on this phone it'd still be running iOS 6. Nothing about my usage has changed since iOS 6.
 
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The 6s is definitely more "future-proofed", not just because of 2gb of ram... but the A9 processor (which is a monster) and 3D touch.

My opinion though? Save the $350 and go with the 6. The 6 is still a great phone will handle the next 2-years just fine. The 6s isn't worth $350 more than the 6.
 
Future proof in the sense of iOS updates yes. Future Proof in the sense of performance is a no!
If you are a heavy multitasker, get the 6s.
 
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Get the 6. The 6s is a better performer but no way is it $350 better.

Like you said, the 5s is solid and will be a very good phone for another 1-2 years at least. I expect the 6 to be similar in that respect.

edit: my answer would be different if we were talking 6+ vs 6s+.
 
Even if you buy 6S today, Apple will make sure that it will stutter and appear slow compared to next year's iPhone 7.

But iPhone 6 was underpowered from the get go. CPU and GPU perfirmance increased by 30% approx but it also had to push higher resolution which nullified the extra power compared to 5S.

6S has almost doubled the performance specification in every department. If you want to take my advice......

Always buy the S series of Apple phones. They are the perfect technology of their time with less to none hardware issues.
 
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sanke1 said:
But iPhone 6 was underpowered from the get go. CPU and GPU perfirmance increased by 30% approx but it also had to push higher resolution which nullified the extra power compared to 5S.
Click to expand...
The 6 has almost the exact same resolution as the 5 and 5S (1334 x 750 @ 326 PPI as opposed to 1136 x 640 pixels @ 326 PPI.) The Plus line are the only phones that have seen a marginal increase in resolution (1920 x 1080 @ 401 PPI). The problem with the Plus is not being underpowered, but the scaling issues.
 
Future proofing is a subjective concept. I know people who are happily using a 4s. Others feel like their 6 is already out of date.

However, while I don't feel that 2GB of RAM is a must have right now, Apple has moved the iPhone and iPad product lines to 2GB or more, and they don't seem to bump up the RAM often, so 2GB devices will probably be supported for quite some time.
 
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The 6 will do you just fine for a couple of years. Save your money. My wife uses a 5 and has no issues even with the current IOS. To some, a new iPhone on the market means anything else is outdated. Not so. I have a 6 and it runs just perfect. I expect a phone to last 4-5 years for the kind of money spent on it. Most people keep their computers for at least that long and spend less on it.
 
Don't spend more for better resale. If that's the goal, put the 350 in the bank, toss the phone in three years and walk away with more money than you'll have with a worn 6s when the 8 comes out.

Get the s only if it's good for YOU. Do you want the 2gb or 7000 aluminum. Are those worth 350 to you?
 
People on here always need to have the latest and greatest, why many will argue that the iPhone 6S is the only viable option and that anything else is slow and pretty much obsolete.

Truth is, in everyday use it's basically the same phone, except for 3D Touch and a slightly better camera. If 3D Touch is worth $350 to you, get the 6S, otherwise get the 6. To me, 3D Touch is a bit of a gimmick. Moreover, I have never reached a point where I felt that I needed another GB of RAM. The iPhone 6 is still super fast, running plenty of apps in the background, while editing movies in iMovie or playing games. Not once, have I felt that I needed a faster phone. I think it will be at least two years before developers make full use of the 2GB RAM in the 6S.

IMHO, get the 6 and put those 350 dollars towards a future 7S or 8.
 
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Electronics are never future proof. If you do not have multiple tabs open in Safari the 6 will do you fine and save you some money. If you do a lot of Safari then the S model will make you happy longer.
 
\-V-/ said:
The 6 has almost the exact same resolution as the 5 and 5S (1334 x 750 @ 326 PPI as opposed to 1136 x 640 pixels @ 326 PPI.) The Plus line are the only phones that have seen a marginal increase in resolution (1920 x 1080 @ 401 PPI). The problem with the Plus is not being underpowered, but the scaling issues.
Click to expand...

1000500 pixels (IPhone 6) vs 727040 pixels (iPhone 5S) So that is 27% in pixels increase. But that is NOT almost the exact same resolution as you claim.

So 30% increase in CPU and GPU performance with 27% increase in pixels. This clearly meant no performance increase relative to the screen resolution. The only slight performance increase (3-5%) we saw in benchmarks was due to minor CPU and iOS optimizations. Link for independent articles confirming my claim here & here.

For me iPhone 6 is worthless upgrade in today's day and age. Unless you fancy shiny Apple logo at the back, then no one's stopping you. iPhone 6 Plus is just a sad joke not because of scaling issues. The scaling is an issue because of under-powered hardware.

Buying 6S today is not even a debate. It's a no brainer. The phone would definitely work good for 2 years minimum. Anything above that is a bonus.
 
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I stopped reading at two years, because I am absolutely confident you will enjoy the 6 for two years. 6 Plud is a different story. I couldn't even enjoy that for one lol.
 
My iPhone 6plus is still running sweet apples latest update gives me better battery life and runs sweet all this you need 2 gig of ram imo is neither here nor there in most cases.. My partner is still using an iPhone 5 with no issues what so ever so the ip6 will see you right for at least a couple more years.....
 
lordofthereef said:
I stopped reading at two years, because I am absolutely confident you will enjoy the 6 for two years. 6 Plud is a different story. I couldn't even enjoy that for one lol.
Click to expand...
Lots of exaggerations as well.


Jsameds said:
We still have a 14 year old iMac G4 up and running here.
Click to expand...
Yeah ... and what OS does that run? I was referring to support ... not whether it'll keep running or not.
 
Fast for one person is sluggish for another! As for speed, you'll have to make that determination for yourself. I have family still using the 5s and 6 and to me they are pretty slow compared to my 6s Plus!
 
Thank you all for all the replies!
After long deliberations, I have decided to save my money and hence decided that I will likely get the iPhone 6 64gb.
Like some posters said, it is probably wiser to use the $350 saved to obtain a better phone in 2 years time.
I guess if I find the performance of the iPhone 5s satisfactory at the moment, there is no need for me to get the latest phone.
Additionally, when the iPhone 7 comes out this year, I will not feel so disappointed that I spent so much money on the 6s..
 
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fermer said:
Thank you all for all the replies!
After long deliberations, I have decided to save my money and hence decided that I will likely get the iPhone 6 64gb.
Like some posters said, it is probably wiser to use the $350 saved to obtain a better phone in 2 years time.
I guess if I find the performance of the iPhone 5s satisfactory at the moment, there is no need for me to get the latest phone.
Additionally, when the iPhone 7 comes out this year, I will not feel so disappointed that I spent so much money on the 6s..
Click to expand...
iPhone 6 64GB is the right choice. It's an awesome phone and will still be very usable 4 years from now.
 
My iPhone 6 is still on iOS 8.4.1 and I'm still happy with it except for its size. I wish it was smaller but it never lags or gives me any problems. I have no plans to update it..if it ain't broke etc.
 
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