iPhone 6S vs iPhone 6: 2015 brought another new iPhone 6s from Apple. It’s time to see if it is worth upgrading iPhone 6 to iPhone 6s, the latest and greatest of Apple.
At first glance, the iPhone 6s looks almost identical to its predecessor, the iPhone 6. The new 6s has inherited the same 4.-7-inch display with 720p resolution, curves, and the ugly antenna lines of the iPhone 6 which gives the impression of a minor upgrade. But, that’s far from reality.
Diving into the internal hardware, the iPhone 6s is easily the most impressive ‘S’ upgrade Apple has launched to date. The iPhone 6s not only improves the older features, but it also comes with a beefed-up camera which is capable of recording 4K video, an all-new pressure-sensitive display called 3D Touch.
Without any further ado, let’s dive into the all the differences between iPhone 6s and iPhone 6 and what’s new.
Apple iPhone 6s vs. iPhone 6: Design
While iPhone 6 is a good looking device, it was probably the least visually appealing smartphone that Apple launched to date. It came with an overly curved body with ugly plastic antenna lines on the back and a protruding camera lens. Combining all that resulted in an iPhone that lacked typical Apple sheen.
Unfortunately, iPhone 6s did wrong when it comes to the appearance of the device. In fact, the 6s made things worse by being 2mm thicker and 14g heavier. However, there is a good reason for this.
Apple iPhone 6s is encased in a Series 7000 aluminum instead of Series 6300 aluminum found in iPhone 6. Apple introduced series 7000 aluminum in iPhone 6s to address the scandalous “Bend-gate” trouble Apple encountered with the iPhone 6/Plus.
Along with the three iPhone 6 colors: Space Grey/Silver/Gold, Apple introduced the iPhone 6s with an additional Rose Gold color option.
Apple iPhone 6s vs. iPhone 6: Display
While iPhone 6s display is almost identical to the iPhone 6 with 4.7-inch IPS LCD, 1334 x 750 display resolution, and 326 PPI pixel density, there is one significant new addition to the iPhone 6s display that changes the way the user interacts with the iPhone 6s screen.
iPhone 6s is the first iPhone model to feature a pressure-sensitive display dubbed as 3D Touch. 3D Touch is capable of sensing the amount of pressure applied to the screen. A hard press on screen acts like right-click in computer and brings up shortcut options. There’s much more to 3D Touch, in fact, it adds a whole new dimension to the iPhone display.
3D Touch is the reason iPhone 6s is slightly thicker than the iPhone 6, while an all-new Taptic Engine built into the iPhone 6s is responsible for the added weight.
Apple iPhone 6s vs Apple iPhone 6: Camera
Apple launched the iPhone 6 with an 8MP camera sensor packed with larger pixels that allow more light into your shots. The camera was capable of recording 1080p video. On the other hand, the iPhone 6s comes packed with an impressive 13MP camera sensor capable of recording 4K video. On the front-end of the device, the iPhone 6 has a 1.2MP camera while the iPhone 6s has an impressive 5MP camera sensor on the front.
iPhone 6s also has a nifty new Live Photos feature that adds the ability to capture a brief three seconds video clip when the user takes a picture. Hard pressing on a Live Photo will play the briefly captured video.
Apple iPhone 6s vs Apple iPhone 6: Performance
iPhone 6s is the first iPhone model that Apple has launched with more than 1GB of RAM module. This indeed helps in achieving snappy multitasking and app switching experience. The iPhone 6s has 2GB of RAM, an all-new Apple A9 chip which provides snappier performance over the A8 chip inside the iPhone 6.
CPU inside the iPhone 6s has seen a decent 70 performance jump over the iPhone 6, while a whopping 90 percent increase in GPU performance has been added in the iPhone 6s. While iPhone 6 was capable enough to handle any game available in the app store, the improved GPU performance has indeed helped with a smoother 4K video.
Apple iPhone 6s vs. iPhone 6: Fingerprint Scanner
Apple’s popular Touch ID fingerprint scanner has also seen significant speed improvements in iPhone 6s. Apple has made the Touch ID twice as fast as the Touch ID of iPhone 6 and consistently accurate.
Touch ID on iPhone 6s has become so fast that it has become very tricky to press the Home button to see the time without unlocking the device. The faster Touch ID has once again brought iPhone to the front of the fingerprinter sensors’ race.
Apple iPhone 6s vs. iPhone 6: Battery
The addition of 3D Touch and the TapTic Engine inside the iPhone 6s has resulted in 5 percent reduction if the battery capacity from 1,810mAh in iPhone 6 to 1,715mAh.
Apple, however, claims that despite seeing a decrease in battery capacity, the iPhone 6s is still capable of achieving battery life similar to the iPhone 6, thanks to the efficient iOS 9 and the new Low Power Mode makes it possible to achieve.
Apple iPhone 6s vs. iPhone 6: Specs
Here’s a detailed hardware specs comparison between the iPhone 6s and the iPhone 6:
iPhone 6s | iPhone 6 | |
General | ||
| Status | Available | Available |
| Announced | September 2015 | September 2014 |
| Released | September 2015 | September 2014 |
Design | ||
| Dimensions | 138.3 x 67.1 x 7.1 mm | 138.1 x 67 x 6.9 mm |
| Weight | 143 g | 129 g |
| Material | 7000 Series aluminum | Aluminum body |
| Color(s) | Space Gray, Silver, Gold, Rose Gold | Space Gray, Silver, Gold |
Display | ||
| Display Type | IPS LCD | IPS LCD |
| Display Size | 4.7-inches | 4.7-inches |
| Display Resolution | 750 x 1334 pixels | 750 x 1334 pixels |
| Display Features | 326 ppi density, Ion-strengthened Glass, Oleophobic Coating, 3D Touch display | 326 ppi density, Ion-strengthened Glass, Oleophobic Coating |
Hardware | ||
| Chipset | Apple A9 | Apple A8 |
| CPU | Dual-core 1.84 GHz | Dual-core 1.4 GHz Typhoon |
| GPU | PowerVR GT7600 | PowerVR GX6450 |
| RAM | 2 GB | 1 GB |
| Built-in Storage | 16 GB, 64 GB, 128 GB | 16 GB, 64 GB, 128 GB |
| External Storage | N/A | N/A |
| Sensors | Fingerprint, Accelerometer, Gyro, Proximity, Compass, Barometer | Fingerprint, Accelerometer, Gyro, Proximity, Compass, Barometer |
Camera | ||
| Main Camera | 12 MP - 2160p @30fps, 1080p @120fps, 1080p @60fps, 720p @240fps | 8 MP - 1080p @60fps, 720p @240fps (Slo-Mo) |
| Front Camera | 5 MP, slow motion video recording | 1.2 MP |
| Camera Features | f/2.2 aperture, Dual-LED (dual tone) flash | f/2.2 aperture, Dual-LED (dual tone) |
Battery | ||
| Battery Type | Lithium Polymer | Lithium Polymer |
| Battery Capacity | 1715 mAh | 1810 mAh |
| Removable | No | No |
Connectivity | ||
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band |
| Bluetooth | v4.2 | v4.0 |
| USB | v2.0, Lightning - reversible connector | v2.0, Lightning - reversible connector |
Software | ||
| OS | iOS 9 or later | iOS 8 or later |
| Applications | App Store | App Store |
Technology / Network | ||
| SIM | Nano-SIM | Nano-SIM |
| 2G Network | 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 | 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 |
| 3G Network | 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100 | 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100 - A1533 & A1453, 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 - A1457 & A1530 |
| 4G Network | LTE band 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 12(700), 13(700), 17(700), 18(800), 19(800), 20(800), 25(1900), 26(850), 28(700), 29(700) | LTE band 1(2100), 2(1900), 3(1800), 4(1700/2100), 5(850), 7(2600), 8(900), 13(700), 17(700), 18(800), 19(800), 20(800), 25(1900), 26(850), 28(700), 29(700) |
| Data Speed | HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps, LTE Cat6 300/50 Mbps | HSPA 42.2/5.76 Mbps, LTE Cat4 150/50 Mbps |