What I would like to see in the iPhone 6S Plus

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p data-preserve-html-node=”true”>After purchasing an iPhone 6 last year, I settled into owning a 4.7-inch phone. There were things I didn’t like, but overall, I was pretty happy with the device.

Then everything was ruined when I switched to a loaner iPhone 6 Plus for a couple of weeks. I ended up buying one, and I haven’t looked back.

There are compromises when it comes to having such a large phone. It’s bulky in some pockets, and I look like I’m holding a piece of pizza next to my face when I’m talking on it, but the improved screen, battery life and camera make it worth it for me.

If I upgrade phones this fall,[1] I will stick to the 5.5-inch form factor, assuming there’s an iPhone 6S Plus offered.

Usually when it comes to thinking about what upcoming iPhone hardware should have, I come up empty-handed, but as the 6 Plus is such a unique device, I have a pretty concrete list of things I want to see in the next revision.

More RAM

Despite its increased screen resolution over the iPhone 6, the 6 Plus ships with the same 1 GB of RAM as its little brother. Any 6 Plus owner will attest that this leads to some stuttering and sluggishness at times. I’ve experienced audio tearing and apps crashing under load. It’s not awesome. It makes the 6 Plus look half-assed, and it makes me sad.

As someone who also owns an iPad Air 2, I’ve seen what iOS can do with more breathing room. If all the iPhone 6S Plus brings is more RAM, it’d be an improvement to 2014’s model.

Flush Camera Lens

While there was a lot of eye-rolling when Apple first showed the camera lens poking out of the back of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, I think most users have gotten used to it by now. If in a case, the bump basically goes away, meaning many users won’t ever have noticed, more than likely.

However, most of the time, my iPhone is naked. I find it annoying that my iPhone can’t lay flat on its back, as it makes the vibrate motor seem way louder than it actually is.

While the vibrate motor in this phone seems harsher than past generations, the fact that phone is propped up in one corner makes the whole thing move when it goes off. When on a nightstand or table, a text message or email notification makes such a loud noise it’s annoying. The point of an iPhone in silent mode is to be discrete, and a giant BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ is anything but. I’ve gotten in the habit of sitting my iPhone glass down, especially if there’s someone sleeping in the room. I’d love to be able to leave it screen-up, but unless the back is flat again in the future, I don’t see it happening.

Louder Speaker

While the vibrate motor is too loud, the speaker in the iPhone 6 Plus is too quiet. I often listen to podcast as I work around the house or in my workshop, with my phone jammed in my pocket. I bet I’m not alone in that use case.

While I know I can’t expect MacBook Pro-levels of sound out of this thing, the iPad Air 2 and the 12-inch MacBook both ship with impressive speakers. I’d love to see some of that get miniaturized and put in future iPhones.


  1. Haha, who am I kidding?  ↩