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iPhone 6 vs. iPhone 6 Pro: What’s The Difference?
Beyond display size, what are the MAJOR differences between Apple’s iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus
There’s a lot of similarities between Apple’s two latest and greatest iPhones: the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus. Both come in silver, gold, and space grey; both feature Touch ID; both have the A8 and M8 processors; both come in 16, 64, or 128 GB sizes; and both come with NFC, which supports Apple’s new Apple Pay mobile payments system. Yet both phones have their differences. We’ve gone through them all to help you decide which model is right for you.
Display and Design
The biggest difference between the two new iPhones are in the display department. The iPhone 6 features a 4.7-inch display with a 1334×750-pixel resolution at 326 ppi and the iPhone 6 Plus features a 5.5-inch display with a 1920×1080-pixel resolution at 401 ppi.
The iPhone 6 Plus has a much higher resolution screen with more pixels crammed into each square inch. But interestingly, the smaller iPhone 6 has a slightly better contrast ratio of 1400:1 compared to the iPhone 6 Plus’ 1300:1.
As for the design, both feature aluminum bodies with rounded corners and while their physical length and height dimensions are of course different (due to screen size) the smaller iPhone 6 wins on thinness, being just 6.9mm thick versus the iPhone 6 Plus’s 7.1mm thickness.
The iPhone 6 is also noticeably lighter than the iPhone 6 Plus. The iPhone 6 weighs just 129 grams versus the iPhone 6 Plus’ 172 grams.
Battery
The other major difference between the two new iPhones is in battery life. As can be expected, the iPhone 6 Plus packs a much larger battery because it needs it to power its larger screen. Yet Apple has also managed to eek out some of that bigger battery’s power to give the iPhone 6 Plus slightly longer battery life in some tasks. Here’s their metrics in specific areas:
- Talk time: iPhone 6; 14 hours on 3G. iPhone 6 Plus; 24 hours on 3G.
- Standby time: iPhone 6; Up to 10 days (250 hours). iPhone 6 Plus; Up to 16 days (384 hours).
- Internet use: iPhone 6; Up to 10 hours on 3G, up to 10 hours on 4G LTE, and up to 11 hours on Wi‑Fi. iPhone 6 Plus; Up to 12 hours on 3G, up to 12 hours on 4G LTE, and up to 12 hours on Wi‑Fi.
- Video playback: iPhone 6; Up to 11 hours. iPhone 6 Plus; Up to 14 hours.
- Audio playback: iPhone 6; Up to 50 hours. iPhone 6 Plus; Up to 80 hours.
Camera
The new iPhones both have the exact same cameras (a disappointing 8MP sensor is still the camera of choice for some reason). But the iPhone 6 Plus wins in the camera department because it also has optical image stabilisation, which the iPhone 6 does not.
Cost
And then there is the cost. As I mentioned earlier, both the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus come in silver, gold, and space grey and in 16 GB, 64 GB, and 128 GB storage capacities. Unlocked the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 will cost £539 (16GB), £619 (64GB) and £699 (128GB). The iPhone 6 Plus will cost £619 (16GB), £699 (64GB) and £789 (128GB).
But the thing about it is you can’t base your purchase decision on cost–or the optical image stabilization in the iPhone 6 Plus’ camera, or even the battery life differences. Your choice will have entirely to do with the screen. In that case, the only question is: how big do you want to go?
Michael Grothaus
22:00, 9 Sep 2014