“If you see a stylus, they blew it.” Expect to see the famous quote from Steve Jobs bandied around more than a little in the wake of the Apple Pencil, the stylus for the 13” iPad Pro. It’s larger than the damned MacBook (itself a 12” retina display) and it’s more apparent than ever that someday we’re going to have some sort of convergence.
As for the rest…meh. The iPhone 6S is thicker and heavier but not obviously in the service of a larger battery, which when you consider an even faster processor and even more complex display (plus Siri always listening now) makes me wonder what the hell Apple’s playing at with battery life aside from a Jay Cutler-esque “DOOOOONT CAAAAAARE”. If you have the 6, there’s very little to justify the jump to the 6S, which is the way it always works…but if you have the 5S and an Apple Watch, all you’re really giving away is 3D Touch and Apple Pay on the phone itself (plus the screen, but you get a one-hand-able size and not-dissimilar battery life).
I’ve said it before, but this clinches it: we crossed the finish line on phones two years ago. If the guts of the iPhone 5S came in the body of the iPhone 5C, I’d be all about it: polycarbonate, larger battery, throw in the very very necessary TouchID, and that’s all I need. It’s the same story as the first-generation Moto X, which is still perfectly viable (albeit a bit slow with Lollipop and I haven’t tried the musical functionality…maybe this weekend).
For now, though, it’s hang onto the iPhone 6 via work (much as it pains me, and believe me it does, I can’t justify breaking off on my own to buy a new device and pay for my own service just for the sake of not being dependent on my employer) because using my Moto X with my Apple Watch is not an option. And hope to the stars that the uncomfortable trend of Apple hype increasing in inverse proportion to innovation isn’t going to increase any more than it already has.