WHAT does the S stand for in iPhone models? Most would say “something more” — the second-note “tock” to the opening bang of the “tick” of the major release cycle. Apple would argue it’s closer to “something special”.
With the 3GS, the iPhone got a video camera. Siri, the digital assistant at the core of the iPhone, the Apple Watch and soon to be released Apple TV, was launched in the iPhone 4S. Touch ID, which allows you to lock your digital devices without the need of a password, came with the iPhone 5S.
So, what is the special something in the iPhone 6S?
Feel the force
Well, what’s new is not a new look. Aside from the new rose gold colour option (to join silver, space grey and gold), the iPhone 6S looks just like an iPhone 6 — except this has an S laser-etched into the back of it.
Forget about spotting the key difference at first sight, the element that will define iPhones from now on comes down to the sense of touch.
Force Touch is not new to Apple, but it is new to Apple iPhones — and in coming to the phone it comes with a new name (just to confuse us all).
If you’re using an Apple Watch or the new Macbook, pushing hard with your finger to access the next level of menu is called Force Touch. If you do the same action with your finger on the iPhone 6S, it’s called 3D Touch. Call it what you will, the force is strong with this feature and it has the potential to be as key to the way you use your smartphone as the tap, pinch and swipe.
Push down that little bit harder on the phone icon, and you get a menu with your favourite contacts. Push hard on the camera icon and your menu options include “take selfie” or “take photo”
It’s not just native Apple apps that incorporate 3D Touch. The catch is, unless you push hard on an app, you don’t know if it has the feel of the force. If it hasn’t been designed with 3D Touch in mind, all you’ll get is a triple-tap feeling of rejection.
There are a few other problems with 3D Touch. The initial one is one of familiarity. It takes a few goes to get it right. At first attempt, we were holding our apps rather than pushing the apps, which made them all do that “wiggle wiggle you can’t delete me” dance.
Another problem is a lack of control with the Quick Actions you find at the end of every touch. Let’s take FaceTime. One day, I accidentally FaceTimed one friend and then used FaceTime audio to contact someone when my usual form of communication with the FaceTime video, didn’t work. So, in my four quick options from FaceTime, those two options I did not want to use again were offered for repetition. If there is a way of telling the iPhone you don’t want those two options, and getting it to listen, then we’ve yet to find it.
Take a peek
If 3D Touch is the system, the peek and pop is the best part.
Peep and pop is a preview mode, but a preview with actions. If you’re in your Mail inbox, then pressing hard on a message pops up a “peek” at is contents. Peeking at a message doesn’t mark it as read. When you peek, it pops up. Swipe to the right to mark it as unread (if you have previously read it), swipe to the left to delete and swipe for a series of other options.
The advantage of peek and pop is twofold. It’s quick, and when you finish dealing with the previewed material you end up where you started, rather than being transferred to a new part of the app or even another app.
If you get a message with a time or date, Peek and Pop opens up your calendar at that time.
You can Peek and Pop on your camera roll to see full images, or Peek and Pop on a web address to open the web site.
Snap happy
The iPhone is the most popular camera in the world. It’s now also significantly better.
The rear facing camera has made the big leap from 8 megapixels to 12 megapixels. To put that in context, the last time the camera had a similar upgrade was when it went from 5 megapixels to 8 megapixels with the iPhone 4S in 2011. The Shot on iPhone 6 campaign highlighted the strengths of the old 8 megapixel camera (disclaimer: one of my photographs
featured in that campaign) but Apple needs to launch a new campaign because this camera is a lot, lot better.
In the dark ... an unedited night-time image shot on the iPhone 6S. Picture: Rod ChesterSource:Supplied
Apple’s philosophy in creating the camera in the iPhone is for it to take pictures that most closely reflect what you see. Forget the smoothed out faces that some smartphones create. This camera is aiming for the natural look — with generally warm tones. If you’re of a certain age, think Kodachrome versus Fujifilm.
A lot of people like to compare lowlight snaps as a test of a phone’s camera, which is certainly a valid test. But the best way to see the improvement in the iPhone’s camera is to take a picture outside on a sunny day with a clear blue sky. The iPhone 6 tends to show a bit of digital noise in the sky, something that’s emphasised if you convert the image to black and white. This new camera does a much better job of leaving the noise out of the blue.
Less noise ... an unedited photo shot on the iPhone 6S showing how the camera does capturing blue sky. Picture: Rod ChesterSource:Supplied
For a long time Apple argued you didn’t “need” a camera with an image sensor bigger than 8 megapixels. There is still some truth in the theory that a good camera is more than it’s megapixels but by creating a bigger resolution image, one advantage is that you have a bigger canvas to begin with. With a camera that lacks an optical zoom like the iPhone 6S, starting with a big image you can crop an image and still have a file large enough to print out in reasonable quality.
How big do you want your pictures? Shoot a picture using the panorama mode and you can end up with a 63 megapixel image. Now, that’s a picture.
With each new iPhone comes the question: why should I upgrade, particularly given I can update my iPhone 6 to run iOS9? 3D Touch is certainly one part of the answer. But the improvement to the 12 megapixel camera is the other.
For many people, the upgrade of the rear-facing camera is enough, but the front-facing camera has also been given a big boost, from 1.2 megapixels to 5 megapixels plus the phone screen becomes a skin tone friendly front-facing flash. Given the iPhone is the most popular camera in the world, that will mean better photos for countless family albums.
Video star
If the jump in megapixels takes the still camera to new levels, the video features of the iPhone 6S get just as great a promotion.
Go into settings and you can set your video recording at a basic 720p HD at 30 frames per second up to 4K at 30 frames per second, while there is a new slow-mo option of 1080p HD at 120 frames per second or choose less definition but with a higher frame rate at 240 frames per second.
The addition of a 4K video mode is reassuring for those who want to future-proof their family photos. Also, in the settings you see a guide of how much space each format takes up — if you want to shoot the entire school play, maybe 4K is not the best option in terms of memory. Time lapse has a new stabiliser feature, so you’ll get less bumps when you turn that rather boring 20 minute walk into a quick few minutes of time lapse video. Unfortunately, optical image stabilisation is still a feature that is just on the iPhone 6S Plus. With all this video, iMovie gets an update and you can edit your 4K video on your phone.
Detail ... an unedited image of thumb tacks shot on the iPhone 6S using the Olloclip 15x macro lens. Photo: Rod Chester.Source:Supplied
Live Photos
My first thought when I saw Live Photos was it was a cute novelty. But then I thought again, and I’m hooked.
The technical side is intriguing, which is code for “we have no idea how it works”. Live Photos is, by default, on. Take a picture with the iPhone 6S and the camera shoots what appears to be video for one-and-a-half seconds either side of you pressing the shutter. If you upload the
image to social media it’s a standard jpeg. But if you send it to someone with iOS 9 on their iPhone or iPad or a Mac using the latest operating system, they’ll see the “video” aspect of your shot too. With the iPhone 6S, to see the Live Photos animation, push hard on your photo. Along with sharing these photos, you can use them both as a locked screen for your phone and on your Watch — the wallpaper on my Apple Watch is a Live Photo of my dog. Whenever we lift the phone to unlock it, my dog wags his tail in greeting. If you have trouble getting your head around Live Photo, think of them as a bit like the photos in Harry Potter — sure, they’re a still image but there is also a small animated loop of action.
Extra extra ... Live photos adds three seconds of movement to still images.Source:Supplied
There are a few things to note about Live Photo. It doesn’t work if you use the shutter bust feature. If you snap two images closely one after each other, you won’t get the full three seconds. And if you edit the photo, by cropping or applying a filter, it turns off Live Photos. Restoring the photo to its original form, however, also restores Live Photo.
It also adds an element to remember when shooting a picture. Try to keep your hands steady for that moment before and after each shot. And some pictures really lend themselves to the format. A Live Photo of your lunch isn’t that exciting, but a Live Photo of a child, or a pet, or the movement of nature like a running creek has that extra level of experience. You might have to experiment with the timing, but a Live Photo of a family jump shot would make a very cool iPhone wallpaper.
One annoying aspect of Live Photos is that it’s not clear as you scroll through your Photo Album what is a Live Photo, and hence will show the animation when you use 3D Touch, and what is an image that has been edited and hence does nothing when you apply the force.
Live Photos is not about to take over the world, and the idea of taking a few seconds of video with each photo is not new. But given the popularity of iOS and Apple’s decision to give app developers the ability to add app-to-app sharing of Live Photos, there is the possibility that the feature will become more than a soon-forgot gimmick.
iOS9
Whether they upgrade their hardware or not, most iPhone users will upgrade the software to get the benefits of iOS9. But it’s still worth noting some key features of the new operating system. The iPhone 6S doesn’t have a bigger battery but it does have better battery management, with a low power mode. Other improvements include a better Notes app, which lets you include images and attachments and syncs across iOS devices, the News app which lets you browse a collection of publications in the style of Flipboard, and a smarter Siri including the ability to predict what apps you want to use based on your history.
Snap view ... with peek and pop, if you click on a link in a message you get a preview view of a web page in Safari.Source:Supplied
Let’s get physical
The iPhone 6S looks identical to the iPhone 6. That’s both true and false. It looks the same but it is a fraction of a millimetre larger, partly because of a new inner structure to strengthen the body and avoid the hassles of Bendgate, in which some people reported bending their iPhone 6 Plus phones mainly by sitting on them.
This is also a slightly bit heaver, and you can blame the stronger 7000 series aluminium body for that. There are reports that the battery is slightly smaller, but tweaks with iOS 9 means it gives the same battery life as the 6S. The glass is slightly thicker, not that you would notice, in part because of the extra layer of sensors and the Taptic Engine needed for 3D touch. You won’t see it but the Touch ID sensor is different and experience suggests the Apple claim that its twice as fast as the old one. And, of course, on the inside it’s been given a revamp, with a 64-bit A9 chip which is 70 per cent faster than the chip in the iPhone 6.
The screen remains at 4.7-inch with a 1334 by 750 pixel resolution of 326 pixels per inch. The phone comes in three sizes, namely 16GB, 64GB and 128GB, with the only real surprise being that Apple is continuing to make a 16GB phone.
Find it in a flash ... with 3D Touch, if you push on an address in a message you open up that location in a preview of Maps.Source:Supplied
Verdict
Following the screen size jump of the last upgrade, this next step was never going to be as significant. Yet the improvements the 6S offers, particularly the much better camera and the new navigation shortcuts through 3D Touch, clearly take a good phone and make it better. What else could Apple have done? A bigger battery at the expense of added weight is a trade off that many people would make. The immediate pain would be notable but switching this generation of iPhone, and the new iPad Pro, to a USB-C port like the MacBook rather than the Lighting port would offer a new level of versatility. While this phone has NFC, Apple continues to lock that down in a way that denies the full benefits. And while Sony and Samsung have stepped back from offering the promise of fully waterproof phones, having a iPhone that could survive a drop in the loo remains a dream. The iPhone 6S may not be the big leap that the introduction of the iPhone phablets was last time, but it does have some key features that will stand out as turning points in the tradition of the S model iPhones that have come before.
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