Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

iPhone 6 vs. 6 Plus Performance

S

Sh4wN

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jul 14, 2012
146
0
Hey guys,

I have both phones at home to decide which one to keep and so far, I am pretty unimpressed by the 6 Plus performance. Using it on its own is alright and I'd say the performance is on par with my 5S (aside from the general amount of bugs on iOS 8 which is ridiculously high, especially on the 6 Plus), but the regular 6 is quicker and smoother overall. Going into multitasking for example is faster and animations are pretty much lag free and quick while the 6 Plus has small hiccups now and then.

It may just be an issue with software optimization, but I find it a little disappointing nonetheless. I'm eagerly awating the AnandTech review. They're usually pretty good in documenting these issues.

Has anybody who used both phones had the same experience?
 
6 I think is always going to have better performance. The 6+ renders 2.7mega pixels and scales down to 2 megapixels. The 6 only has to do 1 megapixels. The 6+ has to load higher resolution images for 3x mode, these images take up 2.5x as much space and 2.5x as much RAM.

Compared side by side, iphone 6 is snappier in almost everything. The major major thing with the 6+ is how shocking bad safari behaves. If I load arstechnica and go to an article with comments, and have a second tab on mashable and got to an article comments.... thats it. Any time I even try to do one more tab, it completely drops one (or both) of the other tabs and forces them to reload. I literally can't have more than 2 or 3 tabs open ever without them reloading everytime I change to them.

I am hoping this is a bug... because on wifes iphone 6 its fine, on my 5s its fine, heck even on an iphone 4 I can do it.

Starting to think lack of 2GB ram is going to be the archillies heel for the 6+.
 
Here are my scores for the iPhone6 Plus

It says my iPhone6Plus is at 1.38ghz, I think steve added some magic onto my phone from heaven /s
NO the proc speed changes randomly, ignore the proc clock speed.

LXYrrgZ.png

3vAy05t.png
 
Last edited:
petvas said:
The iPhone 6 is clocked at 1,39Ghz while the iPhone 6 Plus at 1,32Ghz.
Click to expand...

I assume you base this on the early Geekbench results a lot of news sites cited? They're wrong for the 6+, both clock speed and results. Source: my iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, which went through Geekbench the day they arrived. ;)

My results are pretty much the same to what this video shows:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWDGvkCXjek#t=167

Edit: Aww, to late. ^^
 
Sh4wN said:
Hey guys,

I have both phones at home to decide which one to keep and so far, I am pretty unimpressed by the 6 Plus performance. Using it on its own is alright and I'd say the performance is on par with my 5S (aside from the general amount of bugs on iOS 8 which is ridiculously high, especially on the 6 Plus), but the regular 6 is quicker and smoother overall. Going into multitasking for example is faster and animations are pretty much lag free and quick while the 6 Plus has small hiccups now and then.

It may just be an issue with software optimization, but I find it a little disappointing nonetheless. I'm eagerly awating the AnandTech review. They're usually pretty good in documenting these issues.

Has anybody who used both phones had the same experience?
Click to expand...

I don't get this. Who would buy the 6+ because of some kind of spec difference? It's about the size. It's like shoe size.
 
iPhone7ate9 said:
I don't get this. Who would buy the 6+ because of some kind of spec difference? It's about the size. It's like shoe size.
Click to expand...

Well thats your opinion, imo, why would anyone buy the iphone6 because its the iphone 5/s plus half an inch of screen.

With the 6+, you have realestate to do so much more (browse/video) than just look at the same boring iOS apps.
 
iPhone7ate9 said:
I don't get this. Who would buy the 6+ because of some kind of spec difference? It's about the size. It's like shoe size.
Click to expand...

I'm not quite sure why you're assuming this. petvas mentioned a clock difference, possibly as a reason for speed differences between both devices. I merely corrected this apparently false statement.

Can we please keep this on topic? It's not about which phone is more ergonomical or better suits your or anyones needs. It's about differences in perceived performance.
 
Sh4wN said:
I'm not quite sure why you're assuming this. petvas mentioned a clock difference, possibly as a reason for speed differences between both devices. I merely corrected this apparently false statement.

Can we please keep this on topic? It's not about which phone is more ergonomical or better suits your or anyones needs. It's about differences in perceived performance.
Click to expand...

Well have perceived they are both the same. Close it down.
 
Very interesting stuff but for me those clock speeds are minimal differences unless of course you work on the Stock Exchange.
 
You beat me to it, OP. Size is so subjective as hand size, pocket size and the way we handle the device is different.

Side be side doing the same thing I was very curious the 6 versus the Plus. Since most do not have both, they would be happy with either. But I am sure some others are interested in the performance between the two.
 
Sh4wN said:
I'm not quite sure why you're assuming this. petvas mentioned a clock difference, possibly as a reason for speed differences between both devices. I merely corrected this apparently false statement.

Can we please keep this on topic? It's not about which phone is more ergonomical or better suits your or anyones needs. It's about differences in perceived performance.
Click to expand...

Uh no it's not. The only reason people should be buying the 6+ is because they like a bigger screen, nothing else.

----------
munakib said:
Well thats your opinion, imo, why would anyone buy the iphone6 because its the iphone 5/s plus half an inch of screen.

With the 6+, you have realestate to do so much more (browse/video) than just look at the same boring iOS apps.
Click to expand...

I didn't buy the 5 or 5s because the screens were too small. If 6 = the 5s with a bigger screen, that's fine with me. I'm not worried about specs.
 
richpjr said:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/8559/iphone-6-and-iphone-6-plus-preliminary-results

Looks like the 6 is faster in some cases and the 6+ in others.
Click to expand...

It seems to boil down to differences due to the higher resolution. The 6 Plus takes a pretty hefty hit in 3D performance because of that. I had hoped Apple would have counteracted this a little better, either by a beefier GPU/higher clock. I'm not sure if it's possible to render in a lower resolution and then upscale the image. That would possibly benefit some games.

For now, that seems to be the reason for the occasional framedrops in iOS animations.

iPhone7ate9 said:
Uh no it's not. The only reason people should be buying the 6+ is because they like a bigger screen, nothing else.

[...]
Click to expand...

Wow, you really don't get it, huh?

This is not a buying advise thread. And it's most definitely not about your personal opinion what customers should consider when buying a phone. For some, performance may be a critical factor, especially in regards to gaming (or even overall fluidity, as it seems).
 
Last edited:
eattherich said:
It's hard to know what to believe. One minute I read that article and the next I read one on iMore showing the Plus beating the 6 in some GPU-based tests.

http://www.imore.com/iphone-6-and-iphone-6-plus-benchmarks

Here's what I take from this: in general, don't base your opinions and choice of phone on test results.
Click to expand...

The iFixit teardown showed that its the exact same A8 in both, I think the takeaway from all these is exactly that - its the same processor, with the same power. Sometimes it will be up, sometimes down, never far apart.

The 6+ will be slower in animation heavy things due to that, in day to day use its highly unlikely it will suffer much if at all.
 
Yeah, because we all know GPU testing software is so indicative of real world use and closely resembles the way the designers of the hardware/OS will be pushing their own hardware.

On another note, I have a bridge in San Francisco I can sell, cheap. Look for my post in Marketplace...
 
Also, when considering GPU usage, I don't think these tests will be making use of one of the exciting new things: Metal. I imagine we'll see some very impressive graphic-intensive apps over the coming months/years.
 
eattherich said:
It's hard to know what to believe. One minute I read that article and the next I read one on iMore showing the Plus beating the 6 in some GPU-based tests.

http://www.imore.com/iphone-6-and-iphone-6-plus-benchmarks

Here's what I take from this: in general, don't base your opinions and choice of phone on test results.
Click to expand...

They obviously used the offscreen benchmark, which doesn't take into account screen resolution and is not indicative of actual performance of a device.

ZBoater said:
Yeah, because we all know GPU testing software is so indicative of real world use and closely resembles the way the designers of the hardware/OS will be pushing their own hardware.

[...]
Click to expand...

When comparing two devices from the same manufacturer, with the exact same specs (aside from screen resolution) and the same operating system then yes, benchmarks are very well able to show differences in performance that may show up in real world use.

eattherich said:
Also, when considering GPU usage, I don't think these tests will be making use of one of the exciting new things: Metal. I imagine we'll see some very impressive graphic-intensive apps over the coming months/years.
Click to expand...

True. Though these advantages would probably apply to both iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.
 
There is dynamic clock speeds at work here. It's like turbo boost on Intel CPUs, you can't definitively say that it runs at X GHz because it will change depending on the workload. What you can say is the max and min or the range of clock speeds.

For A8, there is no difference between the SoC in the 6 and 6 Plus. The only difference is how long it can sustain a certain clock speed. I think the 6 Plus has longer sustain because it has larger surface area to dissipate heat and also a larger battery.
 
Sh4wN said:
It seems to boil down to differences due to the higher resolution. The 6 Plus takes a pretty hefty hit in 3D performance because of that. I had hoped Apple would have counteracted this a little better, either by a beefier GPU/higher clock. I'm not sure if it's possible to render in a lower resolution and then upscale the image. That would possibly benefit some games.

For now, that seems to be the reason for the occasional framedrops in iOS animations.



Wow, you really don't get it, huh?

This is not a buying advise thread. And it's most definitely not about your personal opinion what customers should consider when buying a phone. For some, performance may be a critical factor, especially in regards to gaming (or even overall fluidity, as it seems).
Click to expand...

Plenty of games do this already on iPads. You can notice it a bit, but it isn't huge. It will probably be unnoticeable on a much smaller iPhone 6(+) screens. Therefore, as far as performance in games is concerned, I don't think there will be any differences between the two.
 
SnowLeopard2008 said:
There is dynamic clock speeds at work here. It's like turbo boost on Intel CPUs, you can't definitively say that it runs at X GHz because it will change depending on the workload. What you can say is the max and min or the range of clock speeds.

For A8, there is no difference between the SoC in the 6 and 6 Plus. The only difference is how long it can sustain a certain clock speed. I think the 6 Plus has longer sustain because it has larger surface area to dissipate heat and also a larger battery.
Click to expand...


This generally the case. Anandtech did some testing on thermal regulating of iPads before if anyone cares to look it up. You'll find the iPad Air able to maintain a higher clock speed then the Mini due to the surface area of the Air to dissipate heat.

As far as functioning clock rate. Like all processors (not too be confused with ones capable of "turbo boost" which btw is a specific function of essentially overclocking a single core) they run at various clock rates. With apps in Android (cpuspy) I can see how rarely the CPU is maxed out.

Any real world differences experienced are software related. Ios 8 is a bit of a mess right now and we'll be seeing patches soon.

This day in age it's a little silly to be buying a flagship smartphone based on benchmarks. Can you really notice a few mflops? Lol. That is unless you are just really into bragging rights which there is no problem with. However if bragging rights is the case get an Android device root/rom and overclock it.
 
cynics said:
This generally the case. Anandtech did some testing on thermal regulating of iPads before if anyone cares to look it up. You'll find the iPad Air able to maintain a higher clock speed then the Mini due to the surface area of the Air to dissipate heat.

As far as functioning clock rate. Like all processors (not too be confused with ones capable of "turbo boost" which btw is a specific function of essentially overclocking a single core) they run at various clock rates. With apps in Android (cpuspy) I can see how rarely the CPU is maxed out.

Any real world differences experienced are software related. Ios 8 is a bit of a mess right now and we'll be seeing patches soon.

This day in age it's a little silly to be buying a flagship smartphone based on benchmarks. Can you really notice a few mflops? Lol. That is unless you are just really into bragging rights which there is no problem with. However if bragging rights is the case get an Android device root/rom and overclock it.
Click to expand...

iOS 8 itself is not the problem. It's the apps and developers. Most of my apps have already received iOS 8 compatibility updates and/or iPhone 6/6 Plus updates. Apple's ecosystem is pretty unified so it shouldn't be long before almost all of the apps people use are updated accordingly.

I read the same Anandtech article you did. That's the source for my OP. From what I've seen, the A8 is the best performing SoC right now (for smartphones). It's also pretty much the only 64-bit SoC too. Qualcomm made a mid-tier SoC that is 64-bit, but it's not competing at the same level as the A8.

Many Android OEMs are still using software-based trickery to boost benchmark scores. Some have ceased but many still remain. The A8 is also the most power efficient. Remember, it is dual core and running at a lower clock speed than other SoCs (which are in the >2GHz range). Other SoCs are also quad or octa core. It's astounding that a chip running at about half the clock speeds and half or a fourth the number of cores as other competing SoCs is either matching performance benchmarks or beating them outright. This also holds true in multi-threaded benchmarks which is especially surprising. Last year's A7 is still near the top of benchmarks even today, if not at the top for some benchmarks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back