About a year ago I had written quick notes about the iPhone 6s after using it for two weeks. I had a very positive first reaction. So while I await the next iteration - the iPhone 7 - it makes sense to reevaluate my notes on some of those features from a year ago. Generally speaking - I am happy with the hardware, the core iOS and third-party (non-Apple) apps. I am terribly unhappy with the battery life, first-party (Apple) apps and features such as Siri and Spotlight.
Battery Life
Complete bummer. I can barely make it to lunch. I am constantly bothered by it and mostly have to keep it plugged in at almost all times or it dips to 30-40% very easily at which point I panic. I really anticipated "Low Power Mode" to be a savior. It was supposed to give you an extra hour. In my experience it hasn't really helped that much. I actually manually turn on "low power mode" every morning after I take it off the charger. Doesn't do much but I do it anyway. I live every waking hour in the fear of my phone running out of juice. Sad.
Feel
I still like the Silicone case I got for it - even though it is falling apart - which is a shame for a moderately expensive case.
3D-Touch
Meh. I really wanted to like it but was far less useful in practice. I barely even remember to use it. I find it useful in Camera to quickly take a video instead of a still and to switch to "low power mode" from the Battery option on the Settings app.
Live Photos
Meh. I really wanted to like this but sort of turned out to be gimmicky. The other big problem was that it just doesn't fit in my workflow. I sync photos with Lightroom first and Live Photos only make it to your computer if you use the awful iCloud Photos library or sync directly with Photos with a cable. Barbaric.
Camera
Good but very far away from replacing or even really complementing let alone my DSLR but even a smaller camera like the Sony a6300. The problem I have is that the iPhone camera or really all small non-DSLR cameras are least useful in situations when you want them most - like indoors or at a restaurant. Bright sunny day - I am covered, thanks.
Improved Touch ID
It was fine. Didn't really blow me away. I actually have Apple pay pop up randomly even when I am nowhere near a payment terminal.
General Speed
It was fine. Nothing other than having anything to do with Search or Siri seemed slow.
Other Observations
Here some other observations. Mostly are about the software but since it is so integral to the experience of the phone I think they are perhaps equally if not even more important.
- Siri continued to be absolutely useless
- Spotlight search is abysmally slow and bad
- I gave up on the iBooks app app
- I gave up on the default Mail app for lack of features
- Music app continued to be mediocre at best
- I hope to give up on the Photos app this year given various struggles with it
iPhone 7 anticipation
Battery Life. I don't care for anything other than battery life at this point. I refuse to buy a hunchback charger or the Plus. The 7 model claims to have 2 more hours of battery life over 6s. If that works then maybe I can keep the phone charged past lunch? That would be cool!
Headphone Jack (or lack thereof). I know it was going to go away some day but I am going to miss it. Specially because I charge and listen quite a lot and in airplanes on long flight, this is going to be a nightmare. I don't believe Apple provided a compelling alternate solution. I don't think the included adapter cuts it because it eliminates charging while listening. I don't want to do wireless headphone because there isn't enough energy in my life to charge yet another device. The ideal solution would have been wireless headphones that somehow don't need charging or are automatically wirelessly kept charged by the phone or some in some capacitive way. I don't know.
Oh, and the wireless AirPods? They seem the same shape as the wired earbuds from Apple that I have never ever used as they don't stay in my ears at all. And asking your customers to manage two individual small pieces of plastic in today's helter-skelter life seems to be ignorant at best and idiotic at worst. This design seems to have come from the same mental place as the design of the universally maligned Apple TV remote.
I am still looking forward to iPhone 7 though. I just like new toys...desperately hoping that some day they will be more than just toys.
