IPhone 6
The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are smartphones that were developed and marketed by Apple. They are the eighth generation of the iPhone, succeeding the iPhone 5, iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s, and were released on September 19, 2014. The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus respectively include larger 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch displays, a faster processor, upgraded cameras, improved LTE and Wi-Fi connectivity and support for a near-field communications-based mobile payments offering. The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus were 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 received positive reviews, with critics regarding their redesign, specifications, camera, price point, and battery life as improvements over previous iPhone models. However, aspects of their design were 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 supported iOS 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 before being dropped by iOS 13.
The phones have been the subject of several hardware issues, including being susceptible to bending under hard pressure, 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. Additionally, some iPhone 6 Plus models were the subject of camera issues, including some with malfunctioning optical image stabilization or other defects on rear cameras.
The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus were moved to the mid-range 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 and iPhone 7 Plus. Their spot as the entry-level iPhone was taken by the first-generation iPhone SE, released on March 31, 2016. The iPhone 6 was relaunched with 32 GB of storage in 2017 as a midrange/budget iPhone.
History
From the launch of the original iPhone to the iPhone 4s, iPhones used 3.5-inch displays which are smaller than screens used by flagship phones from competitors. The iPhone 5 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 platform using near-field communications—a technology that was incorporated into many Android phones, but had 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 on September 9, 2014, and released on September 19, 2014; pre-orders began on September 12, 2014, with the iPhone 6 starting at US$199 and the iPhone 6 Plus starting at US$299. 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, and earlier in the year, a news report by state broadcaster China Central Television 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 were 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 was temporarily discontinued on September 7, 2016, and the 6 Plus was permanently discontinued on same date, when Apple announced the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus; the role of entry-level iPhone had already been taken by the first-generation iPhone SE. As the iPhone SE has more powerful internal hardware than the midrange iPhone 6 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, with 32 GB storage. This version was released first in Asia, then in Europe in the following months, the United States in May, and Canada in July 2017.
Specifications
Hardware
Design
The design of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus is influenced by that of the iPad Air 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. The iPhone 6 was the thinnest iPhone produced by Apple until the iPhone Air was released in 2025.| Color | Name | Front | Antenna |
| Space Gray | Black | Light Grey | |
| Silver | White | Light Grey | |
| Gold | White | White |
Displays
The most significant changes to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus are its displays; both branded as "Retina HD displays" and "ion-strengthened", the iPhone 6 display is 4.7 inches in size with a 16:9 resolution of 1334x750, while the iPhone 6 Plus includes a 5.5-inch 1920x1080 display. 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 battery, while the iPhone 6 Plus features an 11.1 Wh battery, neither of which are user-replaceable.Chipsets
Both models include an Apple A8 system-on-chip, and an M8 motion co-processor—an update of the M7 chip from the iPhone 5s. The primary difference between the M8 and the original M7 coprocessor is the M8 also includes a barometer to measure altitude changes. Phil Schiller 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, with support for over 20 LTE bands, for up to 150 Mbit/s download speed, and VoLTE support. Wi-Fi 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, along with Wi-Fi Calling support where available. The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus adds support for near-field communications. It is initially used exclusively for Apple Pay a new mobile payments system which allows users to store their credit cards in Passbook for use with online payments and retail purchases over NFC. iOS 11 added limited use of near-field communications besides Apple Pay for 3rd party apps.Camera
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 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.
The camera also includes phase detection autofocus. The iPhone 6 Plus camera is nearly identical, but also includes optical image stabilization. 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 can record video up to 720p at 30 frames per second.
Sensors
The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are the first iPhones to be equipped with a barometer sensor.Like the predecessor, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are equipped with an accelerometer, gyroscope, front-facing proximity sensor and a digital compass.