iPhone 6S or Not

Ah September.  Fall is almost upon us.  That means iPhone upgrade season.  I admit that typically I have upgraded phones annually.  That ended when when the iPhone 5S came out.  There was just not enough compelling reasons for me to upgrade so I skipped it.  Last year the 6 was significant enough of an upgrade and I needed  new phone so the decision to upgrade was simple.  The harder part was deciding between the 6 or 6 Plus.  The 6 won out.  This year I have to ponder the same issue.

The 6S may not be enough of an upgrade however the force touch does seem nice.  It boils down to I likely do not need to upgrade however I am going to anyway.  I save away money every month with the assumption that I am going to upgrade and I can sell the 6 with enough resale value that I am don’t get sticker shock from the upgrade.

My Choice of an iPhone 6

When the iPhone 6 & 6 Plus came out I originally wanted the Plus.  With my eyes I wanted as big of a screen as I could get.  However I did have a Galaxy Note whoever version was out right after Teagan was born.  I tried it for a few days and quickly returned it because it was unusable with one hand.  Someone needing to hold a baby a lot having two hands free isn’t always possible.  Those thoughts in my head and the fact that the Plus wasn’t really available right away led me to the 6.  Even with the 6 i was concerned about its size.  I need that one handed use.  I was pleasantly surprised when I got the 6 that it is generally usable with one hand.  The screen size was much better than my old 5.

This upgrade cycle I opted for the 128gig version.  I had the 64gig for the 5 and the 4S before that.  I may have had a 64 4 if they made them but I can’t remember.  When I got the 5 I really needed the space.  As I used it and day to day used my iPad more I found the storage not to be as limiting as it used to be.  That being said I did come close enough to filling up all 64gig’s that I didn’t want to chance another year or more with that much space. I spend the extra money on the larger storage.  I also opted for the white version this year.  For a few years I kept wanting white but either canceled the order and changed to black or couldn’t get the white.  This go round I didn’t want to make any excuses and I got the white.

So far I have been very happy with my choice.  I even toyed with a 6 Plus for a few days last month.  I confirmed my original thoughts that it was too big and I returned the phone.  I made the right choice for me until next September.  Then we shall see what else comes out.

The Time I Smashed My iPhone 6

By the time I sat down to write this post a year and 1/2 or so likely has gone by. This is one of those situations where I wasn’t blogging enough yet I wanted to capture this story. I recall enough of the details to get some basic story written down. It stands out in my mind because it’s the only time to date or I’ve destroyed a phone. It’s one in a rare few times I’ve dropped a phone.
It was a cold wet day and I was coming home from work like I always did. I’m not sure if I was pulling my gloves off or just fumbling for my keys and I went to swap my phone from my right hand to my left hand. I don’t know what happened however it just slipped away from me. I tried to grab it however I was unable to.  When I picked up the phone the front screen was smashed. There is not much I can do at the time since I needed to get home and relieve the babysitter so she can leave for the day.
Once the kids were in bed I went online to see when I could schedule an appointment at the Apple Store to try to get it fixed. I was lucky to be able to get an early morning appointment the next day.
I brought the phone in and let the techs do their thing. I was concerned that my worst-case scenario would be I’d have to buy a completely new iPhone. I did not get the insurance initially now I was regretting that decision. As I spoke to the Genius Bar tech they said that the initial amount of money would be no less than around $100 plus tax. The exact price is fuzzy in my memory but it was not much more than that. They asked me if I was okay with that and I was like absolutely since it was a lot cheaper than I thought it was going to be. Then the tech cautioned me that if it was more than the screen that was damaged they would need to replace the entire iPhone. The refurbished replacement would cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $350. Again he asked me if I was okay with that. Even then my response was yes yes yes since a full replacement would still be 1/3 of the price I thought I was going to have to pay. The tech then said it was okay that the work would be done by lunchtime. It was around 8 AM and I was perfectly fine with that too. It felt like this tech dealt with a lot of angry or argumentative people since every time he asked me a question he seemed to brace or assume that I was having a negative response. The funny thing was it was expensive I wasn’t pleased to have to spend money however it was far better possible outcome than I anticipated. I signed all the paperwork left to go to work.
I was smart in making my appointment at the Fifth Avenue Apple Store that was open 24/7. It’s also on my way to work. And a short walk from the subway. That made it easy for me to hop on the subway and go back at lunchtime. When I got back I was happy to find out that the only thing wrong was the screen. That meant the repair was only around hundred dollars and change. I was extremely pleased and paid the fee and had my phone good as new. I did ask if I could purchase insurance on the phone now since I thought it was within the 30 days of when I bought it. Sadly since there was already damage to it I was ineligible for AppleCare. I plan on getting a case to try to prevent the problem from happening again.
I was in and out quick enough that I was able to get lunch and returned to work in under an hour. All in all  the situation could’ve been a lot worse I was pleased enough with the outcome.