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We all know the next iPhone will be better but if we keep waiting for the next model, then we'll never upgrade. There has to be a cutoff of when to wait and when to buy. And right now the problem with waiting for the 7 is that it's 8-9 months away. That's more than half a year.

Second you don't know how major or minor of an update the 7 will be. Is it going to be 9 months of wait better? Probably not IMO. Not enough to justify having to keep using that small 4" screen.

So just do it and get a 6S.
 
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I assume that could be the case, but fear this new 6e ( or whatever this new 5s like model that is all but sure coming out) could be the free phone?

Well then if faced with getting the 6s $200 now or the iphone7 in Oct also for $200...I'd get the 6s now.

But it's your call...
 
So pissed. Went to order and pay for my 6s and they told me corporate won't let us pay for devices anymore. And they won't approve me for the 6s as there isn't enough difference for business reasons to pay the $200. I would need to wait for the 7 and the 6s becomes free or if there is a case to be made for the 7 that can be justified.

Oh well, stuck for awhile.
 
I did play with a 6 and 6s the other day at Best Buy and while I didn't get the feel that the 6s was that much faster I did feel it was more stable and smoother with transitioning from app to app. The home button felt like night and day though. The 6s home button was way better. I still don't feel the 3D Touch is really that intuitive or faster.
 
Really? In what sense? I mean do you use enough apps that you notice it doesn't background-kill your apps? (And if so, what kind of apps press that memory so hard?)

Everything presses the memory "that hard". (The OS and just basic running apps). If you look at the memory usage on the 6s, the majority of the RAM is in use at any given moment, with a little bit free. iOS is great at managing RAM, but is only effective if there is enough to manage in the first place.
 
I went from a 5s to 6S plus and it was very nice but i don't take loads of photos or use loads of apps. it felt a bit overkill for my needs so i actually just swapped phones with my wife so I now have 6. only diff I see is plus is a bit faster in rebooting and touch id but I wouldn't pay the 199 you mention for those features.

plus with them both running latest iOS it doesn't seem much of a point of difference.

I also think force touch is gimmicky, i used it for first couple days and then went back to normal which is just as fast IMO.
 
Really? In what sense? I mean do you use enough apps that you notice it doesn't background-kill your apps? (And if so, what kind of apps press that memory so hard?)

Safari would often quit on me and when I was running school-centric apps like Canvas, along with Pixelmator, iPhotos etc. the extra memory helps.

On the software end, I'm really enjoying the low power mode too - I use it once I hit 40% and often get another 4-8 hours of usage from the phone.
 
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I went from a 5s to 6S plus and it was very nice but i don't take loads of photos or use loads of apps. it felt a bit overkill for my needs so i actually just swapped phones with my wife so I now have 6. only diff I see is plus is a bit faster in rebooting and touch id but I wouldn't pay the 199 you mention for those features.

plus with them both running latest iOS it doesn't seem much of a point of difference.

I also think force touch is gimmicky, i used it for first, couple days and then went back to normal which is just as fast IMO.
Ok, you are good to ask. Outside of size of the plus, did you see a performance difference in the 6 and 6s plus?

I can still take a free 6, but keep thinking I'll wait for tee free 6s (when the 7 comes out)
 
Ok, you are good to ask. Outside of size of the plus, did you see a performance difference in the 6 and 6s plus?

I can still take a free 6, but keep thinking I'll wait for tee free 6s (when the 7 comes out)
+ has a lot better battery life. OIS too if you take a lot of pictures while moving. 1080p display on 6+ vs 720p on 6s, I can't tell the difference at normal viewing distance. 6+ is too big to use in one hand comfortably which is the biggest drawback IMO. Some people are okay with that but I can't use it as a daily driver phone because of this con even in spite of the better specs.
 
Always go with S models. They seem to be the better upgrades.

I was on the non-S upgrade since the iPhone 4. I got the iPhone 6, but I was really tempted by the Plus for a long time. Every time I saw one of my students with one, I asked to play with it. I wanted to see if I can use it one handed. When anandtech gave the 6s and 6s plus their Gold Award (the have any done that once before to the HTC M7), I was sold and bought a new 6s Plus from Swappa. I love it. I am now firmly on the S upgrade. It is a better upgrade path for me. When Apple switched to the lightening port with the iPhone 5, there weren't many immediate non-Apple yet certified cables to get. I do not want to go through the same ordeal with the iPhone 7 when Apple drops the headphone jack. Buy the time the 7s is produced all the dust would have settled and their should be plenty of lighting equipped quality headphones.
 
I was on the non-S upgrade since the iPhone 4. I got the iPhone 6, but I was really tempted by the Plus for a long time. Every time I saw one of my students with one, I asked to play with it. I wanted to see if I can use it one handed. When anandtech gave the 6s and 6s plus their Gold Award (the have any done that once before to the HTC M7), I was sold and bought a new 6s Plus from Swappa. I love it. I am now firmly on the S upgrade. It is a better upgrade path for me. When Apple switched to the lightening port with the iPhone 5, there weren't many immediate non-Apple yet certified cables to get. I do not want to go through the same ordeal with the iPhone 7 when Apple drops the headphone jack. Buy the time the 7s is produced all the dust would have settled and their should be plenty of lighting equipped quality headphones.
I am on the yearly upgrade cycle.

The 3GS and the 6S are the only S phones that I really like and even then the 3GS was the only S phone I felt was as good of an upgrade as the main phones. 4S was speed that really didn't matter until iOS7 and Siri - gimmick. 5S was again speed that didn't really matter (5/5S/6 all used 1GB of RAM) and TouchID. And TouchID didn't work for me until like 5 months after launch when the software fix finally worked. 6S is only good because Apple delayed upgrading the RAM for soo long.

I wouldn't recommend getting on the S cycle because spec wise it really hasn't been that as good. Exception is with T-Mobile because every S phone seems to add more bands to improve T-Mobile service more and more.
 
Definitely worth it for me, or I would not have upgraded.
- stronger aluminum
- 70% faster SoC
- 90% faster graphics chip
- 2 GB ram
- insanely faster finger print ID
- Hey Siri support at all times even not plugged in
- peek and pop 3D touch screen
- ac wifi with MIMO super fast with my AirPort Extreme with AC MIMO
- better camera front and rear
My battery life is better than 6+. 6s+ is best iPhone yet, have owned, 3Gs, 4s, 5s, 6+, 6s+. No right or wrong here, nice to have choice.

All of this and I find the Speaker and the earpiece speaker significantly louder.
 
So pissed. Went to order and pay for my 6s and they told me corporate won't let us pay for devices anymore. And they won't approve me for the 6s as there isn't enough difference for business reasons to pay the $200. I would need to wait for the 7 and the 6s becomes free or if there is a case to be made for the 7 that can be justified.

Oh well, stuck for awhile.

"Good things come to those who wait"

Just be patient. You have to resist the urge and drive to upgrade "now" just because the option is there.

especially if it's for business purposes - going from the 5s to the 6 isn't much of an upgrade; it's mostly lateral. So you want to upgrade from the 5s to...a "larger 5s" for 2 more years? I dunno about that...plus for work *efficiency* the 2GB of ram helps out iOS a lot. For my line of work, I find it very useful and handy as true multitasking with apps, documents and Internet tabs that don't refresh and lose your work or your spot in filling out forms, or your emails when cross referencing something in another app etc...

I have an iPhone 6 (On iOS 8 no less) and I cannot do that level of multitasking. If anything, it is very frustrating and impedes workflow because of the refreshing apps or tabs.

My perspective is, if you're going to go for an upgrade for work, which is how you earn your living, then go with the device that will actually improve your workflow. The 6 is a minor enough upgrade from the 5s, that you won't get any more workflow out of it that you can't get from the 5s you currently own.

Plus, By waiting, you'll also see if your work will allow you to update to the 7, a cheaper 6s, or the new 4" iPhone - if the new 4" iPhone is real of course - more choice!

So bottom line -> if I were you, I would resist the urge to upgrade now, and avoid being stuck with a work phone for 2 more years that isn't going to give you any different work flow than you will get from your current phone. The 6 is still a fast, powerful phone. And it is still a great phone to get. But, so is the 5s that you currently have.
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I am on the yearly upgrade cycle.

The 3GS and the 6S are the only S phones that I really like and even then the 3GS was the only S phone I felt was as good of an upgrade as the main phones. 4S was speed that really didn't matter until iOS7 and Siri - gimmick. 5S was again speed that didn't really matter (5/5S/6 all used 1GB of RAM) and TouchID. And TouchID didn't work for me until like 5 months after launch when the software fix finally worked. 6S is only good because Apple delayed upgrading the RAM for soo long.

I wouldn't recommend getting on the S cycle because spec wise it really hasn't been that as good. Exception is with T-Mobile because every S phone seems to add more bands to improve T-Mobile service more and more.

There are advantages and disadvantages to being on either cycle; you either value a greater focus on external updates or you value a greater focus on internal updates.

The point isn't whether the "s" or "non-S" cycle is better or not, the point is what is the best phone for one's needs. People are often too fixated on "s vs non-S" when the reality is every year, every phone is a new generation. many phone carriers around the world are doing away with subsidized contracts and thus this old 2 year cycle is going to lose even more meaning. Now a days phones are Becoming powerful to the extent that one need not upgrade as frequently as in the past. It will be less about "2 year cycles" and more about "which generation makes sense for me to upgrade to next". That could be the following year or the following 4 years. The lack of subsidization will play a role when the general population, that doesn't sell their old model on kijiji or Craigslist or eBay to find the new one every year or two, are no longer paying 200$ for upgrades anymore.

For the OP, it's a work device. If they require a phone to check whatsapp or iMessage group convos and are fed up with the 5s's battery life, then the 6 is fine. Problem is, the 6 and 5s are very similar in power and in specs, and features. So from using the phone as a work phone point of view, the OP would be throwing away an upgrade to a phone which won't give them added work flow benefits. The 6s on the other hand, does give him/her benefits as the processors are upgraded enough and the ram is doubled which leads to an overall more robust experience.
 
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There are advantages and disadvantages to being on either cycle; you either value a greater focus on external updates or you value a greater focus on internal updates.
Like I said, I'm on the yearly upgrade plan so that gives me an unbiased view of all the iPhones. And while you could say it's external vs interior differences, that's not always true but before I get to that let me just go back in time a bit.

3GS was the best S upgrade. Even in it's day the 3G was laggy and checkerboard often. 3GS was a huge speed improvement and felt like a using a completely new phone. It also had added perks of video camera. And it's the oldest iPhone that supports iMessage. So that phone was 100% worth getting and outlived the prior iPhones by years.

4S was a different story. 4S faster processor didn't matter until iOS 7 came out. 4 is laggy on iOS 7 while the 4S runs it fine. So that speed difference didn't matter until 2 years after the 4S came out or 3 years after the 4 was released. Also the 4S has HSPA+ but the 5 has LTE. And the 4S has 512MB of ram while the 5 has 1GB. Plus the 5 is lighter too. Thus the 4S was vastly inferior to the 5 and everyone who used it instead of the 5 got a vastly inferior experience.

5S vs 6 is similar as well.

So the point is only the 3GS and the 6S have really been worth it. 4S and 5S were bad cycles to be on unless you had T-Mobile because I'm pretty sure they had better cellular bands.

The point isn't whether the "s" or "non-S" cycle is better or not, the point is what is the best phone for one's needs. People are often too fixated on "s vs non-S" when the reality is every year, every phone is a new generation. many phone carriers around the world are doing away with subsidized contracts and thus this old 2 year cycle is going to lose even more meaning. Now a days phones are Becoming powerful to the extent that one need not upgrade as frequently as in the past. It will be less about "2 year cycles" and more about "which generation makes sense for me to upgrade to next". That could be the following year or the following 4 years. The lack of subsidization will play a role when the general population, that doesn't sell their old model on kijiji or Craigslist or eBay to find the new one every year or two, are no longer paying 200$ for upgrades anymore.

For the OP, it's a work device. If they require a phone to check whatsapp or iMessage group convos and are fed up with the 5s's battery life, then the 6 is fine. Problem is, the 6 and 5s are very similar in power and in specs, and features. So from using the phone as a work phone point of view, the OP would be throwing away an upgrade to a phone which won't give them added work flow benefits. The 6s on the other hand, does give him/her benefits as the processors are upgraded enough and the ram is doubled which leads to an overall more robust experience.
I agree with this. I said to get the 6S.
 
Ok, you are good to ask. Outside of size of the plus, did you see a performance difference in the 6 and 6s plus?

I can still take a free 6, but keep thinking I'll wait for tee free 6s (when the 7 comes out)

My uses are phone calls, iMessages, FB, taking photos and sending emails. I would say the 6S is probably all round a bit nippier but i would not say its worth you paying the 199 upgrade fee. Im more than happy with the 6 after going from 5s to 6s back to the 6.

If your a heavy gamer user id go 6s but if your uses are similar to mine id stick with the 6 and you'll be more than happy.
 
I am on the yearly upgrade cycle.

The 3GS and the 6S are the only S phones that I really like and even then the 3GS was the only S phone I felt was as good of an upgrade as the main phones. 4S was speed that really didn't matter until iOS7 and Siri - gimmick. 5S was again speed that didn't really matter (5/5S/6 all used 1GB of RAM) and TouchID. And TouchID didn't work for me until like 5 months after launch when the software fix finally worked. 6S is only good because Apple delayed upgrading the RAM for soo long.

I wouldn't recommend getting on the S cycle because spec wise it really hasn't been that as good. Exception is with T-Mobile because every S phone seems to add more bands to improve T-Mobile service more and more.
I have T-Mobile service and have been more then pleased with my service.

As far as iPhones go, I've upgraded yearly as well except for the 5 and 6. I did buy the 5S and 6+ and now have the 6S and 6S+. I wanted to both sizes this year. After using my 6S, the 5S that I had been using for awhile besides my 6+, is too small now. The 6S is perfect for my job and the 6S+ is perfect for all the rest of the time.

I have no regrets in buying both phones last month.
 
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