The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are
smartphone
A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...
s that were designed and marketed by
Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...
They are the
eighth generation of the
iPhone, succeeding the
iPhone 5
The iPhone 5 is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the 6th generation iPhone, succeeding both the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, and preceding both the iPhone 5S and 5C. It was formally unveiled as part of a press e ...
,
iPhone 5C
The iPhone 5C (marketed as iPhone 5c) is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is part of the sixth generation of the iPhone. The device was unveiled on September 10, 2013, and released on September 20, 2013, alon ...
and
iPhone 5S
The iPhone 5S (stylized and marketed as iPhone 5s) is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the seventh generation of the iPhone, succeeding the iPhone 5, and unveiled in September 2013, alongside the iPhone 5C.
Th ...
, and were announced on September 9, 2014, and released on September 19, 2014.
The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus jointly were themselves replaced as the flagship devices of the iPhone series by the
iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus on September 9, 2015. The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus include larger displays, a faster processor, upgraded cameras, improved
LTE and
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...
connectivity and support for a
near field communication
Near-field communication (NFC) is a set of communication protocols that enables communication between two electronic devices over a distance of 4 cm (1 in) or less. NFC offers a low-speed connection through a simple setup that can be u ...
s-based
mobile payments
A mobile payment, also referred to as mobile money, mobile money transfer and mobile wallet, is any of various payment processing services operated under financial regulations and performed from or via a mobile device, as the cardinal class of d ...
offering.
The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus received positive reviews, with critics regarding their redesign, specifications, camera, and battery life as being improvements over previous iPhone models. However, aspects of the design of iPhone 6 were also criticized, including plastic strips on the rear of the device for its antenna that disrupted the otherwise metal exterior, and the screen resolution of the standard-sized iPhone 6 being lower than other devices in its class. The iPhone 6
sold extremely well, making it the best-selling
iPhone model and the
most successful smartphone to date.
The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have been the subject of several hardware issues, including most prominently, being susceptible to bending under hard pressure (dubbed "Bendgate"), and as a byproduct of this lack of rigidity, the touchscreen's internal hardware being susceptible to losing its connection to the phone's
logic board
A motherboard (also called mainboard, main circuit board, mb, mboard, backplane board, base board, system board, logic board (only in Apple computers) or mobo) is the main printed circuit board (PCB) in general-purpose computers and other expan ...
(nicknamed "Touch Disease"). Additionally, some iPhone 6 Plus models were the subject of camera issues, including some with malfunctioning
optical image stabilization
Image stabilization (IS) is a family of techniques that reduce blurring associated with the motion of a camera or other imaging device during exposure.
Generally, it compensates for pan and tilt (angular movement, equivalent to yaw and pit ...
or otherwise defects on rear cameras.
The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus were moved to the midrange spot in Apple's iPhone lineup when the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus were released in September 2015. The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus were discontinued in most markets on September 7, 2016, when Apple announced the
iPhone 7
The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are smartphones that were designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. They are the tenth generation of the iPhone. They were announced on September 7, 2016, at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Fran ...
and iPhone 7 Plus. Their spot as the entry-level iPhone was replaced by the
first-generation iPhone SE, which was released earlier on March 31, 2016. The iPhone 6 was relaunched with 32 GB of storage in Asian markets in February 2017 as a midrange/budget iPhone. It was later expanded to Europe,
before hitting the US markets in May 2017,
and Canada in July 2017.
The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus supported
iOS 8
iOS 8 is the eighth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 7. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 2, 2014, and was released on September 17, ...
,
9,
10,
11 and
12 before being dropped by
iOS 13
iOS 13 is the thirteenth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. for their iPhone, iPod Touch, and HomePod lines. The successor to iOS 12 on those devices, it was announced at the company's Worldwide Developer ...
, and they are the third to support five versions of iOS after the
iPhone 4S
The iPhone 4S (originally styled as iPhone 4 S, retroactively stylized with a lowercase 's' as iPhone 4s as of September 2013) is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the List of iOS devices, fifth generation o ...
and the
iPhone 5
The iPhone 5 is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the 6th generation iPhone, succeeding both the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, and preceding both the iPhone 5S and 5C. It was formally unveiled as part of a press e ...
.
History
From the launch of the
original iPhone to the
iPhone 4S
The iPhone 4S (originally styled as iPhone 4 S, retroactively stylized with a lowercase 's' as iPhone 4s as of September 2013) is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the List of iOS devices, fifth generation o ...
, iPhones used 3.5-inch displays—which are smaller than screens used by flagship phones from competitors. The
iPhone 5
The iPhone 5 is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the 6th generation iPhone, succeeding both the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, and preceding both the iPhone 5S and 5C. It was formally unveiled as part of a press e ...
and its immediate successors featured a display that was taller, but the same width as prior models, measuring at 4 inches diagonally. Following Apple's loss in smartphone market share to companies producing phones with larger displays, reports as early as January 2014 suggested Apple was preparing to launch new iPhone models with larger, 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch displays.
Reports prior to its unveiling also speculated Apple might use a new iPhone model to introduce a
mobile payments
A mobile payment, also referred to as mobile money, mobile money transfer and mobile wallet, is any of various payment processing services operated under financial regulations and performed from or via a mobile device, as the cardinal class of d ...
platform using
near-field communication
Near-field communication (NFC) is a set of communication protocols that enables communication between two electronic devices over a distance of 4 cm (1 in) or less. NFC offers a low-speed connection through a simple setup that can be u ...
s—a technology that has been incorporated into many
Android phones, but has experienced a low adoption rate among users.
The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus were officially unveiled during a press event at the Flint Center for Performing Arts in
Cupertino, California
Cupertino ( ) is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, directly west of San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The population was 57,8 ...
on September 9, 2014, and released on September 19, 2014; pre-orders began on September 12, 2014, with the iPhone 6 starting at US$649 and the iPhone 6 Plus starting at US$749.
In China, where the iPhone 5C and 5S were the first models in the iPhone series to be released in the country on the same day as their international launch, Apple notified local wireless carriers it would be unable to release the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus on the 19th there were "details which are not ready"; local media reported the devices had not yet been approved by the
Ministry of Industry and Information Technology
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of the Chinese government, established in March 2008, is the state agency of the People's Republic of China responsible for regulation and development of the postal service, Internet, wireless ...
, and earlier in the year, a news report by state broadcaster
China Central Television
China Central Television (CCTV) is a Chinese state- and political party-owned broadcaster controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Its 50 different channels broadcast a variety of programing to more than one billion viewers in six lan ...
alleged iPhone devices were a threat to national security because iOS 7's "frequent locations" function could expose "state secrets."
In August 2015, Apple initiated a replacement program for some early iPhone 6 Plus models that were found to have potentially faulty cameras that could be causing photos to appear blurry.
On September 9, 2015, with the release of the
iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus were moved to the mid-range of the iPhone lineup. The 128 GB versions of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus was discontinued along with the gold version of both phones, but the 16 GB and 64 GB versions of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in silver and space gray remained available for sale at a reduced price.
In June 2016, Apple faced a potential sales ban in China, as Shenzhen Baili, a Chinese device maker, alleged the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus infringed on its design patent.
The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus were discontinued on September 7, 2016, when Apple announced the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, and the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus' spot as the entry-level iPhone was taken by the
first-generation iPhone SE. As the iPhone SE has more powerful internal hardware than the midrange iPhone 6 (largely the same as the 6S) and had been released earlier on March 31, 2016, this created an unusual situation when it was sold alongside the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus until September 7 despite being marketed as a lower-tier iPhone.
In February 2017, the iPhone 6 was quietly relaunched in carrier stores and online, this time the storage has been changed to 32 GB. In India, it was sold on
Amazon's website in Space Grey. In Taiwan, it was sold through
Taiwan Mobile
Taiwan Mobile () is a mobile phone operator based in Taiwan. It is the second largest telecom company behind Chunghwa Telecom.
History
Taiwan Mobile started as part of a strategic divestment from the now defunct Pacific Electric Wire & Cable Co ...
on March 10 in gold color. In mid-March, it was released in the
EU to Belarus via the i-Store webshop. It also makes an appearance in
North America
North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...
with
Sprint based US prepaid carriers
Boost Mobile and
Virgin Mobile
Virgin Mobile is a wireless communications brand used by seven independent brand-licensees worldwide. Virgin Mobile branded wireless communications services are available in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Colombia, Chile, Kuwait, Saudi Ara ...
, along with
AT&T GoPhone. These are not being distributed by Apple on their website or their retail stores.
Specifications
Hardware
Design
The design of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus is influenced by that of the
iPad Air
The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating s ...
with a glass front that is curved around the edges of the display, and an aluminum rear that contains two plastic strips for the antenna.
The back is built of 6000-series aluminum. Both models come in gold, silver, and "space gray" finishes. The iPhone 6 has a thickness of , while the iPhone 6 Plus is in thickness; both are thinner than the iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s, with the iPhone 6 being Apple's thinnest phone to date.
Displays
The most significant changes to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are its displays; both branded as "
Retina HD Display" and "ion-strengthened", the iPhone 6 display is 4.7 inches in size with a
16:9 resolution of 1334x750 (326
ppi, minus one row of pixels), while the iPhone 6 Plus includes a 5.5-inch 1920x1080 (
1080p
1080p (1920×1080 progressively displayed pixels; also known as Full HD or FHD, and BT.709) is a set of HDTV high-definition video modes characterized by 1,920 pixels displayed across the screen horizontally and 1,080 pixels down the screen vert ...
) display (401 PPI). The displays use a multiple-domain LCD panel, dubbed "dual-domain pixels"; the RGB pixels themselves are skewed in a pattern so every pixel is seen from a different angle. This technique helps improve the viewing angles of the display.
To accommodate the larger physical size of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, the top button was renamed to "side button" and moved to the side of the phone instead of the top to improve its accessibility.
Batteries
The iPhone 6 features a 6.91 Wh (1,810 mAh) battery, while the iPhone 6 Plus features an 11.1 Wh (2,915 mAh) battery, neither of which are user-replaceable.
Chipsets
Both models include an
Apple A8
The Apple A8 is a 64-bit ARM-based system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc. It first appeared in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, which were introduced on September 9, 2014. Apple states that it has 25% more CPU performance and 50% more gr ...
system-on-chip
A system on a chip or system-on-chip (SoC ; pl. ''SoCs'' ) is an integrated circuit that integrates most or all components of a computer or other electronic system. These components almost always include a central processing unit (CPU), memory ...
, and an
M8 motion co-processor—an update of the
M7 chip from the
iPhone 5s
The iPhone 5S (stylized and marketed as iPhone 5s) is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the seventh generation of the iPhone, succeeding the iPhone 5, and unveiled in September 2013, alongside the iPhone 5C.
Th ...
. The primary difference between the M8 and the original M7 coprocessor is the M8 also includes a barometer to measure altitude changes.
Phil Schiller
Philip W. Schiller (born June 8, 1960) is an Apple Fellow at Apple Inc. He is a prominent figure in Apple's keynotes and has been a member of the company's executive team since Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997. In 2020 he became the first ...
said the A8 chip would provide, in comparison to the 5s, a 25% increase in CPU performance, a 50% increase in graphics performance, and less heat output. Early hands-on reports said the A8's GPU performance might indeed break away from previous generations doubling of performance at each yearly release, scoring 21204.26 in Base mark X compared to 20253.80, 10973.36 and 5034.75 on respectively the 5s, 5 and 4s.
Connectivity
The expanded
LTE connectivity on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus is improved to
LTE Advanced
LTE Advanced (LTE+) is a mobile communication standard and a major enhancement of the LTE (telecommunication), Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard. It was formally submitted as a candidate 4G to ITU-T in late 2009 as meeting the requirements of t ...
, with support for over 20 LTE bands (seven more than the
iPhone 5s
The iPhone 5S (stylized and marketed as iPhone 5s) is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the seventh generation of the iPhone, succeeding the iPhone 5, and unveiled in September 2013, alongside the iPhone 5C.
Th ...
),
for up to 150 Mbit/s download speed, and
VoLTE
Voice over LTE (VoLTE) is an LTE high-speed wireless communication standard for mobile phones and data terminals, including Internet of things (IoT) devices and wearables. VoLTE has up to three times more voice and data capacity than older 3G U ...
support.
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols, based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by radio wave ...
performance has been improved with support for
802.11ac specifications, providing speeds up to 433.0581 Mbit/s—which is up to three times faster than
802.11n
IEEE 802.11n-2009 or 802.11n is a wireless-networking standard that uses multiple antennas to increase data rates. The Wi-Fi Alliance has also retroactively labelled the technology for the standard as Wi-Fi 4. It standardized support for multipl ...
,
along with
Wi-Fi Calling
Voice over Wireless LAN (VoWLAN), also Voice over WiFi (VoWiFi), is the use of a wireless broadband network according to the IEEE 802.11 standards for the purpose of vocal conversation. In essence, it is Voice over IP (VoIP) over a Wi-Fi networ ...
support where available. The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus adds support for
near-field communications (NFC). It is initially used exclusively for
Apple Pay
Apple Pay is a mobile payment service by Apple Inc. that allows users to make payments in person, in iOS apps, and on the web. It is supported on these Apple devices: iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac. It digitizes and can replace a credit ...
—a new
mobile payment
A mobile payment, also referred to as mobile money, mobile money transfer and mobile wallet, is any of various payment processing services operated under financial regulations and performed from or via a mobile device, as the cardinal class of d ...
s system which allows users to store their credit cards in
Passbook
A passbook or bankbook is a paper book used to record bank or building society transactions on a deposit account.
Traditionally, a passbook was used for accounts with a low transaction volume, such as savings accounts. A bank teller or postma ...
for use with online payments and retail purchases over NFC.
iOS 11
iOS 11 is the iOS version history, eleventh major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 10. It was announced at the company's Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, Worldwide Developers C ...
added limited use of near-field communications besides Apple Pay for 3rd party apps.
Camera
![88 105 Iphone 6 (154330417)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/88_105_Iphone_6_%28154330417%29.jpeg/1200px-88_105_Iphone_6_%28154330417%29.jpeg)
The iPhone 6's rear-facing camera now has the ability to shoot 1080p Full HD video at either 30 or 60 frames per second and
720p
720p (1280×720 px; also called HD ready, standard HD or just HD) is a progressive HDTV signal format with 720 horizontal lines/1280 columns and an aspect ratio (AR) of 16:9, normally known as widescreen HDTV (1.78:1). All major HDTV broadcast ...
HD slow-motion video at either 120 or 240 frames per second, while the iPhone 5s could only record at 30 and 120 frames per second respectively. Unlike the previous models, the rear-facing camera is not flush with the rear of the device, but instead protrudes slightly.
Still photos can be captured during video recording. Those have a resolution of four megapixels (2720×1532).
The camera also includes
phase detection autofocus
An autofocus (or AF) optical system uses a sensor, a control system and a motor to focus on an automatically or manually selected point or area. An electronic rangefinder has a display instead of the motor; the adjustment of the optical system ...
.
The iPhone 6 Plus camera is nearly identical, but also includes
optical image stabilization
Image stabilization (IS) is a family of techniques that reduce blurring associated with the motion of a camera or other imaging device during exposure.
Generally, it compensates for pan and tilt (angular movement, equivalent to yaw and pit ...
.
The front-facing camera was also updated with a new sensor and f/2.2 aperture, along with support for burst and HDR modes.
However, the optical image stabilization of the iPhone 6 Plus is only available for photography and deactivated during video recording.
The front camera has 1.3 Megapixels and records video up to
720p
720p (1280×720 px; also called HD ready, standard HD or just HD) is a progressive HDTV signal format with 720 horizontal lines/1280 columns and an aspect ratio (AR) of 16:9, normally known as widescreen HDTV (1.78:1). All major HDTV broadcast ...
at 30 frames per second.
Sensors
The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are the first iPhones to be equipped with a
barometer
A barometer is a scientific instrument that is used to measure air pressure in a certain environment. Pressure tendency can forecast short term changes in the weather. Many measurements of air pressure are used within surface weather analysis ...
sensor.
Like the predecessor, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are equipped with an
accelerometer
An accelerometer is a tool that measures proper acceleration. Proper acceleration is the acceleration (the rate of change of velocity) of a body in its own instantaneous rest frame; this is different from coordinate acceleration, which is accele ...
,
gyroscope
A gyroscope (from Ancient Greek γῦρος ''gŷros'', "round" and σκοπέω ''skopéō'', "to look") is a device used for measuring or maintaining orientation and angular velocity. It is a spinning wheel or disc in which the axis of rota ...
, front-facing proximity sensor and a digital compass.
Software
When first released, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus were supplied pre-loaded with
iOS 8
iOS 8 is the eighth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc., being the successor to iOS 7. It was announced at the company's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 2, 2014, and was released on September 17, ...
. Apps are able to take advantage of the increased screen size in the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus to display more information on-screen; for example, the Mail app uses a dual-pane layout similar to its
iPad
The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating s ...
version when the device is in
landscape mode
Page orientation is the way in which a rectangular page is oriented for normal viewing. The two most common types of orientation are ''portrait'' and ''landscape''. The term "portrait orientation" comes from visual art terminology and describes ...
on the iPhone 6 Plus. As it uses an identical aspect ratio, apps designed for the
iPhone 5
The iPhone 5 is a smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the 6th generation iPhone, succeeding both the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S, and preceding both the iPhone 5S and 5C. It was formally unveiled as part of a press e ...
, iPhone 5C, and 5S can be upscaled for use on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. To improve the usability of the devices' larger screens, an additional "Reachability" gesture was added; double-tapping the Home button will slide the top half of the screen's contents down to the bottom half of the screen. This function allows users to reach buttons located near the top of the screen, such as a "Back" button in the top-left corner.
In June 2019, Apple announced that it will drop support for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus with the release of
iOS 13
iOS 13 is the thirteenth major release of the iOS mobile operating system developed by Apple Inc. for their iPhone, iPod Touch, and HomePod lines. The successor to iOS 12 on those devices, it was announced at the company's Worldwide Developer ...
.
Reception
Both iPhone 6 models received positive reviews. ''
Re/code
''Recode'' (formerly ''Re/code'') is a technology news website that focused on the business of Silicon Valley. Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher founded it in January 2014, after they left Dow Jones and the similar website they had previously c ...
'' called it "the best smartphone you can buy".
''
TechRadar
''TechRadar'' is an online publication owned by Future and focused on technology. It has editorial teams in the US, UK and Australia and provides news and reviews of tech products and gadgets. It was launched in 2007 and expanded to the US in ...
'' praised the iPhone 6's "brilliant" design, improved battery life over the 5s, iOS 8 for being "smarter and more intuitive than ever", along with the quality of its camera. However, the plastic antenna strips on the rear of the phone were criticized for resulting in poor aesthetics, the display for having lower resolution and pixel density in comparison to other recent smartphones – including those with the same physical screen size as the iPhone 6, such as the
HTC One, and for not having a sufficient justification for its significantly higher price in comparison to similar devices running
Android or
Windows Phone
Windows Phone (WP) is a discontinued family of mobile operating systems developed by Microsoft for smartphones as the replacement successor to Windows Mobile and Zune. Windows Phone featured a new user interface derived from the Metro design la ...
.
''
The Verge
''The Verge'' is an American technology news website operated by Vox Media, publishing news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, consumer electronics news, and podcasts.
The website launched on November 1, 2011, and uses Vox Media' ...
'' considered the iPhone 6 to be "simply and cleanly designed" in comparison to the 5s, noting the phone still felt usable despite its larger size, but criticized the antenna plastic, the protruding camera lens (which prevents the device from sitting flat without a case), and the lack of additional optimization in the operating system for the bigger screen. Improvements such as performance, battery life,
VoLTE
Voice over LTE (VoLTE) is an LTE high-speed wireless communication standard for mobile phones and data terminals, including Internet of things (IoT) devices and wearables. VoLTE has up to three times more voice and data capacity than older 3G U ...
support, and other tweaks were also noted. In conclusion, the iPhone 6 was considered "good, even great, but there’s little about it that’s truly ambitious or truly moving the needle. It’s just a refinement of a lot of existing ideas into a much more pleasant package".
In regards to the 6 Plus, ''
Engadget
''Engadget'' ( ) is a multilingual technology blog network with daily coverage of gadgets and consumer electronics. ''Engadget'' manages ten blogs four of which are written in English and six have international versions with independent editori ...
'' panned its design for being uncomfortable to hold and harder to grip in comparison to other devices such as the
Galaxy Note 3
The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is an Android phablet smartphone produced by Samsung Electronics as part of the Samsung Galaxy Note series. The Galaxy Note 3 was unveiled on September 4, 2013, with its worldwide release beginning later in the month. S ...
and
LG G3
The LG G3 is an Android smartphone developed by LG Electronics as part of the LG G series. First released in South Korea on May 28, 2014, it is a successor to 2013's LG G2. Inheriting design elements from the G2, such as its thin screen bezels an ...
, but praised its inclusion of optical image stabilization and slightly better battery life than the 6.
The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have been criticized by
Forbes Magazine
''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also repo ...
for the lack of
2160p
4K resolution refers to a horizontal display resolution of approximately 4,000 pixels. Digital television and digital cinematography commonly use several different 4K resolutions. In television and consumer media, 38402160 (4K UHD) is the dominan ...
(3840×2160 pixels) video recording due to the insufficient image sensor resolution of 3264×2448 pixels. However, third-party software is able to record footage at 3264×1836 pixels
upscaled to 3840×2160p.
Issues
The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus were affected by a number of notable hardware-related issues, including but not limited to concerns surrounding their rigidity (which led to incidents surrounding chassis bending, as well as degradation or outright loss of touchscreen functionality), performance issues on models with larger storage capacity, camera problems on the 6 Plus model, as well as an initially undocumented "error 53" that appeared under certain circumstances.
Bendgate (chassis bending)
Shortly after its public release, it was reported the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus chassis was susceptible to bending under pressure, such as when carried tightly in a user's pocket. While such issues are not exclusive to the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, the design flaw came to be known among users and the media as "Bendgate".
Apple responded to the bending allegations, stating they had only received nine complaints of bent devices and that the damage occurring due to regular use is "extremely rare." The company maintained the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus went through durability testing to ensure they would stand up to daily use.
The company offered to replace phones that were bent if it is determined the bending was unintentional.
In May 2018, as part of a lawsuit against Apple regarding touchscreen failure, it was revealed via internal documents that Apple knew the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus phones were more likely to bend than previous models. According to the court documents, Apple's internal tests found the iPhone 6 was 3.3 times more likely to bend than the iPhone 5s, while the larger iPhone 6 Plus was 7.2 times more likely to bend.
Hair ripping
On October 3, 2014
9to5Mac
The Apple community is a group of people interested in Apple Inc. and its products, who report information in various media. Generally this has evolved into a proliferation of websites, but latterly has also expanded into podcasts (both audio and ...
released a post claiming certain iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus users complained on social networking sites the phone ripped off their hair when they held the phone close to their ears when making phone calls.
Twitter
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
users claimed the seam between the glass screen and aluminum back of the iPhone 6 was to blame, with hair becoming caught within it.
Flash storage performance
Some users reported the 64 and 128 GB iPhone 6 models had experienced performance issues, and that some 128 GB iPhone 6 Plus models would, in rare cases, randomly crash and reboot. ''Business Korea'' reported the issues were connected to the
triple-level cell
In electronics, a multi-level cell (MLC) is a memory cell capable of storing more than a single bit of information, compared to a single-level cell (SLC), which can store only one bit per memory cell. A memory cell typically consists of a single ...
NAND storage of the affected models. Triple-level NAND flash can store three bits of data per cell of flash, and are cheaper than dual-level cell solutions, but at the cost of performance. It was reported Apple had planned to switch the affected model lines back to multi-level cell flash, and address the performance issues on existing devices in a future iOS update.
iPhone 6/6 Plus camera issues
It was reported the optical image stabilization systems on some iPhone 6 Plus models were faulty, failing to properly stabilize when the phone is being held perfectly still, leading to blurry photos and "wavy"-looking videos.
The optical image stabilization system was also found to have been affected by accessories that use magnets, such as third-party lens attachments; Apple issued advisories to users and its licensed accessory makers, warning magnetic or metallic accessories can cause the OIS to malfunction.
On August 21, 2015, Apple instituted a repair program for iPhone 6 Plus models released between September 2014 and January 2015, citing faulty rear cameras on affected models may produce blurry pictures.
Some iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus models have an issue in which the front-facing camera is somehow "shifted", or out of place. Apple stated they would replace most affected iPhone 6 models with this issue, free of charge. Despite numerous complaints regarding this issue, it does not seem to affect the camera itself. It is said the camera is not what has shifted, but a piece of protective foam around the camera module itself that has gone out of place.
"Error 53"
If the iPhone 6 home button is repaired or modified by a third party, the device will fail security checks related to Touch ID as the components have not been "re-validated" for security reasons—a process that can only be performed by an authorized Apple outlet. Failing these checks disables all features related to Touch ID. Such effects have sometimes happened as a result of damage as well.
It was reported these same hardware integrity checks would trigger an
unrecoverable loop into "Recovery Mode" if iOS is updated or restored, with attempts to restore the device via
iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
software resulting in an "error 53" message. Beyond the explanation this is related to hardware integrity errors regarding Touch ID components, Apple provided no official explanation of what specifically triggers error 53 or how it can be fixed without replacing the entire device.
On February 18, 2016, Apple released an iOS 9.2.1 patch through iTunes which addresses this issue and admitted error 53 was actually related to a diagnostic check for inspecting the Touch ID hardware before an iPhone is shipped from its factories.
Touchscreen failure ("touch disease")
![IPhone 6 display removed 2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/IPhone_6_display_removed_2.jpg)
Touchscreen control components on iPhone 6
logic board
A motherboard (also called mainboard, main circuit board, mb, mboard, backplane board, base board, system board, logic board (only in Apple computers) or mobo) is the main printed circuit board (PCB) in general-purpose computers and other expan ...
s have insufficient support, including a lack of underfill—which strengthens and stabilizes
integrated circuit
An integrated circuit or monolithic integrated circuit (also referred to as an IC, a chip, or a microchip) is a set of electronic circuits on one small flat piece (or "chip") of semiconductor material, usually silicon. Large numbers of tiny ...
s, and a lack of rigid metal
shielding on the logic board unlike previous iPhone models; the touchscreen controller is instead shielded by a flexible "sticker". Normal use of the device can cause the logic board to flex internally, which strains the touchscreen IC connectors and leads to a degradation or outright loss of touchscreen functionality. A symptom that has been associated with this type of failure is a flickering grey bar near the top of the display.
iFixit reported this issue, nicknamed "touch disease",
was a byproduct of the previous "Bendgate" design flaw because of the device's demonstrated lack of rigidity. As such, the larger iPhone 6 Plus is more susceptible to the flaw, but it has also been reported on a small percentage of iPhone 6 models.
The devices' successor, the
iPhone 6S, is not afflicted by this flaw due to changes to their internal design, which included the strengthening of "key points" in the rear casing, and the re-location of the touchscreen controllers to the display assembly from the logic board.
Initially, Apple did not officially acknowledge this issue. The issue was widely discussed on Apple's support forum—where posts discussing the issue have been subject to
censorship
Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
.
The touchscreen can be repaired via
microsoldering:
Apple Store
The Apple Store is a chain of Retail, retail stores owned and operated by Apple Inc. The stores sell various Apple products, including Macintosh, Mac personal computers, iPhone smartphones, iPad tablet computers, Apple Watch smartwatches, Apple ...
s are not equipped with the tools needed to perform the logic board repair, which had led to affected users sending their devices to unofficial, third-party repair services. An Apple Store employee interviewed by ''Apple Insider'' reported six months after they first started noticing the problem, Apple had issued guidance instructing them to tell affected users this was a hardware issue that could not be repaired and that their iPhone had to be replaced. However, some in-stock units have also been afflicted with this issue out of the box, leading to an employee stating they were "tired of pulling service stock out of the box, and seeing the exact same problem the customer has on the replacement".
The issue received mainstream attention in August 2016 when reported by iFixit.
On August 26, 2016, ''Apple Insider'' reported based on data from four "high-traffic" Apple Store locations, there was a spike in the number of iPhone 6 devices brought into them for repairs following mainstream reports of the "touch disease" problem.
On August 30, 2016, a group of three iPhone 6 owners sued Apple Inc. in the
and filed for a proposed
class action lawsuit
A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class action ...
, alleging Apple was engaging in unfair business practices by having "long been aware" of the defective design, yet refusing to acknowledge or repair it.
On November 17, 2016, Apple officially acknowledged the issue and announced a paid repair program for affected iPhone 6 Plus models, stating; "some iPhone 6 Plus devices may exhibit display flickering or Multi-Touch issues after being dropped multiple times on a hard surface and then incurring further stress on the device".
Sales
Apple Inc. announced, within 24 hours of availability, over 4 million pre-orders of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus were made, exceeding the supply available—an Apple record.
10 million iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus devices were sold in the first three days, marking another Apple record. The iPhone 6S & 6S Plus were introduced in September 2015 selling 13 million units which set the record for sales in the first three days from last years release.
Three months after its release, the iPhone 6 generated 71.5 million unit sales.
As of June 2017, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have sold 222.4 million units worldwide, making them the most popular iPhone models and the
best-selling smartphones of all time.
See also
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List of iOS and iPadOS devices
Apple Inc. has developed four Unix-like operating systems, namely iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, and watchOS. Devices using these systems include the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, which are mobile devices; the Apple TV, which is a digital media player; an ...
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History of iPhone
The history of the iPhone development by Apple Inc. spans from the early 2000s to about 2010. The first iPhone was released in 2007. By the end of 2009, iPhone models had been released in all major markets.
Genesis of iPhone
It was comin ...
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Comparison of smartphones
This is a comparison of the various internal components and features of many smartphones.
Hardware and OS
2020s 2022
2021
2020
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List of best-selling mobile phones
This is a list of best-selling mobile phones. The best-selling mobile device are the bar phone Nokia 1100 and Nokia 1110, released in 2003 and 2005, respectively. Both years have sold over 250 million units. The best-selling touchscreen phones ...
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Timeline of iPhone models
Notes
References
{{Authority control
Computer-related introductions in 2014
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Mechanical failure
Mobile phones introduced in 2014
IOS
Products and services discontinued in 2019
Discontinued flagship smartphones