The Scoop November 2015 | Page 11

Team iphone

reviews

11

PRICING

Apple has changed the pricing on its iPhone 6 line of phones with the introduction of the iPhone 6s family of phones. Pricing for the iPhone 6s Plus models based on two-year contracts starts at $300 (16 GB), $400 (64 GB) and $500 (128 GB). That pricing is identical to the iPhone 6 Plus model. Apple has also matched the price of the iPhone 6s with iPhone 6 with pricing at $200 (16 GB), $300 (64 GB) and $400 (128 GB). Penny pinchers can now pick up an iPhone 5s for free (with a two-year contract). Previously, the iPhone 5s models were $100 for the 16-GB model and $150 for iPhone 5s.

UPGRADE PROGRAM

If all the upgrades really call to you, but the price tag is making it pretty difficult to commit into making the move, fear not. Apple came up with a pretty nifty leasing option for iPhones via their retail stores. You pay Apple $35/month, and every year on your anniversary date, you’re eligible to trade your old phone and upgrade to the latest. But, if you do the math, that’s $420/ year. Not worth it in my book, but might be a sweet deal in yours.

3D TOUCH

The most talked about new feature of the iPhone has been the 3D touch. This new feature utilizes the amount of pressure that you apply to the screen when taping or swiping. Depending on the amount of pressure applied, you can peek into email messages without actually opening them. If you press a tad bit harder, the email message will launch. Many game developers are currently using the new technology of “peeking” to enhance user experiences. The 3D technology is called “Taptic Engine” and built into the display. Thus, if you’ve got the 6Plus, there will be no OS update to bring this feature to your phone.

LIVE PHOTOS

Both the 6 & 6s have a ton of ways to manipulate and edit images after the fact. The iPhone 6s Plus has turned photo fun up a couple of notches with “Live Photos”. This feature records multiple stills when taking a picture. This allows you to view images as tiny three-second videos if you want. After thinking about this for a few moments, Lily and I realized it was kind of like limiting a burst to 3 seconds and then sending it off. For the same effect, if not cooler, you might be better off downloading a GIF application.

WHAT'S NEW

COMPARING CAMERAS

Apple has added a 12-megapixel camera to the rear of both 6s models. This is a huge upgrade from the 8-megapixels on its predecessor. Another upgrade is that the 6s models support panorama images of up to 63 megapixels vs the 43 megapixels on the iPhone6. The new camera also shoots 4K video, something its predecessor couldn’t. With regards to the face-time camera, the iPhone 6s models get a 5-megapixel jumps from the iPhone 6 which had a slim 1.2 megapixel camera. Another sweet upgrade uses the screen to double as a True Tone Flash for selfies.