iPhone 6S Plus

The Apple Event

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By many I am considered a fan of Apple products. I guess I am however that’s only because they make good stuff. When they stop making goods product I’ll stop buying them. That’s an old argument since many don’t realize I’ve owned many an android device so I have my opinion of Apple-based first-hand experience between both platforms.

I have mixed opinions on the product updates that Apple recently announced. For the Apple Watch I am very curious if the series 2 watches are fast enough that there is no lag when I lift the watch to my face to look at the time. That was a huge annoyance for me and one primary reason why I sold my original Apple watch. I will wait until the series 2 watches are available in the store to test it myself. Until then I  am still happy with a nice classic analog watch.

When I first saw the specifications for the iPhone seven I realized there was no compelling reason for me to upgrade. I have a success plus as my personal phone and there was virtually nothing that stood out and said who I need to have that. Last year forced touch was compelling enough for me to try it however afterwards I realized it wasn’t a worthwhile upgrade. I had several conversations with friends about the same topic. Then I spoke to someone I met via the parent meet up groups. I think even admitted wasn’t much of an upgrade however he was upgrading anyway. It got me thinking why he would do that. It turns out you might be right. I buy my phone out right when i get one. I have for doing that because I set aside money every month for my “tech fund”. Why sell something on eBay I put it back into the fund. When I buy a new iPhone I typically sell the old one on eBay and put it that sale amount towards buying the new phone. I usually get about 30 to 50% of my money back depending on the condition of the phone. What this friend said was that you could do the same thing with apples purchasing plan and still get a new phone every 12 months. I did the math last year and for some reason didn’t think it was compelling. Looking back I think it was because I didn’t want to be locked into something and also because apples purchasing plan includes the extra cost of AppleCare. Thinking about it now I want AppleCare anyway and the price of the phone is no different than me buying it unlocked. The fact that it’s still an unlocked phone even though I’m in a purchase agreement doesn’t matter either.

After weighing all the options using apples purchase plan in essence you can’t get a new phone every year. Now if I was a different person  this might not make sense. If you upgrade annually you’re constantly in an agreement to pay for phone. If you want to upgrade every three or four years then upgrading constantly is not for you since you wouldn’t want to be continuing to make payments. For me however buying the phone every year or two anyway. Even if I did an upgrade to the iPhone seven this year I would definitely be upgrading next year. I amortize the price out over two years that means I’m always paying a fee for my phone anyway. By buying into the Apple purchase plan it just makes it easier to get a new phone every year.

The iPhone 6S Plus

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When the iPhone 6+ came out I was intrigued with the bigger size however I opted for the plane old iPhone 6. After about two months I decided to try the 6+ on my work line. I had it for all but a day and returned it. At the time and used to a lot of things one-handed. I tried the galaxy note in the past as well and it was too big. I stuck with my 6. Flash forward to this year and when the 6S came out I opted for it over the plus for the same reasons. I ended up selling my Nexus 6 that I was using for my work line. That was also a big phone but significantly cheaper then the plus. I was using it more as a media device than anything else. As much as I like the device having one device is android among all the others that were iOS didn’t make any sense. For a time I returned to my old iPhone 5 as my work line however the size of that screen was becoming very annoying compared to larger 6. Since I was getting by with the next six as a media device and hearing several people work enjoying the larger phones I decided to take the risk and get another plus for my work line/media device.

After about a day I wanted to give it a try as my main phone. Swapping between phones my Sim card was harder than I thought it would be. It was not as simple as swapping SIM cards. I had to re-associate my iTunes account and phone number to each phone.

Once I started using the plus as my main line I was surprised to find that I liked it. There were still limitations with regards to what I can do one handed. What I realized however was that now that my kids were slightly older I was not as concerned about pushing strollers or carrying a baby in one arm needing to answer the phone. It still uncomfortable to use in some situations because of its size however the advantage of the larger screen in other aspects of day-to-day use have so far been outweighing the downsides. It’s interesting how much a year or two makes your requirements change just enough.

 

My week using the iPhone 6S plus has my main phone is evolved into indefinitely using it as my primary. I’m curious to see how long I keep it up or if I decide to switch back. I’m hoping to like it and I just sell the 6S. Of course I do that I have to figure out what to use for my work line. The challenge I have is the work upgrade options are pretty paltry so I would have to either get something that’s not so great or pay out-of-pocket for something else.