When Apple started paying out up to $500 million to settle a lawsuit over the infamous batterygate situation, people knew they'd get checks to make them whole. But it seems that actually cashing those checks might not be as easy as you might think.

According to one iPhone owner she has been unable to cash the check for $92.17 after her credit union reported that it had been returned by the bank that should have paid it out.

Now, she's left with seemingly little recourse and no clarification on exactly why the check bounced, despite inaccurate claims that it was simply too old to be used.

Something's amiss

Batterygate refers to a furor over the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s in relation to a software update that slowed their performance in an attempt to ensure that aging batteries were still able to produce enough power to prevent the iPhones from shutting down.

However, First Coast News reports that Clay County resident Desiree McNeil had issues cashing her check.

According to the report the check was returned to sender because it was "stale dated," suggesting that it was too old to be processed. The check was dated March 1, and had text printed on it that said it was valid until April 18. The woman tried to cash it on April 1.

To add to the confusion the woman says that she was told by her credit union that the check bounced because there were insufficient funds, although that wasn't what it said in a letter explaining the situation.

"By April 3rd, my credit union returned the check because for insufficient funds, they said that the litigants didn't pay it," McNeil said. 

As of now, there appears to be no way to fix this situation. First Coast News has reached out to the administrator of the account that is supposed to pay out the funds for help with no response at the time of the report's publication.

More from iMore

• Apple's 'batterygate' settlement: Why getting your refund could prove difficult
• You might soon receive your $65 from Apple's 'Batterygate' settlement
• iPhone BatteryGate is being settled but... why did it even start?

If you're still rocking an iPhone 6 Plus or an iPad mini 4, now is definitely the time to start considering upgrading to something a little newer after Apple added them to its list of really old devices.

Apple regularly adds older iPhones, iPads, and Macs to its list of vintage and obsolete products and now it's the turn of the iPhone 6 Plus and iPad mini 4 and while owners of those devices can of course continue to use them, there are some things to note.

For starters, the iPhone 6 Plus is now on the obsolete list which means that Apple Stores and Apple's authorized repair centers no longer offer repairs or hardware services for that particular iPhone. Apple adds devices to the list seven years after the company last offered them for sale.

In the case of the fourth-gen iPad, the miniature tablet has been added to the vintage list which means that it's more than five years since the company stopped selling it. As a result, Apple Stores and repair centers can continue to offer repairs for a further two years but there is no guarantee that parts will remain available. MacRumors was the first to report the new additions.

It's time

Given the age of these devices, it's definitely time to consider upgrading.

The iPhone 6 Plus was announced alongside the iPhone 6 in September 2014 with the larger screen being a key differentiator. It was the largest display ever offered on an iPhone but the iPhone 6 Plus was discontinued in 2016. Apple stopped supporting the device when iOS 13 arrived in 2019.

In terms of specifications, the iPhone 6 Plus had a 5.5-inch Retina display and an Apple A18 chip inside. 16GB, 64GB, and 128GB options were available while the main camera was an 8-megapixel affair with support for Auto HDR and more.  The front-facing FaceTime camera had a 1.2-megapixel sensor with Face detection and other camera-related features. The iPhone 6 Plus of course had Touch ID for biometric authentication and Apple Pay. Buyers could pick from Silver, Gold, and Space Gray color options when making their purchase.

The iPad mini 4 features a 7.9-inch Retina display and was again powered by the A8 chip. It came in 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB storage options and used 8-megapixel (rear) and 1.2-megapixel (FaceTIme) cameras. Buyers could choose between Silver, Gold, and Space Gray.

This news comes as we get ever closer to the arrival of the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro models ten years after the iPhone 6 Plus debuted. The new models are of course huge upgrades over the old ones, but any newer non-Touch ID iPhone will be a big improvement over the iPhone 6 Plus for anyone ready to upgrade. Better and bigger displays, improved cameras, and of course the removal of the Home button and the addition of Face ID are just some benefits from upgrading to a newer iPhone.

Apple is expected to unveil the new iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro models this fall, likely in September alongside the release of the Apple AI-laden iOS 18 and other software updates.

More from iMore

• Here's your first look at iPhone 16 Pro — Stunning concept shows off what to expect
• iPhone 16 camera button details revealed — could new model have a dedicated camera button?
• Rumor has it: iPhone 16 Pro models could include new 48-megapixel camera 

Some iPhone owners will finally receive up to $65 after the company was accused of throttling the batteries of iPhone‌ 6, iPhone 6s, and iPhone 7, alongside the Plus variants of these phones.

As reported by Mercury News, a judge has scuppered a last-ditch appeal from two iPhone owners against the settlement (who presumably wanted more money), paving the way for Apple to finally dish out the long-awaited payments. 

Apple had denied these claims at first, by leaving out its new battery optimization feature in a new iOS update. It eventually acknowledged that iOS 10.2.1 did indeed introduce battery throttling, and apologized with a new FAQ page on Battery Health on its website.

The agreed settlement by Apple was roughly $500 million in this lawsuit. If you were one of the three million owners who claimed before the October 2020 deadline who used one of these iPhones, alongside iOS 10.2.1 or iOS 11.2 prior to December 21, 2017, you may receive a payment soon.

Check in the mail

It was a rare blip in Apple’s public relations messaging when it was discovered that iOS 10.2.1 throttled battery performance. At first, there wasn’t an acknowledgment in the update notes. But it wasn’t until users started noticing a massive battery drain that it updated this new ‘feature’ on its update page.

Looking back, this was all done out of order. The new Battery Health page should have arrived first, and when the new update was released, an acknowledgment of this should have been there.

It gave the impression that Apple was sweeping this under the carpet when there wasn’t any need to. And unfortunately, it’s why it had to pay a $500 million settlement through the courts.

While $65 may not pay for a new iPhone 15, it could help pay for a new iPhone 14 case if you’ve been looking for one. Every little helps.

The iPhone 6 is now a vintage Apple product. 

If you have the iPhone 6 that was originally released more than eight years ago, you are now the proud owner of a vintage Apple product.

As spotted by MacRumors, the iPhone 6, which was originally released in 2014, has been added to the company’s list of vintage products. The iPhone 6 was the first iPhone to change up the design from the rounded-corner design introduced with the iPhone 4 a few years before it. Apple eventually switched back to the squared off design, dumping the curved design of the iPhone 6, with the iPhone 12.

As a vintage product, owners of the iPhone 6 are still eligible to have the phone serviced at both Apple and the company's wide range of third-party repair shops.

If you're not sure what version of the iPhone you have, hop into the Settings app. From there, click on General > About. Then, scroll down and look for the Model Name field.

What happens when an Apple product becomes vintage?

Thankfully, you still have some options when your product becomes vintage. Owners of an iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, or Apple TV can still get service or parts for the device from Apple or a third-party service provider for at least five years after the company last sold the device. In some cases where the law requires, that amount of time jumps to seven years for parts and service.

While holding on to a vintage Apple TV might sound cool, like holding on to a classic car, it, unfortunately, doesn't translate with electronics. You'll continue to miss out on the latest technologies like 4K, HDR, and higher frame rates if your television supports it.

If you are looking to upgrade, Apple just released the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro into the wild earlier this month. It is incredibly difficult to find either right now but we can help out with our best iPhone 14 Pro Max deals.

What you need to know

• Chris Evans, best known as Captain America, has shared that his trusty iPhone 6s has finally died.
• Evans has bought a new iPhone, but it isn't clear which.
• The iPhone 6s was released in 2015.

Captain America might have America's ass, but did you also know that he is the proud owner of America's iPhone 6s as well? Or, at least, he was. Because despite surviving the snap of Thanos it seems Cap's iPhone 6s has finally succumbed to time itself. Captain America needs a new iPhone.

While Marvel's Chris Evans might not be the first person you think of when you imagine someone carrying a seven-year-old iPhone around, that was apparently the case until very recently. The Apple TV+ actor took to Instagram to share the news that his beloved iPhone 6s had finally given up the ghost, seemingly paving the way for a shiny new iPhone 13. Don't tell him that iPhone 14 is just around the corner!

Something tells me he can probably spring for a new phone come September, although it'll be another seven years before he's due an upgrade!

So why was Evans walking around with such an old iPhone? If a Twitter post is any indication, he likes the Home button. Has one not heard of Apple's very own iPhone SE?

It's definitely fair to say that his new handset is one of the best iPhones for taking photos to ever come out of Cupertino, so hopefully the upgrade will be worth it!

Apart from playing the role of Captain America for Marvel, Evans is also part of the Apple TV+ universe — having starred in the launch title Defending Jacob a couple of years ago.

What you need to know

• Apple's iPhone 6 Plus is now on the company's vintage list.
• Devices are classed as vintage if they were last sold more than five years ago but less than seven.
• Products move onto the obsolete list once they're old enough.

Apple has finally added the aging iPhone 6 Plus to its list of vintage products more than seven years after it was released.

Apple made iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus available in September of 2014 and it was around for two years before being killed off. However, its smaller sibling lasted longer — iPhone 6 was on sale as a mid-range device as recently as 2018 which means it won't be making its own appearance on Apple's vintage list for another few years yet. That might seem pretty amazing to some of us who had those devices at launch — a period that feels like a long time ago.

Apple puts products onto its vintage list after the company stopped selling them more than five years ago, but less than seven. Things are a little more complicated in France, however.

The arrival of the iPhone 6 lineup brought with it Apple Pay as well as the first big iPhone, although sluggish performance caused by that huge display was an issue throughout its life.

MacRumors was the first to note the change in status for iPhone 6 Plus, a device that hasn't received an iOS feature update since the days of iOS 13 and will never see iOS 15.

What you need to know

• The iPhone 6 Plus will soon become a vintage Apple product.
• The phone was Apple's "Plus" iPhone.

The iPhone 6 Plus has lived its life and it is time to accept the end.

As reported by MacRumors, to celebrate the five-year anniversary of the model's launch, the iPhone 6 Plus will be added to Apple's vintage products list on December 31.

As a vintage product, owners of the iPhone 6 Plus are still eligible to have their phone serviced at Apple and the company's wide range of third-party repair shops.

If you need to upgrade from an older iPhone, check out our list of the Best iPhone of 2021.

Haptic Touch is multitouch made multifunctional. With it, you can long-press to launch actions instead of apps, reply to notifications, preview messages and links, switch keyboards, switch apps, animate Live Photos, and more. It's like a wormhole through iOS that lets you do more without having to do more.

Haptic touch replaced 3D Touch in iOS 13 and every iPhone. Most of the functions are the same, but how you get to those functions is slightly different. You no longer "deep press" or "hard press" to trigger an action. Instead, place your finger on what you want to get more info or perform a new task and rest it there for two seconds. Then, tap the action you want to use.

Though some 3D Touch functions still work on devices built with 3D Touch (like triggering the cursor on the keyboard), they were redesigned in iOS 13 as Haptic Touch instead, which has carried on to iOS 14, too. Whether you're on an iPad Pro, iPhone SE, or a new iPhone 12, Haptic Touch works the same.

How to rearrange or delete apps on the Home screen with Haptic touch

The most significant change comes with rearranging or deleting apps on the Home screen. With 3D touch, you'd "deep press" the screen to trigger app actions, but you'd only rest your finger on an app for two seconds to trigger jiggly mode.

With Haptic touch, place your finger on an app for three seconds. After two seconds, haptic actions are triggered, but if you keep your finger on the screen for one additional second, you'll trigger that jiggly mode that allows you to rearrange or delete apps.

• How to rearrange your apps on iPhone

How to see Home screen actions with Haptic Touch

If you have an iPhone 6s or later, you can long-press firmly (Haptic Touch) on an app icon to bring up quick actions. All apps have quick actions, even if it's simply the standard App Store app shortcut that lets you share the app with someone else. Some apps have several quick actions, including dynamic quick actions that update based on the last person you contacted, an article you read, show you watched, etc. Tap on an action to go directly to that feature or content in the app.

For basic quick actions:

1. Long press (Haptic Touch) on the Home screen icon you want to open quick actions for.
2. Tap on the action you want to perform.

Dynamic actions work the same way; only the subject of the task will change based on recency, location, time, and other factors.

1. Long press (Haptic Touch) on the Home screen icon you want to open quick actions for.
2. Tap on the action you want to perform.

When you're downloading apps there are specific quick actions just for downloading, including prioritizing one app over all others, pausing downloads, and canceling them.

1. Long press (Haptic Touch) on the installation icon for the app you want to open quick actions for.
2. Tap on the action you want to perform.

Folders also have Haptic Touch actions. The default lets you rename the folder, but if apps have notification badges, you can see the count and tap straight into the app without having to open the folder.

1. Long press (Haptic Touch) on the Home screen folder you want to see quick actions for.
2. Tap on the action you want to perform.

Quick actions also work inside some apps. For example, you can see recommended contacts to quickly send an iMessage in Messages or open a new private tab directly in Safari.

• Messages: Long press to see contacts for people you've messaged with recently
• Calendar: Long press to see today's events.
• Photos: Long press to see your most recent albums, new Memories, and One Year Ago moments.
• Maps: Quickly mark your current location, send your location, or search nearby.
• Notes: Long press to scan a document, add a new photo, or create a new photo or note.
• Reminders: Triage your current reminders or add a new one to one of your pre-made lists.
• Books: Long press to quickly tap books you're currently reading
• News: Long press to see headline news or tap into the Today view.
• Safari: Long press to open a new tab, new private tab, show your bookmarks, or show your reading list.
• Phone: See your favorite contacts, view your most recent call or voicemail, search for a contact or create a new contact.
• Music: Long press to see your recently played songs.
• FaceTime: Long press to see your favorite contacts.
• Contacts: Long press to see your favorite contacts or create a new contact.

Many App Store apps also provide shortcuts. The best way to find them is to experiment by long pressing on all the things.

How to interact with notifications using Haptic Touch

Haptic Touch can be used to preview and interact with certain notification, from the Lock screen or Notification Center. Though the amount of interaction will vary depending on the app, from a simple preview to a full-on, persistent experience, the way it works is the same.

1. Long press (Haptic Touch) on a notification.
2. Type, tap, or otherwise interact with the notification.
3. Tap the X button or swipe down to dismiss the notification.

If you have Haptic Touch you can also clear all notifications from Notification Center.

1. Long press (Haptic Touch) on the X button above your notifications.
2. Tap on Clear All Notifications.

You can also manage preferences for an apps notifications using Haptic Touch.

1. Long press on the notification.
2. Tap the ... in the notifications' upper-right corner.
3. Tap Deliver Quietly, Turn Off..., or Settings to manage how notifications from that app are delivered.

How to see Control Center actions with Haptic Touch

Control Center has some additional accessible features you can use with Haptic Touch, including switching Wi-Fi networks, switching AirPlay speakers, and more.

You can quickly switch Wi-Fi networks using Haptic Touch in Control Center.

1. Swipe up from the bottom bezel onto the screen to bring up Control Center on iPhone 8 and older. Swipe down from the upper-right corner on iPhone X and newer.
2. Long press the Wi-Fi indicator.
3. Long press the Wi-Fi indicator again.

4. Tap a new Wi-Fi network.
5. Tap Wi-Fi Settings to jump into your Wi-Fi settings.

Many of the built-in Control Center widgets offer customizable controls when you use Haptic Touch to access more actions.

1. Activate Control Center swiping up from the bottom bezel onto the screen to bring up Control Center on iPhone 8 and older. Swipe down from the upper-right corner on iPhone X and newer.
2. Long press on the control that you want to use:
   • Long press on the Flashlight to set the intensity from bright to low light.
   • Long press on the Timer to set the interval from one minute to one hour.
   • Long press on the Calculator to copy the last result.
   • Long press on the Camera to go right to Selfie, Record Video, Take Portrait, or Take Portrait Selfie.
   • Long press on Screen Mirroring to select a device to mirror to.
   • Long press on Screen recording to select the Camera app or Skype to record. You can also turn on or off the microphone.
   • Long press on the Music controls to control playback, see your AirPlay devices, and switch between connected speakers to playback your music.
   • Long press Voice Memos to playback recent voice memos or start a new recording.
   • Long press Remote to control your Apple TV.
3. Tap the option you want.

You can also use Haptic Touch on the Home card to interact with your HomeKit-enabled accessories.

1. Long press the Home contorl button.
2. Tap an accessory to turn it on or off.
3. Long press on an accessory to pop up additional options, like brightness or color options for smart bulbs.

How to 'Peek' and perform quick actions with Haptic Touch

Haptic Touch lets you preview and jump into messages, weblinks, and automatic links (data detectors for dates, locations, airline information, etc.). Peek can also provide you with quick actions so you can act on it without having to launch the full screen or full app. If Peek is available, the link, image, or message will pop out to a new hovering window with actions listed below it.

1. Long press on the item or link you want to peek at. Additional information will pop out onto the screen.
2. Select the action you want to perform. In Safari, for example, you can:
   • Open in a new tab
   • Download Linked file
   • Add to reading list
   • Copy link
   • Share link
   • Hide link previews

If the Peek is enough, or the item or link isn't what you wanted:

• Tap outside the pop-out window to dismiss it.

To pop into a message and perform an action:

1. Long-press an email in your inbox list to view additional actions. Mail actions are:
   • Reply
   • Reply all
   • Forward
   • Mark...
   • Notify me
   • Mute
   • Move message
   • Trash message/Archive message
2. Tap an action to perform it.

To get back to your inbox:

• Tap outside of the pop-out window to dismiss it.

How to animate a Live Photo with Haptic Touch

Live Photos capture 1.5 seconds of motion before and after the photo, so you can see the smile emerge, the bird take off, the rain begin, or the stumble happen. They animate in when you swipe between them in the Photos app, but you can animate them at any time, including as your Lock screen wallpaper, with Haptic Touch.

1. Long press the Live Photo to see—and hear—it comes to life.
2. Peek and pop a Live photo by long pressing on it in while viewing all photos in an album. You can also perform the following actions:
   • Copy
   • Share
   • Favorite/unfavorite
   • Show in All Photos (if you are viewing from a specific album)
   • Delete

How to activate trackpad mode (trigger the cursor) with Haptic Touch

If you want to turn your digital keyboard into a virtual trackpad, you can do so with just a single press. With 3D Touch, you could press anywhere on the keyboard to trigger the trackpad, but now you must specifically use the Space Bar on the keyboard instead.

1. Launch the app you want to use and bring up the keyboard.
2. Long press on the Space Bar (Note: devices with 3D Touch support can still use any key to trigger the trackpad).
3. Drag your finger around to move the cursor.

How to customize Haptic Touch

If you're tripping Haptic Touch too easily, or you're having too hard a time engaging it, you can change the pressure sensitivity levels in Settings as well. You can test each setting using the peek and post demo below the setting. That'll make sure you get the best option.

1. Launch Settings from your Home screen.
2. Tap Accessibility.
3. Tap Touch.

4. Tap Haptic Touch.
5. Tap Fast or Slow to adjust the time it take to trigger Haptic Touch.

Any Haptic Touch questions?

If you have any trouble with Haptic Touch or any additional questions, drop them in the comments below!

Updated October 2020: Updated for iOS 14 and iPhone 12 .

Beginning this week, eligible iPhone users can apply for their share of a $500 million settlement that Apple agreed to pay to resolve a long-running class-action lawsuit over the controversial practice of "slowing down iPhones." Getting your $25 (or more) that Apple might owe you might not be so easy, however.

To qualify for your tiny slice of the pie, you need to submit the serial number for your eligible iPhone either by entering the information on the lawsuit website or filling out a form and putting it in the mail. That's simple enough unless you no longer have the phone in your possession. Under this scenario, finding the serial number could prove difficult and not worth the $25 you would eventually get once the claim filing period ends.

What's the problem?

As the settlement site explains:

Based on these parameters, eligible iPhone purchases could go back nearly six years, which is when the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus were first launched.

According to a 2019 study, people are keeping their iPhones much longer than before. Instead of three years, consumers are now waiting four years between upgrades.

Relying on the word average here, this means typical users of the iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and first-generation iPhone SE may no longer have the phone that's eligible for the settlement offer.

Good luck finding that serial number

There are different ways to find a serial number for a qualifying device. Some of the solutions will take you maybe 60 seconds, while many others could require the assistance of Philip Jennings Perry Mason, circa 1932.

The easiest way to find the serial number is having the iPhone (or its box) in your possession. You can find the code using the Settings app under General > About. Otherwise, look on the outside of the iPhone box to find the number.

The settlement site also has a section where you can add your Apple ID to locate the serial number for eligible iPhones. We've received reports that filling out this form hasn't worked for everyone. Whether this is a bug or database error isn't known.

On this option, keep trying and make sure you're adding the correct Apple ID that was used when buying the iPhone. If you use an old Apple me.com account for your Apple ID, also add it using the icloud.com extension to see if that works.

If you have so far struck out in finding your serial number, it's time to put on your detective hat. You can look for your original email order or receipt to find the serial number, or check your AppleCare+ Proof of Purchase. The number is also located on your iPhone Upgrade Program trade-in receipt.

I'm not in the habit of keeping old emails or warranty notices for devices no longer have in my possession, and I suspect many are in the same boat. In this situation, good for you for being a paper hoarder!

Beyond this, you could try connecting with Apple support to try to get the serial number. Whether this legacy information is available to support personnel is unknown.

Final thoughts and questions

As part of the batterygate settlement, Apple didn't admit to any wrongdoing. Regardless, there are a lot of iPhone users eligible to receive a cash award. Hopefully, the database behind the settlement form mentioned reports accurate information moving forward. Otherwise, it could provide challenging for some eligible users to receive their payout. In the meantime, we'll continue to watch this story.

You have until October 6, 2020, to fill out your claim.

Did you successfully file a claim, or did you have a problem? Let us know in the comments below.

If you're after a cheap iPhone deal in order to pick up a backup device or a first phone for a kid, today is your lucky day with this one-day sale at Woot offering refurbished iPhone 6s models for just $114.99. There are plenty of color options available including space gray, silver, gold, and rose gold, all with 64GB of storage space, though some of the options will likely sell out as the day progresses. Note that these phones are either fully unlocked, so they will work with all major U.S. GSM and CDMA carriers, or GSM-only.

$899.99 $1299.00 Save $399 1623157769

Having now been replaced by the 24-inch M1 iMac, Apple's 21.5-inch iMac has been discontinued. That means big savings at third-party retailers including at Amazon where it's discounted by $399.

Prices Vary 1622214797

This sale includes iPhone models, the Apple Watch, iMac and iPad devices, Beats headphones, Apple services, and more. The deals vary by product, so be sure to check them all out now.

$103.99 $129.99 Save $26 1621604395

Change how you use your iPad with the Apple Pencil. This stylus lets you use your iPad as a notepad, a canvas, or a drawing board for all of your ideas. Today's deal saves you 20% instantly at Verizon.

$599.99 $699.00 Save $99 1621519150

Updated in late 2020, the Mac Mini has Apple's M1 chip that combines CPU, GPU, and machine learning for faster performance, better graphics, and an all around streamlined device. This version has 8GB RAM and a 256GB solid state drive.

From $329 1621244196

Apple Watch Series 6 models are available for some of their best prices ever right now. The lowest price is on the red 40mm version which is $70 off with 44mm and cellular models seeing discounts of up to $91.

These refurbished options from Woot aren't for everyone, but the prices are some of the best we've seen. If your teen is asking for a phone, but you don't want to drop a ton of money, or you'd like to have a secondary device around, you'll want to peruse this sale. These phones are listed as scratch-and-dent, so there'll be physical signs of use like scratches, dings, or dents. However, the device itself will work perfectly. Your purchase includes a 90-day warranty in case anything goes awry, and you can put some of your savings toward a third-party warranty for added peace of mind.

While the iPhone 6s isn't the latest and greatest, it's still a good phone. There's a 4.7-inch Retina display, an A9 chip, Touch ID, and 3D Touch as well as a 12MP camera. This model has a headphone jack, too, which is another reason why it'd be great for a teen. With 64GB of storage, there's plenty of room for music, photos, and more. The iPhone 6s series can run iOS 13 that rolled out last fall and will even be compatible with the just-announced iOS 14 coming later this year. For more on the iPhone 6s, head here.

The deals are good for today only or while supplies last, so be sure to act fast to avoid missing out on the phone you want. Some specific models have already sold out, so don't let that happen to the handset you want.

Woot charges $6 per order for shipping, though you can snag free shipping there by logging in with an Amazon Prime account before checking out. If you've never been a Prime member before, you can start a free 30-day trial to score free shipping at Woot and Amzon, along with access to all of Prime's perks like the Prime Video streaming service, exclusive members-only discounts, and more.

If you're after a cheap iPhone deal in order to pick up a backup device or a first phone for a kid, today is your lucky day with this one-day sale at Woot offering refurbished iPhone models from just $39.99. The sale features phones from the iPhone 5 through to the iPhone 6s Plus which could, despite not being the newest devices, serve a purpose for you, especially at these low prices. Many are unlocked to work with any carrier, though some are GSM only so be sure to choose carefully.

$899.99 $1299.00 Save $399 1623157769

Having now been replaced by the 24-inch M1 iMac, Apple's 21.5-inch iMac has been discontinued. That means big savings at third-party retailers including at Amazon where it's discounted by $399.

Prices Vary 1622214797

This sale includes iPhone models, the Apple Watch, iMac and iPad devices, Beats headphones, Apple services, and more. The deals vary by product, so be sure to check them all out now.

$103.99 $129.99 Save $26 1621604395

Change how you use your iPad with the Apple Pencil. This stylus lets you use your iPad as a notepad, a canvas, or a drawing board for all of your ideas. Today's deal saves you 20% instantly at Verizon.

$599.99 $699.00 Save $99 1621519150

Updated in late 2020, the Mac Mini has Apple's M1 chip that combines CPU, GPU, and machine learning for faster performance, better graphics, and an all around streamlined device. This version has 8GB RAM and a 256GB solid state drive.

From $329 1621244196

Apple Watch Series 6 models are available for some of their best prices ever right now. The lowest price is on the red 40mm version which is $70 off with 44mm and cellular models seeing discounts of up to $91.

These refurbished options from Woot aren't for everyone, but the prices are some of the best we've seen. If your teen is asking for a phone, but you don't want to drop a ton of money, or you'd like to have a secondary device around, you'll want to peruse this sale. These phones are listed as scratch-and-dent, so there'll be physical signs of use like scratches, dings, or dents. However, the device itself will work perfectly. Your purchase includes a 90-day warranty in case anything goes awry, and you can put some of your savings toward a third-party warranty for added peace of mind.

The iPhone 6s is the newest option in the sale and it starts at $89.99. While the iPhone 6s isn't the latest and greatest, it's still a good phone. There's a 4.7-inch Retina display, an A9 chip, Touch ID, and 3D touch as well as a 12MP camera. This model has a headphone jack, too, which is another reason why it'd be great for a teen. With up to 128GB of storage, there's plenty of room for music, photos, and more. The iPhone 6s series is also compatible with iOS 13 that rolled out last fall as well. For more on the iPhone 6s, head here.

The deals are good for today only or while supplies last, so be sure to act fast to avoid missing out on the phone you want. Some specific models have already sold out, so don't let that happen to the handset you want.

Woot charges $6 per order for shipping, though you can snag free shipping there by logging in with an Amazon Prime account before checking out. If you've never been a Prime member before, you can start a free 30-day trial to score free shipping at Woot and Amzon, along with access to all of Prime's perks like the Prime Video streaming service, exclusive members-only discounts, and more.

If you're after a cheap iPhone deal in order to pick up a backup device or a first phone for a kid, today is your lucky day with this one-day sale at Woot offering refurbished iPhone 6s models from just $79.99.

There are plenty of color options available including space gray, silver, gold, and rose gold, with storage options from 16GB to 128GB, though some of these specifications will likely sell out as the day progresses. Note that these phones are fully unlocked so they will work with all majot U.S. GSM and CDMA carriers. Shipping is free with your Amazon Prime membership.

$899.99 $1299.00 Save $399 1623157769

Having now been replaced by the 24-inch M1 iMac, Apple's 21.5-inch iMac has been discontinued. That means big savings at third-party retailers including at Amazon where it's discounted by $399.

Prices Vary 1622214797

This sale includes iPhone models, the Apple Watch, iMac and iPad devices, Beats headphones, Apple services, and more. The deals vary by product, so be sure to check them all out now.

$103.99 $129.99 Save $26 1621604395

Change how you use your iPad with the Apple Pencil. This stylus lets you use your iPad as a notepad, a canvas, or a drawing board for all of your ideas. Today's deal saves you 20% instantly at Verizon.

$599.99 $699.00 Save $99 1621519150

Updated in late 2020, the Mac Mini has Apple's M1 chip that combines CPU, GPU, and machine learning for faster performance, better graphics, and an all around streamlined device. This version has 8GB RAM and a 256GB solid state drive.

From $329 1621244196

Apple Watch Series 6 models are available for some of their best prices ever right now. The lowest price is on the red 40mm version which is $70 off with 44mm and cellular models seeing discounts of up to $91.

These refurbished options from Woot aren't for everyone, but the prices are a match for the best we've seen. If your teen is asking for a phone, but you don't want to drop a ton of money, or you'd like to have a backup device around, you'll want to peruse this sale. These phones are listed as scratch-and-dent, so there'll be physical signs of use like scratches, dings, or dents. However, the device itself will work perfectly. Your purchase includes a 90-day warranty in case anything goes awry, and you can put some of your savings toward a third-party warranty for added peace of mind.

While the iPhone 6s isn't the latest and greatest, it's still a good phone. There's a 4.7-inch Retina display, an A9 chip, Touch ID, and 3D touch as well as a 12MP camera. This model has a headphone jack, too, which is another reason why it'd be great for a teen. With up to 128GB of storage, there's plenty of room for music, photos, and more. The iPhone 6s series is also compatible with iOS 13 that rolled out last fall as well. For more on the iPhone 6s, head here.

Today only, you can head to Woot to pick up a scratch & dent refurbished Apple iPhone 6s from just $129.99. Shipping is free with your Amazon Prime membership. There are plenty of color options available including gold, rose gold, and space gray, though it looks like the 128GB models are already sold out and just the 64GB models remain. Note that these are GSM phones, meaning they'll only work with specific networks. In the US, the most popular GSM carriers are AT&T and T-Mobile.

$899.99 $1299.00 Save $399 1623157769

Having now been replaced by the 24-inch M1 iMac, Apple's 21.5-inch iMac has been discontinued. That means big savings at third-party retailers including at Amazon where it's discounted by $399.

Prices Vary 1622214797

This sale includes iPhone models, the Apple Watch, iMac and iPad devices, Beats headphones, Apple services, and more. The deals vary by product, so be sure to check them all out now.

$103.99 $129.99 Save $26 1621604395

Change how you use your iPad with the Apple Pencil. This stylus lets you use your iPad as a notepad, a canvas, or a drawing board for all of your ideas. Today's deal saves you 20% instantly at Verizon.

$599.99 $699.00 Save $99 1621519150

Updated in late 2020, the Mac Mini has Apple's M1 chip that combines CPU, GPU, and machine learning for faster performance, better graphics, and an all around streamlined device. This version has 8GB RAM and a 256GB solid state drive.

From $329 1621244196

Apple Watch Series 6 models are available for some of their best prices ever right now. The lowest price is on the red 40mm version which is $70 off with 44mm and cellular models seeing discounts of up to $91.

These refurbished options from Woot aren't for everyone, but the prices are the best we've seen. If your teen is asking for a phone, but you don't want to drop a ton of money, or you'd like to have a backup device around, you'll want to peruse this sale. These phones are scratch-and-dent, so there'll be physical signs of use like scratches, dings, or dents. However, the device itself will work perfectly. Your purchase includes a 90-day warranty in case anything goes awry, and you can put some of your savings toward a third-party warranty for added peace of mind.

While the iPhone 6s isn't the latest and greatest, it's still a good phone. There's a 4.7-inch Retina display, an A9 chip, Touch ID, and 3D touch as well as a 12MP camera. This model has a headphone jack, too, which is another reason why it'd be great for a teen. With 64GB of storage, there's plenty of room for music, photos, and more. The iPhone 6s is compatible with the recently-released iOS 13 software as well. For more on the iPhone 6s, head here.

What you need to know

• Apple is offering a free repair program for certain iPhone 6s and 6s Plus models.
• The issue may affect devices manufactured between October 2018 and August 2019.
• Apple said the program covers affected iPhone 6s and 6s Plus devices for two years after first retail sale.

If you own an iPhone 6s or 6s Plus that was manufactured between October 2018 and August 2019, your device may be eligible for a free repair.

Apparently, the affected models contain a failed part that may prevent them from turning on. As a result, Apple is offering a new repair program, and you can check if your device is eligible by inputing the serial number on Apple's support page.

Apple provides owners with a few different options. You can find an authorized service provider, go to an Apple Store, or contact Apple Support for mail-in service. If your device has a cracked display or any damage that "impairs the ability to complete the repair," you'll have to address that prior to service.

Owners who previously paid to service their iPhone 6s or 6s Plus to fix this issue can apply to receive a refund. Apple said the new repair program covers affected iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus devices for two years after the first retail sale.

What you need to know

• An iPhone was found after spending 15 months at the bottom of a lake.
• The iPhone was inside a plastic sleeve protect that took most of the damage.
• After finding it, the iPhone was returned to its original owner.

We've heard countless stories about iPhones getting accidentally dropped into a body of water, and just when the owner feels like they'll never see their old iPhone again, they somehow find it. Well, it's happened yet again.

YouTuber Nuggetnoggin was scuba diving in a lake when he came across something he didn't expect—an iPhone. The iPhone (which looks it was a rose gold iPhone 6s) was inside of a protective water sleeve that is meant to protect it against water damage. However, it does not protect against drops, which is what the owner did.

When the iPhone was found, the plastic sleeve was covered in grime and dirt, looking as if it had been down there for a while.

After taking it out, the iPhone was taken out and tested and somehow it still worked. That being said, it wasn't like new. The iPhone does turn on, but some perspiration seems to have found itself in, possibly due to humidity.

But it worked, and Nuggetnoggin was able to connect the owner and return the iPhone to her. She said she was devastated when she lost it because she had thought she lost access to a lot of information including the last text messages exchanged with her father before he passed away. It's a touching sentiment, but we also feel compelled to advice her to use iCloud and backup her phone.

The iPhone spent 15 months underwater and lived to tell the tale.

Apple has published a letter explaining the confusion caused by the iOS 10.2.1 update last year that prioritized battery health over peak performance. The company is also offering deep discounts on battery replacements, down from $79 to $29, and has issued a software update that provides far more insight for customers into the state of their battery health. Most recently, Apple has offered a $50 credit to those who replaced their iPhone batteries before the discount program took affect. Here's what you need to know.

January 14, 2018: Apple replaced 11 million batteries — 5x to 10x normal — as part of the discount program

John Gruber, writing for Daring Fireball:

For much of last year, Apple Retail was packed with people waiting to get battery replacements. Anyone who visited the stores with any regularity, or who had even a passing familiarity with Apple Retail itself could easily see how the influx of people could not only become a new small business itself, but in hindsight, following Tim Cook's previous comments, a significant factor in slowing upgrades beyond China.

But, it's great John could put a number to the wide range of assumptions.

January 2, 2018: Tim Cook: Battery replacements impacted iPhone upgrades in Q1 2019

Looks like there was a cost to the battery upgrade program beyond just the parts and the labor. From Tim Cook:

Cook had previously addressed the issue during Apple's Q1 2018 conference call:

October 31, 2018: iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone X join power management program with iOS 12.1

Apple has updated its knowledge base article, adding last year's iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X to the list of devices that, as of iOS 12.1, are included in Apple's performance management system, which tries to maintain battery longevity and prevent unintended shut downs due to spikes in power demand, by throttling down the speeds, where and when necessary.

But, due to iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X's more advanced power management systems to begin with, Apple says it's less likely anyone will notice.

From Apple.com:

As always, if you hate the very idea of performance management, you can keep it off in Settings > Battery. Not adding last year's iPhones, given how lithium ion batteries age, especiallly prematurely if they're exposed to excessive heat or other damage, would have been irresponsible, so whether you use it or not, be glad it's there.

May 23, 2018: Apple offering $50 credit for out-of-warranty iPhone battery replacements

Apple is offering a $50 credit to people who paid for an out-of-warranty battery replacement for iPhone 6 or later. The replacement had to have been done between January 1, 2017 and December 28, 2017, and completed at an Apple Store, Apple Repair Center, or an Apple Authorized Service Provider.

From Apple:

So, if this applies to you, sit tight and wait for your email.

May 9, 2018: iPhone replacement batteries no longer facing shortages

MacRumors:

Good news. If you've been waiting to have your iPhone battery serviced under the replacement plan, you shouldn't be waiting much longer.

March 29, 2018: iOS 11.3 now available with Battery Health

With iOS 11.3, Apple has delivered on its promise to surface battery health information for iPhone users whose devices are subjected to advanced performance management. The new panels, available in Settings > Battery, show current maximum capacity and peak performance capability, and will also inform you if your iPhone is being slowed down, whether it needs service, and will even allow you to turn off advanced power management — now called performance management — if you so choose.

If your iPhone SE, iPhone 6, iPhone 6s, or iPhone 7 had been slowed down due to prevent an unexpected shutdown, iOS 11.3 will restore it to its previous, unmanaged performance levels. Performance management will only kick back in when and if you experience another unexpected shutdown. Until then, it's a clean slate.

Peak performance capability is the ability of your iPhone's battery to supply adequate charge even in the face of highly demanding tasks, up to and including those that cause power spikes.

You can disable performance management in settings as well, though you risk unexpected shutdowns if you do so.

March 1, 2018: Apple testifies about 'iPhone slow' before Canadian Parliamentary Committee

John Poole, the Ontario resident who runs Primate Labs, the makers of Geekbench, and Apple Canada were brought in to testify today in front of a House of Commons committee looking into the recent controversy surrounding iPhone battery throttling.

While the iPhone sold in Canada is identical to iPhones sold in other parts of the world, and iOS on iPhones in Canada is identical to iOS on other iPhones running in other parts of the world, some members of parliament wanted to be seen doing their part for queen and country. And, since battery throttling kicks in when batteries are old or cold — and Canadians not only face extremely cold winter weather but sometimes also prematurely age their iPhones by mounting them in front of heating vents in the cars or leave them on top of heating elements in their homes, we can benefit from the additional exposure and education.

Based on early reports, it sounds like Poole's testimony was substantially in line with what he discussed on the Vector podcast when the story first started breaking.

Apple Canada's statement, issued by Jacqueline Famulak, Manager of Legal and Government Affairs at Apple Canada, was also directly in line with previous statements from Apple in the U.S. and Apple's CEO, Tim Cook.

It's hard to parse how much politicians care about consumers versus how much they care about the spotlight. Hopefully, in this case, the members of parliament are doing their jobs, educating themselves, and working towards policies that truly benefit Canadians, not just news cycles.

January 31, 2018: Apple: iOS 11.3 battery feature update going into beta next month, release this spring

Apple and Tim Cook previously said iOS 11.3 would include new battery features, including information on battery health, notification for batteries that need servicing, and even a way to toggle off the advanced power management that reduces performance on iPhones with degraded batteries to prevent them from shutting down.

In a statement from Apple today, the company let me and other outlets know that those features will first appear in beta next month and in the release version of iOS 11.3 this spring.

And, with regards to the investigations reported yesterday (see below):

January 30, 2018: DOJ and FEC reportedly looking into iPhone power management

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are looking into how Apple handled disclosing the advanced power management (and related performance throttling) introduced in iOS 10.2.1.

From Bloomberg:

Apple included the following in the release notes of iOS 10.2.1:

At the time, Apple also briefed iMore, TechCrunch, and possibly other outlets about the reasons for fix.

Again, from Bloomberg:

Investors really only care about making more money. So, "performance of old iPhones", in this context, likely means, "how the changes could potentially negatively impact the stock price."

January 18, 2017: Apple will let users disable performance throttling introduced last year to prevent unexpected shutdowns

Apple CEO, Tim Cook, has stated that an upcoming iOS software update will let users turn off the advanced power management that prevents unexpected shutdowns by throttling the processor. But they shouldn't.

Speaking to ABC News (transcript via MacRumors):

When people first became upset about the advanced power management in iOS 10.3.1, I suggested Apple should have let the phones shut down once and then, immediately on reboot, offered a button to enable advanced power management to prevent it happening again. That way, I reasoned, people would better understand the problem and that Apple was trying to help extend the useful life of the devices. This is like that but in reverse.

As Cook said, I don't think anyone should disable it. I don't recommend anyone disable it. I don't think anyone who understands why Apple implemented it will even want to disable it. But for those with very specific needs and circumstances, or for whom it's never really been about understanding, the switch will be there.

Cook also said Apple explained what it was doing at the time but that many people probably weren't paying attention and that Apple could have done a better job explaining what was happening and why.

As someone who had the 10.3.2 changes explained to him by Apple at the time, I think it's clear "advanced power management" didn't equate to "performance throttling" in people's minds, regardless of how obvious it might seem in hindsight.

I'd also guess even Apple didn't imagine how noticeable the throttling would become for people with older batteries in extremely poor health.

Apple hasn't said precisely which iOS update will include the new battery health features and advanced power management switch, though iOS 11.3 seems like a likely candidate. Look for it in beta next month and release towards the end of the quarter.

December 30, 2017: Forget mid–January, Apple starting discounted battery replacements now.

What you need to know about Apple's $29 battery replacement program

From Apple:

Specifically, here's what Apple's doing:

To address our customers' concerns, to recognize their loyalty and to regain the trust of anyone who may have doubted Apple's intentions, we've decided to take the following steps:

• Apple is reducing the price of an out-of-warranty iPhone battery replacement by $50 — from $79 to $29 — for anyone with an iPhone 6 or later whose battery needs to be replaced, starting in late January and available worldwide through December 2018. Details will be provided soon on apple.com.
• Early in 2018, we will issue an iOS software update with new features that give users more visibility into the health of their iPhone's battery, so they can see for themselves if its condition is affecting performance.

As always, our team is working on ways to make the user experience even better, including improving how we manage performance and avoid unexpected shutdowns as batteries age.

At Apple, our customers' trust means everything to us. We will never stop working to earn and maintain it. We are able to do the work we love only because of your faith and support — and we will never forget that or take it for granted.

Simultaneously, Apple has published a tech support article that explains in far greater detail what happens with lithium-ion batteries in modern devices like iPhone.

From Apple Support:

Overall, this is the right move from Apple after a series of missteps: It offers clarity on the issue, communication on why it happened, and explanation of how the company will fix it.

We're still digging into everything, and will update again with more information and further analysis ASAP.

The Genesis of "#iPhoneSlow"

How did #iPhoneSlow become an issue? It starts with a simple problem: Aging lithium-ion batteries. It's been two years since iPhone 6s shipped, and three years since iPhone 6.

Two to three years can be a long time for batteries, as we've seen from these Reddit comments:

Once upon a time, you loaded a web page or downloaded an email then spent a few minutes reading, turned off your iPhone, and went back to your day. Now, we have social and gaming apps that keep the screen on while checking GPS, downloading media, showing the camera's live view, and layering on augmented reality near-constantly. The tech industry has been prioritizing power efficiency over performance for years: Processors could always run at redline, but they'd burn the battery out just as fast.

Balancing power and performance is key, and Apple has been addressing this in multiple ways — like systems-on-a-chip with both high-efficiency and high-performance cores, and machine-learning-based power management.

But lithium-ion batteries are lithium-ion batteries. When it comes to older phones or those with poor battery health, Apple begun prioritizing battery life over processor speed in iOS 10.2.1. Here's what Apple told me at the time:

That caused a hit to the phone's performance, but now allowed older iPhone models to last longer throughout the day and keep them from unexpected shutdowns. Here's what I wrote at the time:

But Apple's power management may have been too overly aggressive (or the "battery service" notice in Settings was overly passive). Between Reddit threads and Geekbench tests, a number of users experienced Apple's ramped-up power management without seeing the explanation or understanding why.

After complaints, Apple initially provided iMore with the following statement:

The company has now put a firmer hand on things, rolling out a low-cost battery replacement program and apologizing for the issue. It's in Apple's best interests to keep customers happy so that they remain customers. Likewise, everyone at Apple has friends and family with older iPhones, and I've never gotten anything from anyone there other than a profound desire to keep those iPhones running as well as possible for as long as possible.

Apple would certainly be accused of maleficence either way: If it doesn't provide updates, it's withholding features. If it does, it's overloading. If it prioritizes performance, it's letting old phones die. If it prioritizes battery life, it's slowing them down. It's Apple's job to provide the best balance it can for as many customers as it can, though, and to take any all accusations that come along with it.

The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus has a design flaw which can cause the phone to bend unnaturally. The aluminum used in its construction was not strong enough to stand up to daily usage over a two-year period, causing slightly warped casings that eventually led to disconnections between the display and its touch connection inside the phone.

When it was first discovered, Apple played off the complaints; customers whose phones did experience this defect were harangued on social media and charged $129 to fix the issue. But thanks to internal documents made public due to a class-action lawsuit, we now know (via Vice) that Apple was aware of the problem and worked to make sure future versions of the iPhone would never have the same issues.

Why wasn't this a bigger problem? A combination of the Internet's short attention span, exaggeration on behalf of online personalities, physics, and Apple's impressive crisis management operation came together to make sure we all moved on and happily purchased the next iPhone with its sturdier body.

A self-bending prophecy

There used to be a Verizon Wireless store right down the street from my house, tucked away in a corner of an aging shopping center most folks don't visit much anymore. I loved that store on Apple launch day — there were never lines. While most of my friends waited for UPS to show up or stood for hours in front of an Apple Store, it took me just 17 minutes from the time I left my car to the time I returned to pick up my new iPhone 6. Like I do with every new phone I get, I spent the day customizing it and taking photos for the site I worked for at the time. After a couple of hours, I slid the phone in my front left pocket and hopped in the car to pick my kids up from school.

That trip is about 25 minutes, during which the phone didn't leave my pocket. My left leg is usually pressed up against the drivers-side door, so the phone was in between my leg and the door the entire time I was driving. When I got back out of the car, my boss had sent me a link to a tweet about an iPhone 6 Plus bending at the volume rocker for someone. I laughed, skimmed a related article, and set my phone down on the table.

When I finished reading, I glanced down at my phone and noticed it was not laying flat on the surface of the table. I checked, hadn't set the phone down on something, and the table itself was level. My phone was sitting unevenly, face-down, on a flat surface. I moved my phone to the glass table next to my desk to confirm, and it turned out I was right: My iPhone 6 was bent. It wasn't a huge bend, but it clearly wasn't like that when I took the phone out of the box less than six hours prior. I took some video and photographs, reached out to Apple, and reported my findings when the company didn't respond.

Inside the media maelstrom

The next 24 hours were kind of wild: My Twitter feed erupted with people both in support and accusing me of poor reporting. The BBC asked me on to talk about the problem, which was kinda cool. Lots of people had questions, and I did my best to answer. Was I sure it wasn't just the table that was warped? Why didn't I have the phone in a case? Was I sure I didn't drop the phone? All perfectly reasonable things to ask, many of the same things I would ask if one of my friends were in the same situation. Apple still hadn't responded to my initial request for information, which was unusual, but it was clear the people there were probably very busy.

Meanwhile, the tech media had become fully obsessed with #Bendgate. Some wanted to blame the users for wanting "pretty" things, and YouTube celebrities started bending iPhones live on camera for views. I found all of it absurd, and still do. The bend in my phone was almost imperceptibly slight, but it was there. It made me wonder how this phone would hold up to long-term usage, but at the same time, it seemed unlikely that it was some sort of mass epidemic where phones folded in half with the slightest pressure applied. After all, aluminum as a metal isn't perfect: If you put enough pressure on a weak joint, it's going to bend. And Apple wasn't the only company that suffered problems in this arena, either.

But physics and reality don't always mesh with social media fire and indignation. Conversations quickly leaned to the extreme, and opinions turned dark: My iPhone bent in my pocket because I was fat. I did it on purpose for attention. It was my fault the phone bent because I wasn't using it correctly. I'm no stranger to ruffling the feathers of a few techy folks with my thoughts, but the volume and intensity of these comments caught me off guard.

I even got a heads up from a friend here at Mobile Nations that a forum thread was shut down because it was basically all about insulting me, and my pals here wanted me to know they killed it as soon as they found it. I've spent a lifetime learning how to tune these sorts of things out, but even so, the messages carried on for almost a year across social media, email, and anywhere else these people could reach me.

Bending the narrative

Amidst all of the media speculation, social media fire, and YouTube fury, where was Apple in all of this? The company ran its now-typical playbook for these sorts of issues: deflection, repositioning, and targeted information.

After several days of silence, the company told various media outlets that only nine people had come forward with bend issues; PR representatives also walked a handful of reporters through a stress test facility to show how Apple tested the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus for durability against other phones. In Apple's tests, the iPhone 6 was even stronger than competing phones in a few of these tests.

But based on the reports, Apple's tests didn't appear to apply pressure in the place where I experienced my own iPhone 6 warping. For all its high-quality photography and detailed explanations, the iPhone test lab didn't address the issue in any functional way — it was there to assuage the general concerns of the crowd. This was a non-issue, a classic example of people blowing an issue with an iPhone way out of proportion because Apple negativity gets clicks. This was just physics, after all.

Non-solutions to a non-issue

Internally, however, we now know Apple was fully aware of this problem. (Giving the company some credit, the design team immediately went to work preventing the same sort of issue in future iPhone versions.) But while we may never see another #bendgate, there's a danger in the way both Apple and the tech media have handled these sorts of narratives: By brushing off the problem publicly and providing no real relief for affected customers beyond "buy the next model,"Apple gives users little comfort that the next issue will be addressed in an appropriate manner. (We may already be seeing it with Apple's Macbook Pro keyboard issues.)

When manufacturing as many devices as the tech sphere does, you're going to see a few defects. That's just a fact. But Apple's prominence in this space means that every YouTube and tech blogging personality wants to join the complex dance of simultaneously hyping up an issue for your attention or downplaying it as something you shouldn't worry about. In turn, this keeps Apple from commenting on it publicly for fear of making the story even bigger, and when the signal to noise ratio reaches deafening levels, people tune out and move on to the next thing. Those who suffered problems? You're doing something wrong, and your only recourse is to pay a fee or upgrade.

Throughout all of this, the users lose. We lose transparency. We lose out on knowing about internal fixes and Genius repair programs and outright recalls. We lose money as we shrug and chalk up the extra cost as just part of owning a smartphone or laptop in 2018.

Bendgate was a stupid name for a manufacturing defect. It was overhyped and drove everyone crazy. But it wasn't a non-existent problem, and affected users deserved more than a handwave and some high-quality photographs. When it takes a lawsuit to force a company to talk about an issue more than four years later, we all lose.

Because if this cycle continues, there's little evidence to suggest history won't repeat itself with a different defect, a different problem. And then we lose all over again.

Lithium-ion batteries do not last forever. As iPhones age, declines in battery life can cause unexpected shutdowns or render your device too slow to function. While Apple now has a number of ways you can address this problem including a new Battery Health section in Settings, if your battery has dropped below peak capacity it's time to consider a replacement. There are a few different options before you consider a DIY repair, so read below!

• How to replace a broken iPhone 6 battery
• Required tools and parts
• Remove the Screen
• Disconnect the cables
• Replace the battery
• Put it all back together

Make an appointment with Apple

Apple's $29 battery replacement program is simple and inexpensive for iPhone 6 owners — assuming you have the time for an Apple store or Apple Authorized Service Representative visit and they have the part in stock. (Stores have reported a 2-3 month wait for certain battery replacements, including iPhone 6 models.)

Start a repair request

Repair the battery yourself

You can pull off the iPhone 6 battery yourself using our handy DIY guide. So if Apple doesn't have your iPhone battery in stock, don't fret.

Always make sure to back up your phone before any repair.

• Find a work area with bright lighting - iPhone components are small and you'll want plenty of light.
• Keep a clean, organized workspace so you don't lose or confuse any components.
• Group your screws so you can keep track of where they came from. Most screws are not interchangeable.
• Apply enough heat to loosen adhesive but not enough to damage the device.
• At any point during a repair, if the adhesive becomes hard to separate, apply more heat.
• After separating adhesive, keep the housing and screen in close proximity until flex cable is disconnected.

How to replace a broken iPhone 6 battery

The iPhone 6 battery is difficult to remove and replace: Several flex cables can be torn easily, so proceed carefully.

Obviously, you need a replacement battery, but you're going to need some tools as well if you're going to do this right.

• iPhone 6 battery
• Metal spudger
• Phillips head srewdriver
• Pentalobe screwdriver
• Spudger
• Tweezers

While not required to repair your iPhone, we also recommend you use a magnetic mat and screw capsules to keep everything organized. iPhones are full of tiny screws; mats and screw capsules will help you keep them on your table and not lost on the floor.

1. Unscrew the two pentalobe screws on either side of the lightning dock on the bottom edge of the iPhone 6.
2. Use the metal spudger to slowly and carefully separate the glass screen of the iPhone from the body. Start on the bottom edge of the device and proceed slowly. The flex cable for the screen is at the top.

3. Slowly pull the top of the screen away from the body and locate the EMI (electromagnetic interference) shield located by the bottom right of the battery.

4. Unscrew the two screws securing the EMI shield to the logic board and remove it.

5. Using a spudger, disconnect the battery cable from the logic board.

6. Start removing the screen from the logic board. The screen's flex cable connectors are held onto the logic board with a metal shield plate. This plate has 5 Phillips screws that must be removed to be able to disconnect the flex cables from the logic board with a plastic spudger. Make sure you remove these screws and mark where they go. Incorrect placement will cause long screw damage to the logic board.

Two strips of white adhesive underneath the battery hold it in place. The best way to remove the battery is to roll and pull these strips out with tweezers.

1. Position your tweezer tip under the black adhesive at the bottom of the battery as shown.

2. Press the tweezer tip about halfway across the bottom of the battery.

3. Now roll your tweezers, pulling the white adhesive out from under the battery. Simultaneously pull the tweezers away from the phone.

4. There is another strip of adhesive under the battery on the iPhone 6. Use the same technique to roll and pull the other strip of adhesive.

5. Use a plastic spudger to gently pry the battery away from the base. If you pry from the logic board side, do not use the logic board for leverage as you might damage it.

6. With adhesive tape, affix the replacement battery into place with gentle pressure.

1. Reconnect the front-facing camera flex, LCD cable, digitizer cable and home button flex cable to the logic board.
2. Screw in the display cable EMI shield using four Philips head screws.
3. Reconnect the battery connector. Use your plastic spudger to put it in place then press gently down with your finger to connect, distributing the pressure evenly to not damage the flex connector.

4. Screw in the battery connector EMI shield with two Phillips head screws. The larger screw goes in closest to the battery.

5. Fold the screen over the body. Insert the top of the screen into the frame first. Proceed carefully, it will click back into place but don't press too hard on the glass.

6. Screw in the two pentalobe screws that go on either side of the lightning port.

Run into trouble?

If you have any other questions about swapping out your iPhone 6's battery, or if you find this iPhone 6 repair too complicated to attempt on your own, check out iMore's repair partner iFixYouri online at www.ifixyouri.com or at 888-494-4349.

No lithium-ion battery lasts forever: As your iPhone ages, declines in battery life can cause unexpected shutdowns or render your device too slow to function. While Apple now has a number of ways you can address this problem including a new Battery Health section in Settings, if your battery has dropped below peak capacity, it's worth considering a replacement.

There are several ways to replace a bad iPhone battery, depending on your monetary situation and free time.

• Get Apple to fix it
• Fix it yourself
• Required tools and parts
• Open the iPhone
• Disconnect the cables
• Replace the battery
• Put it all back together

Make an appointment with Apple

Apple's $29 battery replacement program is simple and inexpensive for iPhone 6s owners — assuming you have the time to visit an Apple Store or Apple Authorized Service Representative and they have the parts in stock. (Some stores have a 2-3 month waiting list for certain battery replacements, including the iPhone 6s.)

Start a repair request

Repair the battery yourself

If Apple doesn't have your iPhone's battery in stock, never fear: You can swap out the iPhone 6s battery yourself using our handy DIY guide.

Always make sure to back up your phone before any repair.

• Always use good lighting - smart device components are small and you'll need plenty of light to see what you are doing.
• Maintain a clean, organized workspace so you don't lose or confuse any components.
• Group your screws so you can keep track of where they came from. Most screws cannot be interchanged.
• Apply enough heat to loosen adhesive but not enough to damage the device.
• At any point during a repair, if the adhesive becomes hard to separate, apply more heat.
• After separating adhesive, keep the housing and screen in close proximity until flex cable is disconnected.

How to replace a broken iPhone 6s battery

The iPhone 6s battery is difficult to remove and replace: Several flex cables can be torn easily, so proceed carefully.

Not only will need a new battery, you're going to need some tools if you're going to do this right. Or at all.

• iPhone 6s battery
• Metal spudger
• Phillips head srewdriver
• Pentalobe screwdriver
• Spudger
• Tweezers
• Adhesive
• Dehydrator, heat gun, or heat mat

While not required to repair your iPhone, we also recommend you use a magnetic mat and screw capsules to keep everything organized. You're going to be working with some tiny screws here; these will help you keep them on your table and not lost on the floor.

1. Remove the two pentalobe screws on the bottom edge of the phone. They are on either side of the lightning port.

2. Using the metal spudger, slowly and carefully separate the screen of the iPhone from the body. Start on the bottom edge by the Lightning port and proceed slowly.

3. Continue using the metal spudger or use playing cards or guitar picks to separate the adhesive from the sides and top. Don't push the metal spudger too far into the device.

4. The bottom side of the screen can now be pulled away from the body. The flex cable connecting the screen to the battery will still be attached near the top, so exercise caution.

1. Remove the two Phillips screws securing the battery connector EMI shield.

2. After the shield is off, use a plastic spudger to disconnect the battery from the logic board.

3. Remove the following four Phillips screws securing the display cable EMI shield and set the shield aside.

4. Use a plastic spudger to disconnect the front camera flex cable, digitizer cable, LCD cable and home button flex cable by prying it straight up from its socket on the logic board.

5. Remove the LCD assembly of the iPhone 6s from the body.

There are two strips of white adhesive underneath the battery. The best way to take out the battery is to roll and pull the strips out using tweezers.

1. Slide your tweezer tip under the black adhesive at the bottom of the battery as shown.

2. Push your tweezer tip about halfway across the bottom of the battery.

3. Roll your tweezers, pulling the white adhesive out from under the battery. At the same time, pull the tweezers away from the phone.

4. There is one more strip of adhesive under the battery on the 6s. Use the same roll and pull technique to remove the other strip.

5. If you snap a piece of adhesive, you will have to use a plastic spudger to gently pry the battery off the base. If you pry from the logic board side, do not use the logic board for leverage as you may damage it.

6. Remove the battery from the body of the phone.

7. Using adhesive tape, affix the replacement battery into place with gentle pressure.

1. Reconnect the front-facing camera flex, lcd cable, ditizer cable and home button flex cable to the logic board.
2. Screw in the display cable EMI shield using four Philips head screws.

3. Reconnect the battery connector. Use your plastic spudger to put it in place then press gently down with your finger to connect, distributing the pressure evenly to not damage the flex connector.

4. Screw in the battery connector EMI shield with two Phillips head screws. The larger screw goes in closest to the battery.

5. Fold the screen over the body. Insert the top of the screen into the frame first. Proceed carefully, it will click back into place but don't press too hard on the glass.

6. Screw in the two pentalobe screws that go on either side of the lightning port.

Run into trouble?

If you have any other questions about swapping out your iPhone 6s's battery, or if you find this iPhone 6s repair too complicated to attempt on your own, check out iMore's repair partner iFixYouri online at www.ifixyouri.com or at 888-494-4349.

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus came out a couple of years ago, and in the last little while, upgrades and updates have made other older iPhones obsolete, bringing people to ask the question: Is the iPhone 6 Plus even worth using anymore?

I'm under the strong impression that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!", but what do you think? We're chatting about the iPhone through the years in the iMore forums and would love to hear your opinion!

Some people claim that the iPhone 6 Plus is still great, citing that others are still attached and loyal to their iPhone 5s...

While others say that their iPhone 6 Plus still has an "outstanding battery life", despite it's age...

But what do you think?

Hop on into the iMore forums and join the discussion today to let us know if you think the iPhone 6 Plus is worth hanging onto – or if it's time for an upgrade (got your eye on the iPhone 8? Let us know!).

Join the discussion on the iMore forum!

Color is one of the most visually distinctive and personal things about a new iPhone, which makes it one of the most important choices you'll have to make. The original iPhone only came in aluminum and black, but now Apple offers iPhone 7 in silver, gold, rose gold, (matte) black, jet black, or (Product) RED.

If you're on the fence about which finish to get, here's what you need to consider!

• Distraction dangers
• Discoloration doubts
• Withstanding wear
• Slick vs. stick
• Cases closed
• Coolness concerns
• Who should get the (Product) RED iPhone 7?
• Who should get (matte) black?
• Who should get silver?
• Who should get gold or rose gold?
• Who should get jet black?
• How to sell your old iPhone
• See iPhone at Apple

Distraction dangers

The (matte) black and jet black iPhones 7 have a black faceplate. That means when the display is off, dark, or filled with full-screen content like videos or games, the border fades away and you can immerse yourself in what you're doing. TV sets almost always have black bezels for a reason. It makes the frame easy to ignore.

The silver, gold, rose gold, and (Product) RED iPhones have white faceplates. That means when the display is lit up, especially for the standard iOS interfaces and for reading on the web, in ebooks, or in messaging apps, there's no dark border framing everything you do. It's why books are almost always uniformly light or white.

I've had iPhones of every color, used each for at least a year, and never found any of the faceplates to be distracting or distasteful. Everyone is different, though.

• If you watch a lot of videos or play a lot of games, the (matte) black or jet black iPhone might make things more immersive for you.
• If you read a lot of text or use a lot of standard apps, the silver, gold, or rose gold iPhone may make the pages feel broader and more expansive.

Discoloration doubts

One thing that shouldn't worry anyone anymore is the idea that the white faceplate on the silver, gold, rose gold, or (Product) RED iPhone could get stained or otherwise discolored.

We've all learned to be deeply anxious when we wear white clothes or have white furniture or carpets for that very reason. Apple, though, took an extra six months to ship the white iPhone 4 and in that time the company nailed it.

My iPhone 4 still looks as clean and crisp as the day I bought it in 2011, and all the subsequent iPhones I've bought with white faceplates have stayed every bit as bright.

Likewise the backs. All the space grays, silvers, golds, and the most recent rose gold have all kept their colors exactly.

• If you're worried about an iPhone with a white faceplate staining or discoloring, or the metallic finishes fading, stop. It'll be fine.

Withstanding wear

iPhones have aluminum bodies with anodized finishes. Apple's system is tougher than standard anodization but isn't gloppy looking like some of the ultra-tough treatments. They are metal, though, and so can be scratched.

On the silver iPhones, small scratches have less contrast, which makes them harder to see, depending on the lighting. Gold and rose gold iPhones are somewhere in the middle. (Matte) black iPhones have a higher contrast, so scratches are a bit more noticeable. Jet black? Shiny finishes scuff easily.

Some people won't care. To them, aging is part of what makes great objects great, like an old leather bag, favorite t-shirt, or the Millennium Falcon. Others don't ever want to see any wear.

• If you hate the look of scratches, silver iPhones are your best bet.
• If you like one of the other colors more, you can learn to love the wear or get a protective case.

Slick vs. stick

The (matte) black, silver, gold, rose gold, and (Product) RED iPhone 7 all have anodized aluminum finishes, same as the iPhone 6s and previous years, going all the way back to the iPhone 5. So, if you've used a previous generation iPhone, you know how they feel. iPhone 6s was slightly less slippery than iPhone 6, and iPhone 7 is slightly less slippery again, but if you're worried you may drop it, you'll want to get a case regardless of the color.

Except for the jet black iPhone 7. You'll still want to get a case to avoid scuffs, but the finish is so polished it's actually far less slippery than any other metal iPhone. It's almost... sticky.

• If you don't have a problem with metal phones, get any color or get a case and you'll be fine.
• If you want an iPhone that isn't as slippery, get the jet black iPhone 7 — though you'll likely still want a case.

Cases closed

If you're the type of person who immediately locks your new iPhone up in a heavy-duty case or wallet, you might think the color doesn't matter so much. Fair enough.

Most cases will still show some of the color though, be it the Apple logo, ports, edges, or the faceplate. In other words, just because you'll be wearing a jacket doesn't mean you the clothes beneath don't matter.

Cases can absolutely be used to change up a look, but you should still be happy with the basic look. Choose a color you love, then add a case you love to complete it.

• If you want your case to "pop", a black or silver iPhone will let the accessory be the star.
• If you want your case to complement or fade away, a gold, rose gold or (Product) RED iPhone will share the stage.

Coolness concerns

Silver has a classic elegance about it, and gold gets attention. (Its more champagne than chintz, though, so it doesn't come off as overly tacky.) Rose gold is similar, but for those who want to take it to the next level.

This year, though, black is back and it's doubly hot. There's "black", which has a matte finish, and "jet black", which has a gloss finish. Jet black will be the one that tells everyone at a glance you have the latest, greatest iPhone, so it'll be the one people get to impress.

• If you want a classic, stick with (matte) black or silver.
• If you want some extra flair, go with gold or rose gold.
• If you want to make a statement, consider jet black.

Who should get the (Product) RED iPhone 7?

If you want the latest hotness — literal five-alarm fire, all-the-hearts hottness — and kicking in an extra $100 above the base iPhone 7 price to support the charity and its work fighting AIDS, then you want the (Product) RED iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus.

• How to sell your old iPhone
• See iPhone at Apple

Who should get the (matte) black iPhone 7?

If you want a color that won't distract you when you game or watch video, that absolutely won't discolor, even if it does show wear and tear a little more visibly, that's closer to timeless even if it's also more reserved, then get the matte black iPhone 7 (or the space gray iPhone 6s or iPhone SE.)

It's the classic for a reason.

• How to sell your old iPhone
• See iPhone at Apple

Who should get the silver iPhone 7?

If you want a color that isn't so dark but still doesn't call a lot of attention to itself, and that doesn't show scuffs and scrapes as much, then get the silver and white iPhone 7 is for you (or silver iPhone 6s or iPhone SE.)

• How to sell your old iPhone
• See iPhone at Apple

Who should get the gold or rose gold iPhone 7?

If you like the luxury look, aren't distracted by white borders, don't mind the middle ground when it comes to how wear and tear shows, and basically know bling is your thing, get the gold or rose gold iPhone 7 (or gold or rose gold iPhone 6s or iPhone SE.)

• How to sell your old iPhone
• See iPhone at Apple

Who should get the jet black iPhone 7?

If you've always wanted an iPhone as dark and shiny as Darth Vader, if you want a singular object where you can barely see a seem or line, or if you simply want the latest and for everyone to know you have the greatest, then get the jet black iPhone 7 and enjoy!

• How to sell your old iPhone
• See iPhone at Apple

Still undecided?

If you're still not sure about which color you should get, jump into our iPhone forums and the best community on the web will happily help you out.

At the end of the day, the only real answer is this — get the color you like best. Nothing else matters. Just close your eyes, picture your iPhone in your hand, and pay attention to what color you're picturing. Then buy that. And if you change your mind later, you can get a case.

Once you've decided, tell me — which one are you getting?

Apple will be releasing a new version the iPhone 6 at select carriers throughout Asia as an entry-level device. The new configuration, a 32GB model in gold, has been available in China since late last month, and will arrive at Taiwan Mobile on March 10.

For it's part, Taiwan Mobile (translated from Chinese) is calling the device a "limited edition" product:

Taiwan Mobile customers will be able to get this new iPhone 6 for free with a 30 month contract for NT$1,399 (US$45.20) per month.

This is a brand new configuration of the iPhone 6, which while previously available in gold, launched in the fall of 2014 in 16, 64, and 128GB configurations. It should be noted that as of right now, this iPhone is only available through carriers, and is not being sold directly by Apple, either at Apple Stores or online. At this time, it does not seem to be making its way to the United States.

For a while now there have been reports of some older iPhone models, namely iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s, shutting down unexpectedly. Apple introduced some diagnostics into iOS 10.2 back in December to try and determine what was happening and, with iOS 10.2.1, they've rolled out a fix.

My understanding is that, if a particularly processor-intensive task, such as a complex photo filter, caused a significant spike in power demand, an older battery unable to meet that demand could prompt a shutdown. So, by improving the advanced battery management in iOS 10.2.1, Apple has reduced the likelihood of that happening.

Batteries do age with time and charge cycles, though. To help with awareness, Apple is adding a service notice to Settings > Battery in iOS 2.1. It's similar to the one already in place on the Mac. Anyone with a particularly weak battery who still experiences the issue should contact AppleCare.

You can also take steps to prevent your battery from aging prematurely. Apple offers a set of battery best practices available.

In general, though, Lithium Ion doesn't like getting too hot or too cold. Don't leave your iPhone on your car's dash board or beneath the hot sun in summer, or in a mount nf front of a hot car vent in winter. Likewise, don't leave it out in the ice and snow.

Technical elements aside, I like how Apple solved for this. Phones are complex, but Apple controls the whole widget from atom to bit to pixel. Getting new diagnostics into a previous update, collecting data, figuring out the problem, and then rolling out the solution in a subsequent beta isn't just clever, it's smart.

You can criticize how long troubleshooting sometimes takes or how Apple almost never communicates during the process, but the "measure as many times as needed, cut once" approach has so far produced good results. It's also one of the primary reasons I use an iPhone. No janky outsourced support, no carriers getting in the way of updates, just issues getting fixed.

If you were experiencing the shutdowns on iPhone 6 or iPhone 6s, let me know how iOS 10.2.1 worked for you!

Updated February 2017 to add new cases to the list.

Ultra-thin iPhone 6s cases are a great choice if you're looking for a product that doesn't distract from the beauty of your phone, keeping it thin and light and adding (at least) a bit of protection along the way!

There are dozens of options for super-thin cases out there, so we took a look at a few minimalist cases that'll add the least amount of heft to your iPhone 6s.

Here are the best and thinnest cases available for your iPhone 6s!

• PaperCase
• Shumuri Slim
• Peel Super-Thin iPhone 6s case
• The Veil
• Luvvitt ultra slim soft cover
• Spigen AirSkin

PaperCase

Incredibly thin, minimalist, and barely-there, the PaperCase from CrayCases is a super reliable option for your iPhone 6s!

Designed to hide smudges or fingerprints, and built to wrap securely and fit your iPhone 6s perfectly, the PaperCase is free of all branding and perfect for someone who not only wants a slim fitting case, but also a little additional protection around your iPhone 6s's camera lens: a slight bezel keeps your camera protected from scratches and scrapes.

Not only is the case super minimalist, but it only weighs around 4gs, making it ultra lightweight. You can pick up your PaperCase in gold, silver, space gray, and rose gold, so you can match your case perfectly to your iPhone.

Oh! And it's pretty inexpensive at only $15.99!

See at CrayCases

Shumuri Slim

The Shumuri Slim iPhone 6s case is incredibly thin and light, offering a great option if you want a minimalist-looking accessory for your iPhone 6s.

At just 0.3mm, the Shumuri Slim doesn't feel like it's adding anything to your iPhone's bulk but still manages to provide full-body protection from dust and small scratches — though it admittedly won't do much for drop protection. You might want to go with something a little tougher if that's your main concern.

But if you're looking for something super-skinny and stylish, the Slim's frosted texture comes in four different flavors: gray, clear, blue, and pink.

See at Shumuri

Peel Super-Thin iPhone 6s case

The Peel's super-thin iPhone 6s case is a case so inconspicuous and tiny, it acts like a second skin for your iPhone 6s.

Logo-free with four color options that mirror the iPhone's own – silver, Space Gray, gold, and rose gold – the Peel's case is perfectly formed to fit your iPhone 6s snugly and securely. At just 0.35mm, this ultra-thin case isn't the most protective, but a subtle raised bezel protects the camera lens from scratches and bumps.

If you want something that'll have people questioning if you even have a case on your iPhone 6s at all, then Peel's super-thin case is worth checking out.

See at Peel

The Veil

Thin and inconspicuous, the 0.35mm Veil is perfect for all the minimalists of the world who are tired of the unnecessary bulk and clutter of big, ugly cases.

You can pick up the Veil in either a classic matte black or an electric matte blue color, and with its lack of logos and glitz, The Veil is the perfect iPhone 6s case if you want something with a little extra pop of color but not too much clutter.

Like most ultra-thin iPhone 6s cases, the Veil isn't the most protective accessory for your iPhone, but a 0.7mm ridge bordering the Veil's camera cut-out prevents your lens from scratching while it's laying flat, and its precise design allows full access to all buttons and ports without taking the case on and off.

See at Amazon

Luvvitt ultra slim soft cover

You're bound to fall in luv with Luvvitt's ultra-slim soft cover for the iPhone 6s when you see how thin and form-fitting it is.

Designed with high-quality Japanese TPU/rubber, this ultra-slim case is only 0.6mm thick, making it the perfect companion for your iPhone if you're looking for something that acts like a second skin.

Luvvitt's clear case also comes with full access to all buttons and ports, so you don't have to take it off your iPhone 6s to charge it every night or run the risk of dropping it without the case securely on.

See at Amazon

Spigen AirSkin

With Spigen's 0.5mm iPhone 6s case AirSkin, you can keep the original shape, size, and beauty of your iPhone 6s intact.

Its hard polypropylene material is semi-flexible and securely fits onto your iPhone 6s for lightweight, bulk-free, and form-fitting protection. The case covers all sides for scratch protection, while a frosted finish delivers a translucent look for a sleek, minimalist style.

If you're looking for a case that's barely there, then check out Spigen's AirSkin.

See at Amazon

What's your pick?

Is there an iPhone 6s case that's so thin, it mid as well be plastic wrap? Let us know your top picks for the absolute thinnest iPhone 6s case in the comments below!

While some people like bright and bold colors, others people prefer the original look of the iPhone: as Apple intended it #ApplePurist.

Unfortunately, carrying a naked iPhone around makes a lot of people nervous, so if you're someone that prefers the naked look but still would like some kind of protection, these are currently our favorite transparent cases for the[iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone 6s Plus!

Oh! Have a regular sized iPhone 6 or iPhone 6s instead? We've got clear case recommendations for you, too!

Case choices & original descriptions have been updated with more details and information on the products.

• Case-Mate Naked Tough Case
• Case-Mate Tough Air Case
• Poetic Atmosphere Series
• Griffin Reveal Case
• Power Support Air Jacket
• Case Ace Crystal Clear

Case-Mate Naked Tough Case

Sleek, slim and barely there, the Case-Mate Naked Tough Case is a protective yet clear accessory to pair with your iPhone 6 Plus.

Case-Mate's Naked Tough Case offers a bumper and case shell layer that are separate, adding an additional layer of protection to your iPhone 6 Plus. The buttons are super easy to press and this case fits snug and securely around your phone.

Case-Mate uses a great material that doesn't stick to your pockets either, but still manages to keep a firm grip to almost any surface. You can either pick this case up in clear or if you want to switch it up a bit, go with the clear smoke or the champagne/sheer glam version with sparkles.

See at Amazon

Case-Mate Tough Air Case

While not the most minimalist clear case for your iPhone 6 Plus, the Case-Mate Tough Air Case is super thin, impact-resistant, and perfect for anyone looking for a simple-to-use case.

The Case-Mate Tough Air case is thin and has easily pushable, metal buttons, whilet he inside of the back of the case is lined with tiny textured squares that gives this iPhone 6 Plus accessory a little bit more shock protection than some other options.

While the case itself is clear, you can choose from two types of bumper/bezel colors, including black, turquoise, lime, hot pink, and purple.

See at Amazon

Poetic Atmosphere Series

Poetic's Atmosphere series is not only a bargain, it's one of the only silicon/hard shell cases that adds next to no bulk, making it the perfect day-to-day iPhone 6 Plus case!

It may not be as grippy and sturdy as some of the other clear cases available, but it feels extra secure in your hand. It also has tons of fun colors available for the frame edges, if that's your thing. You can of course opt for straight up clear.

The case itself is made from a dual-injected polycarbonate material that's designed with a raised bezel for additional screen and camera protection for your iPhone 6 Plus.

See at Amazon

Griffin Reveal Case

If you're looking for a clear case that's not only perfectly transparent, but also super duper thin, then we suggest taking a peek at the Griffin Reveal Case.

The Griffin Reveal case offers a transparent back on your iPhone 6 Plus and lets you pick either clear, pink, or back edges. The polycarbonate material adds a little extra grip and additionally protects your iPhone from minor surface scuffs and scratches.

While some cases can add a fair deal of bulk to your iPhone, the Griffin Reveal Case adds a little over a millimeter in thickness. The inside of the case is lined with a protective rubber lining, making it safe in the event of a small drop or fall.

The best thing about the Griffin Reveal? How easy it is to take on and off!

See at Amazon

Power Support Air Jacket

If you don't like branding on cases, and prefer the minimalist, basic look, then the Power Support Air Jacket is worth checking into for you and your iPhone 6 Plus!

A perfectly clear case that perfectly encases your iPhone 6 Plus in a truly clear and unmarked shell, the Power Support Air Jacket feels great in the hand and even comes in a few different finish styles including clear, smoke, and matte. And if clear isn't your thing, there's a solid black option as well!

The only downside to the case is that it's so sleek and minimal that it doesn't have a bezel to protect against dropping your iPhone 6 Plus on its face, so if you're someone who shatters their iPhone screen quite a bit or is tough with their tech, then the Power Support Air Jacket might not be necessarily for you.

See at Amazon

Case Ace Crystal Clear

Inexpensive, highly-rated online, durable, and reliable, the Case Ace Crystal Clear case is a transparently fantastic option to consider for your iPhone 6 Plus.

The Case Ace is a favorite budget clear case for both the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. It may be on the cheaper end of the spectrum but it feels great, doesn't pick up dust and lint, and provides a decent amount of protection.

Designed from a premium silicone material that's meant to repel the harsh outside world, the Case Ace fits snuggly and securely to your iPhone 6 Plus without any of the additional bulk.

As a bonus, the buttons are easy to push and it doesn't seem to stretch out too badly over time like some other cases. Plus, for less than $10, you just can't beat the quality!

See at Amazon

What's your clear case favorite?

If you prefer to keep your iPhone 6 Plus in a clear case, which one is currently your favorite? Let us know in the comments below and we'll be sure to check it out!

In addition to the brand new iPhone 7, Apple still offers the previous-generation iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, and iPhone SE. That way, if you don't want the latest and the greatest, you have less-expensive alternatives. In terms of specs, many of them are similar — Touch ID, Apple Pay, Hey Siri, Live Photos. There are some major differences though, including 3D Touch, FaceTime camera, and size. Understanding those differences and figuring out which ones matter to you the most will help you decide between them. Here's what you need to know!

See iPhone at Apple

How to sell your old iPhone

Size

iPhone SE has a 4-inch screen with 1136x640 pixels at 326 ppi. That's the same size as the old iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s. It means everything from apps to games to the web will look smaller, including text and pictures.

iPhone 6s has a 4.7-inch screen with 1336x750 pixels at 326 ppi, and the iPhone 6s Plus has a 5.5-inch screen with a 1920x1080-pixel screen at 401 ppi. That means, with iPhone 6s, you get more of everything, and with iPhone 6s Plus you get much more, including the ability to run iPad-style (two column) apps in landscape mode.

Here's how they compare:

Conversely, iPhone SE will more easily fit in your hand, your pocket, and your bag. It's 4.87 inches (123.8 mm) high, 2.31 inches (58.6 mm) wide, 0.30 inch (7.6 mm) deep, and weighs 3.95 ounces (112 grams).

iPhone 6s, by contrast, is 5.44 inches (138.3 mm) high, 2.64 inches (67.1 mm) wide, 0.28 inch (7.1 mm) deep, and weighs 4.87 ounces (138 grams). And iPhone 6s Plus is 6.23 inches (158.2 mm) high, 3.07 inches (77.9 mm) wide, 0.29 inch (7.3 mm) deep, and weighs 6.77 ounces (192 grams)

• If you want a bigger screen so you can see and do more, go for iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus.
• If you want a smaller phone you can more easily hold and carry, go for iPhone SE.

Reachability

The 4-inch iPhone SE is small enough the most people can reach every corner of the display, even with a single hand and thumb. The 4.7-inch iPhone 6s and 5.5-inch iPhone 6s Plus, not so much.

To make up for the more expansive displays, Apple introduced Reachability mode. Simply tap — not press! — the Home button twice and the entire interface shifts halfway down so you can more easily access the controls at the top.

• If you want constant one-handed ease of use, get an iPhone SE.
• If you can manage the big or bigger sizes, Reachability mode can help with iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus.

Visual accessibility

If you don't want more pixels but just want bigger pixels, iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus can do that too. Thanks to Display Zoom, you can tell an iPhone 6s to use the iPhone SE interface and magnify it up, or tell an iPhone 6s Plus to use the iPhone 6s interface and magnify it up.

• If a bigger interface is necessary for you to see and interact with your iPhone, get an iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus and use Display Zoom.
• If physical accessibility is more important to — being able to comfortably hold the phone — get the iPhone SE if that fits you better.

Productivity

The iPhone 6s Plus has so many pixels that, in landscape mode, it acts like an iPad. Mail goes from one column to two columns. So does Messages, Notes, and a host of other apps. Safari gets tabs and the rest of the tablet treatment. It may not sound like much but it's a huge boon for productivity.

• If you like the idea of having a big iPhone in portrait and a tiny iPad in landscape, get the iPhone 6s Plus.

Camera

iPhone SE and iPhone 6s have the same rear-facing iSight camera. It's 12 megapixels and can shoot 4K video. They also share Apple's A9 image signal processor (ISP), focus pixels for faster image acquisition, and Live Photos, which lets you capture movement and sound along with the moment. iPhone 6s Plus adds optical image stabilization (OIS) to reduce motion blur, especially in low-light.

The front-mounted FaceTime camera, though, is a different story. iPhone 6s has 5 megapixels. iPhone SE, only 1.2.

• If you want the best camera of the bunch, that's iPhone 6s Plus.
• If selfies are important to you, you'll want iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus,
• If you just want a tiny pocket phone, iPhone SE will do you fine.

3D Touch + Taptic Engine

iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus have 3D Touch, which is the name Apple uses for pressure sensitivity on the iPhone. It's a shortcut system or "warp tunnel" through iOS that lets you do everything faster. You can press an app to go right to an action. You can press a message or link and peek at a preview. If it interests you, you can press deeper and pop into it. It uses the Taptic Engine, a form of haptics, to provide tactile feedback for the presses.

iPhone SE, despite all its other upgrades, didn't get 3D Touch.

• If you like the idea of 3D Touch, you'll need to go for iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus.
• If you don't care about 3D Touch, get any of them, including iPhone SE.

Battery life

iPhone SE gets tremendously great battery life. Up to 14 hours of talk, 10 days standby, 13 hours of web browsing and video playback, and 50 hours of audio.

iPhone 6s gets just as tremendous battery life. Up to 14 hours of talk, 10 days standby, 11 hours of web browsing and wireless video playback, and 40 hours of wireless audio.

iPhone 6s Plus gets crazy good battery life. Up to 24 hours of talk, 16 days of standby, 12 hours of web browsing, 14 hours of wireless video, and 80 hours of wireless audio.

• If battery life matter most to you, and you don't want to use an external battery case or power bank, get the iPhone 6s Plus.

Who should get iPhone SE?

If you want the smallest iPhone available, one that'll fit into the smallest pocket or pouch, but still has a fairly recent processor and camera, you want iPhone SE.

See at Apple

Who should get iPhone 6s?

If you want an iPhone that's still a phone, with all the power but not all of the bulk, then you want iPhone 6s.

See at Apple

Who should get the iPhone 6s Plus?

If you want the biggest screen possible, the longest battery life available, and a camera with optical image stabilization, get iPhone 6s Plus.

See at Apple

Still undecided?

If you're still not sure about which iPhone to get, jump into our iPhone discussion forums and the best community in mobile will happily help you out.

If you've dropped, smashed, or otherwise chipped your iPhone 6s or 6s Plus screen, you likely want to repair it. There are several ways to repair or replace a broken iPhone screen, depending on your monetary situation and free time. Here are a couple, in order of easiest (and cheapest) to most complicated.

Buy a screen protector

If your screen is shattered but relatively intact, you can put off a potentially costly repair by sealing the broken pieces behind a screen protector. I'll note that this is a temporary measure, and one I generally recommend for screens that are cracked, but not completely destroyed — it can keep the cracks from worsening or pieces of the screen from falling apart, but eventually you'll need to replace the screen.

• See at Amazon
• Best iPhone 6s and 6s Plus Accessories
• How to replace a tempered glass screen protector

Make an appointment with Apple

The iPhone 6s and 6s Plus screens have complicated technology embedded within them, including the Touch ID sensor, Home Button, 3D Touch display, and FaceTime front-facing camera. As such, a cracked iPhone screen can be a real hassle to replace.

Luckily, if you purchased AppleCare+ with your iPhone, a screen repair is simple and inexpensive — assuming you have the time to send it to Apple. It's just $29 to fix a broken iPhone 6s or 6s Plus screen, and any Apple Store or Apple Authorized Service Representative store you visit has the equipment necessary to properly remove, replace, and re-calibrate your iPhone for Touch ID.

Even if you don't have AppleCare+, repairs through Apple are often cheaper than attempting to buy and repair the screen yourself: An out of warranty iPhone 6s repair is $129, while an iPhone 6s Plus repair is $149. (This is also why I always recommend picking up AppleCare+ when you buy a new iPhone.)

Start a repair request

Repair it yourself

In past years, I would have recommended this option above making an appointment with Apple, but as the iPhone screen has gotten more complicated — and expensive, a home-brew repair can often hinder your device from full operability.

As for pricing, it varies: If you're replacing an iPhone 6s and 6s Plus screen under the AppleCare+ warranty, Apple's option is much cheaper; if you're out of warranty, however, you may be able to get a slightly better price buying third-party components. An iPhone 6s screen repair currently will run you about $130 between the screen and tools, while an iPhone 6s Plus screen repair costs $140-$150.

As the iPhone 6s ages and screen prices go down, this may change, but for now, I'd only recommend a screen replacement if you don't have an Apple Store near you and feel comfortable repairing your own devices.

If you want a detailed guide on repairing an iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, you can watch JerryRigEverything's how-to explainer below.

Questions?

Have any questions about repairing your iPhone's screen? Have a better option? Let us know below.

If your iPhone 6s has been shutting down unexpectedly, Apple has a new service program aimed at fixing the problem. The company says that it only affects a limited range of iPhones manufactured between September and October 2015.

From Apple:

Note that you must go to an Apple Retail store or authorized service provider, as wireless carriers are not participating in this program. Before you take your iPhone in for this battery replacement service, you'll want to back up your iPhone to iTunes or iCloud, as you'll need to erase the data and settings on your phone and turn it off.

Apple has launched a new repair program for iPhone 6 Plus owners who are experiencing problems using their Multi-Touch screens. "Touch disease" — a coined term some people use to describe the issue — has been known to cause several issues with iPhone 6 Plus screens including a gray flickering box at the top of the screen, trouble interacting with the screen, or even a complete failure of the touchscreen.

Apple#mn_e's statement on the new Multi-Touch Repair Program for iPhone 6 Plus is as follows:

If you have an iPhone 6 Plus with AppleCare+, this won't affect you, but customers whose warranties have expired or never had a warranty, will not have to pay the standard repair price of $329. On top of that, if you already paid for a repair for this issue Apple is offering reimbursements.

This program is only for the iPhone 6 Plus and not any other models as of right now. For more information, including how to go about getting a repair done visit the Multi-Touch Repair Program for iPhone 6 Plus on apple.com.

I originally wrote this explainer back in March, following some comparisons between the then-new Samsung Galaxy S7 and the then-6 month old iPhone 6s camera. Samsung and Apple both make great cameras but have very different philosophies. Apple keeps their built-in camera app as simple and easy to use as possible, and chooses to render their final photos in as natural a way as possible. Samsung, by contrast, prefers more options in their camera apps, and to crush the blacks and boost the saturation on their final photos to make them more appealing. It's a subjective rather than objective difference, and why people can disagree over which approach they like better.

Now that iPhone 7 has launched, we've gone through a new round of camera comparisons, and gotten the same kind of disagreement over the results. Some of us just love the way Samsung renders the photos, much as we love the way TV sets look in display mode on the shelves of big box retailers. Others prefer a natural base so we can choose to adjust them just the way we like, or not at all.

Six months ago, I spoke with Josh Ho from Anandtech and Lisa Bettany from Camera+ about Apple's choices when it came to the iPhone camera. You can read what they originally said below. To help frame where were are now, with iPhone 7, here's what Josh said in his Anandtech review:

iPhone 7 also shoots in DCI-P3 wide-gamut color, which means it captures better reds, magentas, and oranges than most other cameras. Thanks to the DCI-P3 displays on iPhone 7, the 9.7-inch iPad Pro, and the Retina 5K iMac, along with the color management built into iOS 10 and macOS Sierra, Apple also makes sure you can preserve that gamut from capture to display, and across multiple devices.

Now back to that explainer...

Balancing acts

A few years ago I was on a podcast with an optical engineer and smartphone reviewer and we were discussing cameras. What he said stuck with me — that given the wide range of options when it came to everything from pixel count to pixel size, from aperture to image signal processor, Apple was making smart choices and achieving the best balance possible.

That's proven to be true over time. We've seen cameras with too many pixels and too few, with the distortions of angles too wide and image signal processors too aggressive.

Apple, though, has steadfastly stuck with balance.

Rather than going for the highest megapixel number, even if it means shredding the pixel size, rather than over saturating and over sharpening, boosting shadows and exposure — rather than going for the hyper-real — Apple is obsessed with focusing on the really real.

As shown on 60 Minutes, Apple has a team of several hundred people working on the camera system. They look at hundreds of thousands of images of every scene type, in every scenario, to ensure everything from the sensor to the processor to the software is making the right decision every step of the way.

The goal is to capture an image as true-to-life as possible, with colors as natural as possible, and to make sure it looks accurate not just on the iPhone's display, but on your friend's or family member's phone, on a computer's display or a television's display, and on any prints you may choose to make.

If you want to apply effects, if you want to crush the blacks or boost the sat, Apple believes that should be your choice, not theirs. You should be able to add to it freely and not have to worry about taking it away.

Renowned iPhone photographer and co-founder of the acclaimed Camera+ app, Lisa Bettany, shared the following:

According to Joshua Ho, senior mobile editor at Anandtech, there's a lot going into that:

After effects

Apple is in the enviable position of both making their own chips, the A-series, and being able to deploy those chips in every phone, in every region. That leads to remarkable control of the complete pipeline, and remarkable consistency in results across the board.

Some companies put bigger lenses up front. Some put entire server farms at the end. Apple wants to take what it can capture up front and give you the best result possible before it gets uploaded anywhere, if it gets uploaded anywhere at all.

If you choose to, you can add filters and effects from a variety of amazing third party apps. You can even add external lenses like wide angle, zoom, fisheye, and more. That lets you get the best of all worlds — a natural, true-to-life image that you can modify if and as desired. Or not. It's entirely up to you.

When it makes sense and doesn't introduced disruptive complexity, Apple does bring new features like easy-to-take panoramas, time-lapses, iCloud Photo Library, manual controls, and most recently, Live Photos.

When technology matures, and Apple can maintain their balance and focus on naturalness, they increase megapixels or pixel size, or widen the aperture. If any of those things cause inconsistency or distortions, even if the numbers look great on a spec comparison, Apple waits.

Shots on shots

No one camera, like no one phone, will appeal to everyone, and it's important that we have many different companies trying many different approaches. That's what gives customers options and pushes everyone to do better.

There are things I'd love to see Apple add to the iPhone camera. Faster access would be terrific. A double click of the sleep/wake button, for example, could launch you right into shooting mode.

So would the ability to automagically save Live Photos, Bursts, or slide shows as videos or animated GIFs. Because, fun.

Lisa would love to see a way to further reduce or eliminate the blocky pixelation she still finds in images, especially in skin tones. Also:

Josh, clearly trolling, thinks Apple could elect to just go with a bigger camera hump. More likely, though:

One area where Apple is already doing exemplary work is accessibility. Where some might simply assume the blind wouldn't need a camera, Apple realized everyone has family and friends they may want to share photos with. So, Apple made the Camera and Photos apps accessible to the blind as well. I'm curious how much further Apple can take that?

Keeping focus

Regardless of where Apple goes next, it's the end result that has to matter most — that we're able to capture the memories and moments we want to capture, accurately and easily, and in a way that we can save and share them quickly whenever and with whomever you want.

Portrait mode for iPhone 7 Plus ships as part of iOS 10.1 this fall. Can't wait to see what the team does for iPhone 8

Wi-Fi Assist lets you automatically pop over to cellular data if you end up on a Wi-Fi network with a poor connection. That's great for maintaining your Netflix stream or Facebook browsing, but not so great for your data usage.

If you have an incredibly high or unlimited plan, you probably won't care about the data usage as long as you're always getting the best performance possible. If you're on a limited plan, however, especially one with hefty charges for overages, you can easily turn Wi-Fi assist off.

How to disable Wi-Fi Assist

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Tap Cellular.
3. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen and switch the Wi-Fi Assist toggle to Off.

If you want to quickly return to this toggle at any point to turn it on when you have bad Wi-Fi signal but good cell service, we recommend using the following Siri command: "Open Cellular preferences".

Questions?

Let us know below.

If all you do is text, stream, and access web portals, you'll probably be able to live on 32GB. If you shoot 4K video, download all your media, and want tons of apps, 256GB might be the only option. If you do a lot of different things or are anywhere in the middle, choosing which iPhone 7 storage size to get can be one of the hardest decisions you make. Here's what you need to consider!

• How to sell your old iPhone
• See iPhone at Apple

Price per gigabyte breakdowns

Many products are segmented from entry level to standard to premium. Appliances, gadgets, even food brands. Entry level gets you in the door, standard is what most people end up buying, and premium is for those who want or need more. Apple could segment iPhones based on processor speed or color but the company prefers storage size. It's easy for everyone to understand: More money buys you more storage.

This year Apple's doubled all their storage tiers, so here's the new break down:

iPhone 7, full price:

• 32GB: $649 or $21.31 per GB
• 128GB: $749 or $5.85 per GB
• 256GB: $849 or $3.32 per GB

iPhone 7 Plus, full price:

• 32GB: $769 or $24.03 per GB
• 128GB: $869 or $6.79 per GB
• 256GB: $969 or $3.78 per GB

So the lowest priced iPhones are just that, but the premium models give you the most gigabyte bang for your buck.

• If you can't afford anything more, 32GB gets you in the door.
• If you want the most bang for your buck, 256GB or 128 GB is a better value.

Local vs. Cloud storage

Apple's iCloud gives you free, unlimited storage for all your iTunes stuff. That includes iBooks, music, movies, TV shows, and apps. You also get 5GB of additional storage for backups, data, and photos. You can purchase more iCloud storage if you need it, and Apple has just dropped expanded their paid tiers:

• 5 GB - Free
• 50 GB - $0.99/month
• 200 GB - $2.99/month
• 1TB - $9.99/month
• 2TB - $19.99/month

iCloud integrates with iOS and macOS and otherwise keeps all your stuff connected and collected. Thanks to some really intelligent nearline management, iCloud can help make sure you're recent and frequently accessed content is instantly available, and your older and infrequently accessed content is only a tap and a download away when you need it.

If you prefer other solutions, there's also built-in storage provider support for Dropbox, One Drive, Google Drive, and more.

The Cloud still can't take the place of lots of on-device storage — you can't shoot 4K video straight to the cloud, for example — but it can help you get the most of what you have.

• If you use a lot of cloud services you may be able to eek the most out of 32GB.
• If you don't use or like the cloud, you'll want to stick with 128GB or 256GB.

Photos and videos

The current iPhone lineup includes 12mp cameras that can shoot 4K video. That means you can eat through a ton of local storage, very quickly. iCloud Photo Library can help nearline a lot of that for you, but then you have to pay for iCloud Photo Library. Even then, depending how much you capture and how often, it still might not be ideal.

• If you hardly ever shoot photos or video, 32GB may do you.
• If you shoot a ton of photos, and especially video, you'll want to consider 128GB or 256GB.

Media

iTunes movies can be 1 to 3 GB in size for standard definition. If you prefer watching HD, they can easily eat up 3 to 6GB of storage. TV shows can be a quarter to half the size of movies, but more than make up for it by the number of episodes typically available. Music files are generally quite small but can add up as well, especially if you have lots and lots of albums you want to keep with you everywhere.

Streaming services like Apple Music, Netflix, Amazon, HBO, Spotify, etc. use some storage for local cache but nothing piles up on your iPhone long term.

• If you stream almost everything, you might be able to get away with 32GB.
• If you prefer to download your movies, TV Shows, or music, you'll need 128GB or 256GB.

Apps and Games

Thanks to new technologies like app thinning — asset slicing, on demand resources, and bitcode — Apple and developers can do a lot to keep their apps and games slim and trim. Effectively that means not downloading anything they don't need to download onto your iPhone, unless and until they need to download it.

Still, not every developer is using app thinning yet, and not every app lends itself to significant thinning. So, if you download a ton of games or apps with a lot of graphics and video — hello Snapchat, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram! — you can still use up a lot of storage.

• If you keep your iPhone light on apps and games, you might be able to get away with 32GB.
• If you want to have tons of apps and games on your iPhone all the time, you'll need 64 GB or 128 GB of storage.

Who should get the 32GB iPhone 7?

If you really only want an iPhone for streaming, if you live on the cloud, if you only do light social and gaming, if you have an iPad or computer that stores your long-term data and collections, and you don't intend to keep a ton of content on your phone, then you'll be okay with 32GB.

• If you absolutely can't or don't want to pay a dime more, get a 32GB iPhone 7.
• How to sell your old iPhone
• See iPhone at Apple

Who should get 128GB iPhone 7?

For most people, 128 GB will be plenty of space. It can store a ton of songs, lots of apps, a plethora of photos and video, and still feel like you can breathe. Thanks to iCloud Photo Library, iCloud Music Library, and App Thinning, you'll get more out of it than ever before.

If you're planning to use your iPhone 7 the way it was intended to be used, 128GB iPhone 7will serve you well.

• How to sell your old iPhone
• See iPhone at Apple

Who should get 256 iPhone 7?

If you really do want your iPhone to do everything, all of the time, and never (or rarely) have to worry about running out of space or going to the cloud, if you want to shoot a ton of 12 mp photos and 4K video without having to offload it, or if you simply want to make sure you're future proofed well into the future, then you've probably already decided on the 256GB iPhone 7, haven't you?

• How to sell your old iPhone
• See iPhone at Apple

Still undecided?

If you're still not sure about 32GB, 128GB, or 256GB, jump into our iPhone forums and the best community in mobile will happily help you out!

Also, remember that if most places will allow you to exchange an iPhone if you get one that doesn't properly fit your needs. So, make sure you put your new iPhone through its paces as soon as you get it. Load up all the apps and games you want with you, load up your movies and TV shows, go out and take some photos and shoot some video. Use it like you're going to be using it.

If it feels like you got too much storage, say 128 GB, and you haven't even gone past 8 GB, or if you got too little, say you're already at 120GB GB of 128GB, then take it back and exchange it for one that better suits your needs.

The iPhone 6 and 6s have a gorgeous design and for many folks, it's not something we want to cover up, particularly if you opted for the gold model. That being said, if it makes you nervous to think about carrying your iPhone around naked, we understand that too.

That's what a great clear case is for! This way you can rest assured your iPhone 6 or 6s is safe, without adding a bulky or unattractive case you really didn't want in the first place.

However, not all clear cases are created equal. These are our favorite transparent cases for iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s!

• Case-Mate Naked Tough Case
• Poetic Atmosphere series
• Case Ace Crystal Clear
• Power Support Air Jacket
• Caseology iPhone 6 Clear Case
• Spigen Case Capsule Clear Case
• Case-Mate Tough Air Case

Case-Mate Naked Tough Case

The Naked Tough case by Case-Mate consists of two parts, a bumper and an outer shell. From afar you won't even notice this case, especially if you opt for the completely clear model. It gives you just enough grip to hold on to but won't stick to the insides of your pockets or pick up lint.

The buttons are super easy to press, which is a must with cases like this. There's a smoke black transparent option too, but the clear case is perfect if you want a minimalist look!

See at Amazon

Poetic Atmosphere series

I have always loved the feel of Poetic Atmosphere cases and the clear case for iPhone 6 is no exception. This case is slightly more rigid than most silicon clear cases, adding a level of durability. The edges can also be outfitted with an accent color if that's your thing.

The Poetic Atmosphere looks and feels super high quality and, for less than $15, it's by far one of our favorite budget clear cases.

See at Amazon

Case Ace Crystal Clear

If ultra clear and ultra thin is what you want, the Case Ace is for you. It is one of my favorite see-through cases because it's so thin.

Buttons are easy to push and for the most part, you'll forget you have a case on your iPhone 6 (which is exactly what you want with a transparent case)! Just remember that thin, light, and ultra clear also means minimal protection.

See at Amazon

Power Support Air Jacket

If you don't like branding on cases, the Power Support Air Jacket is for you. It's a perfectly clear case that perfectly encases your iPhone 6 in a truly clear and unmarked shell.

It feels great in the hand and even comes in a few different finish styles including clear, smoke, and matte. And if clear isn't your thing, there's a solid black option as well.

See at Amazon

Caseology iPhone 6 Clear Case

If you want clear but also want a touch of color, the Caseology Clear Case for iPhone 6 gives you just that. It functions like more of a bumper with a built-in clear back guard.

You can choose many different colors for the trim, or just opt for clear. The lip around the edge is also raised just slightly in order to protect the screen should you drop your iPhone face down.

See at Amazon

Spigen Case Capsule Clear Case

Spigen makes awesomely precise, laser cut, high quality products. Their Capsule Clear case for iPhone 6 is no exception. It's clear, grippy, and looks great.

As with all Spigen clear cases, the Capsule is treated with a coating to prevent against yellowing in the future. If you've had trouble in the past with yellowing cases, this one won't disappoint you.

See at Amazon

Case-Mate Tough Air Case

If you want something smooth that also offers a little more texture and grip, the Tough Air Case by Case-Mate is a great choice. It features grids on the back inside that let it absorb a little more shock than most others.

There are tons of fun edge colors to choose from too, and of course you can go for straight up clear if you prefer.

See at Amazon

What's your favorite clear case to use?

These are our absolute favorites when it comes to keeping our iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s protected without complete covering it up.

We know there are lots of transparent case options out there to suit all kinds of personalities. If you found something different that you think is totally awesome, be sure to let us know in the comments!

I've just spent a week working with the Android Central team preparing for the Samsung Galaxy Note 7, the Korean giant's latest salvo in the large smartphone space. I read a lot of words about a smartphone that, instead of making overt changes, subtly builds on the success of its predecessor. And then, after using it, I realized that the sum of those parts is one of the most competitive and interesting smartphones to come out this year. So, how does it compare to the existing Apple flagship, iPhone 6s Plus, and what does it mean for the one coming up, iPhone 7?

Symmetry

The first thing that struck me about the Galaxy Note 7 is its symmetry, with the tight curves in its front and back meeting along the side bezels to form an unbroken connection — something that would have been impossible just two years ago, when the processes for curving glass over flexible AMOLED displays was in its infancy. Pundits similarly remarked on the elegance of Apple's curved metal chassis when the iPhone 6 debuted in 2014, and comparing both the iPhone 6s Plus next to the new Note 7, it's clear both companies are able to command enormous manufacturing advantages over much of the competition (though they are catching up).

While the the ports and speaker holes on the Note 7's bottom still don't line up, the rest of the phone is extremely well balanced, and beautifully engineered. It is narrower than its predecessor, the Note 5, and significantly easier to use with one hand than the iPhone 6s Plus, which is a full three millimeters wider. Indeed, the gulf in screen-to-bezel ratio between the iPhone Plus series and some of Android's biggest phones is widening, with products like the 5.5-inch ZTE Axon 7 approaching (but not quite reaching) the designation of "compact."

An unfair comparison

Of course, this is an unfair comparison given that the Note 7 is brand new and the iPhone 6s Plus eleven months old and nearing the end of its annual release cycle. For all we know, the so-called iPhone 7 Plus will shrink, as the Note series has over the past few years, while maintaining its 5.5-inch screen size, or it will merely offer a larger screen with the same dimensions. But Apple hasn't shown as fervent a concern with screen-to-bezel efficiency as it has with thinness and lightness — the iPhone 6s Plus is even slightly thicker and heavier than its 2014 counterpart — and there's no reason to believe that won't continue this year.

But the Note 7 has many of the features iPhone customers have been clamoring for since the early years of the this decade: water resistance; wireless charging; a high-resolution display; and a generous helping of internal storage as standard. And the return of the microSD card to the Note line will certainly attract a certain subset of core Android users who may have defected from Samsung in the 12 months since the Note 5's launch.

As different as they are, though, the iPhone 6s Plus and Note 7 share a number of truths about the smartphone industry in general: they are wholly iterative replacements for very innovative devices, and eschew gimmickry in favor of reliability and — more than anything — quality. To that end, the Note 7's Android software lacks much of the trickery that was so common just two years ago, opting for flat textures, white backgrounds, and thin, easy-to-read typography optimized for high-resolution displays. Even the announcement of an iris scanner lacked the fanfare such an inclusion would have three years ago; it's just another way to log in to your phone (and hopefully, with an impending API, other secure apps).

Pen vs. Pencil

One of the most interesting things about the Note 7 is its S Pen. Even five years after its debut, the S Pen has managed to retain its importance among a subset of Note users enthralled with its intuitive storage and wide app support. This year's version has 4096 points of pressure, similar in theory to the Apple Pencil to which it will inevitably be compared.

We won't know for a month yet if Apple plans to bring Pencil support to the iPhone, but we can safely say that it will not be stored in the chassis like a ballpoint. And while Samsung executives took a soft jab at Apple during the Note 7 keynote by saying that the S Pen needs no external power, nor a special slot in one's bag, the reality is that a feature that in 2011 was dismissed as frivolous has now been acknowledged in some way by the world's most influential smartphone maker. As much inspiration as Samsung draws from Apple in the software department, there is no question that Cupertino's recent flurry of investment in its accessory ecosystem, centred around the burgeoning Smart Connector port, is an idea well worn by other giants of tech.

Peak shine

The Galaxy Note 7 is shiny — not just in a physical sense, but in the way it reflects much of the phone industry's tepid growth and rapid maturity of the past three or so years. From the way its tightly curved glass edges curl to meet a color-matched metal bezel to its port cover-free implementation of IP68 water resistance, the Note 7 is an engineering marvel. Its design is also governed by different values than Apple's. But these differences are shrinking year after year, as Samsung's hardware prowess improves and Android's once-common idiosyncrasies subside.

As the resident cross-platform user at iMore, I'll be exploring the waning distance of these divergences in greater detail over the coming months, but suffice it to say Samsung has engineered its best phone ever with the Note 7, and likely one of the best smartphones, period. It's certainly raised the bar for Apple in the coming month, and that's a good thing for the industry in general.

Now if we could only get Samsung to launch phones with the latest Android version.

If you are in the market for an iPhone 6s Plus but don't want to pay full price, eBay has an awesome deal for you. The online retailer is offering a refurbished 64GB version of the phone in your choice of color for just $549, which is a savings of $300. For this price, you'll get an unlocked AT&T variant of the phone (model a1634) and it is listed as being in excellent cosmetic condition with a guarantee that it will be fully functional.

Whether you are looking to upgrade from an older iPhone, pick up the larger iPhone at a cheaper price or just like deals, you won't want to miss out on this one. We don't know how long this deal will run, so be sure to act quickly if you are interested.

See at eBay

SanDisk has just announced the iXpand Memory Case for the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6s. In addition to providing protection for the phone, it doubles as a Flash storage drive that allows the iPhone to increase its storage capacity by as much as 128GB.

Here's a quick look at the features for the SanDisk iXpand Memory Case:

• MORE MEMORY FOR YOUR IPHONE 6 OR IPHONE 6S - With 32GB, 64GB or 128GB of extra storage, suddenly the possibilities are exponential. Take more photos. Watch more videos. Listen to more music.
• DURABLE, PROTECTIVE CASE - Extra memory is great. But a case also needs to help protect your phone. The iXpand Memory Case features hard plastic outside and soft rubber inside to protect your phone.
• AUTOMATIC CAMERA ROLL BACKUP - Set the iXpand Memory Case app to automatically back up the photos and videos from your camera roll to your case.
• PASSWORD-PROTECT YOUR PHOTOS, VIDEOS AND FILES - With the iXpand Memory Case, your sensitive content is protected from prying eyes when used with the iXpand Memory Case app to move it from your case to your Mac to your PC and back again. The iXpand Memory Case includes the SanDisk SecureAccess software for Windows and Mac computers, making it easy to protect and access your files.
• GET MORE POWER WITH THE ADD-ON BATTERY PACK (SOLD SEPARATELY) - The 1900mAh add-on battery pack boosts your battery capacity for those days when you need more power. Add it in a snap and easily remove it when you want to travel light. When connected, the optional battery pack detects when your phone's battery runs low, and kicks in to charge it. So you can focus on other things, not whether your phone has a charge.

The SanDisk iXpand Memory Case is currently available from Amazon at the link below. It comes in blue, red, grey and teal colors. Prices for the case are $59.99 for the 32GB version, $99.99 for the 64GB model and $129.99 for the 128GB option. The battery pack add-on will be priced at $39.99 but it has not yet been released.

See at Amazon

Best Buy is currently running a special offer in the U.S. where people who buy or lease an iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus can get $250 off any Apple Watch model. The special bundle offer ends on June 25.

That means you could get a 38mm Apple Watch Sport for as low as $49 with this offer. The deal works if you buy the iPhone 6s or 6s Plus outright, or if you activate it for a two year lease on AT&T, Sprint or Verizon.

See at Best Buy

Sprint has announced that people who buy an iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus from the carrier will be able to get another for free. The "free" part comes in the form of a monthly offset credit.

Here's how Sprint describes the offer:

This BOGO offer works if the customer adds one new line of service and is eligible for an upgrade. In addition, buyers of the iPhone 6s or 6s Plus can also save $200 if they also buy an iPad (iPad Mini 4, iPad Air 2, iPad Pro 9.7, and iPad Pro 12.9) with a lease or monthly installments.

See at Sprint

iPhone letting you text your blue-bubble iMessages friends but not regular old green bubble friends over SMS messages? iMessage works over data while SMS/MMS work over the carrier channel, so it's entirely possible there's a bug that can affect one but not the other. Luckily, there are several things you can do to try and fix it!

1. Reset your iPhone

The first thing you should always try when having issues is a hard reboot.

1. Press and hold down the On/Off button on the right side (iPhone 6 or later) or top (all other iPhones, iPods, and iPads) of your device.
2. While continuing to hold the On/Off button, press and hold the Home button on the front of your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad.
3. Hold both buttons as the screen turns off, and keep holding them until the screen turns back on and displays the Apple logo.

If that miraculously fixes the problem, great. If not, keep reading!

2. Turn off LTE or use it for data only

The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus feature VoLTE—Voice over LTE—and if you live in an area where your carrier is actively expanding or rolling it out, funny things have been known to happen. To remedy them, you can try and use LTE only for data, or not at all. It may not be ideal but should only be temporary.

1. Launch the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Tap on Cellular.
3. Tap on LTE.
4. Tap on either Data Only or Off.
5. Reboot your iPhone (see above).

Once your iPhone finishes rebooting, try and send a regular text message. If you still can't send or receive them, continue on.

3. Reset network settings

Resetting network settings is annoying—because you'll need to fill them all in again—but it can sometimes get you going when nothing else works.

1. Launch the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Tap on General.
3. Tap on Reset, it's all the way at the bottom.
4. Tap on Reset Network Settings.
5. Confirm in the popup.
6. Your iPhone will reboot

4. Restore your iPhone

Sometimes restoring from an old backup, especially a backup of a different device like an iPad, can be less than ideal. Cruft builds up and things just don't run like they used to. If you suspect that's the case, you can suck it up and set up your iPhone as new. Yes, it can be an incredible pain in the apps, but if you have a significant and continual problem, and nothing else can fix it, setting up as new can be a solution.

It's the nuclear option, no doubt about it. You will have to set up almost everything again, including passwords and settings, and you will lose all your saved data like game levels, health, and activities, but in most cases your battery life will be better than ever.

• How to restore your iPhone as new

5. Contact Apple

Every once and a while you get a problem you just can't solve. Like any electronics, sometimes things go wrong. If you have AppleCare or AppleCare+, and you should absolutely book a Genius Bar appointment and avail yourself of it. If you don't live close to an Apple Store, you can call 1-800-MY-APPLE in order to set up a mail-in repair.

What worked for you?

If you were able to fix your SMS issue on your iPhone 6 or 6 Plus, what worked for you?

Apple is having a tough time selling the iPhone SE in the Indian market, where the 4-inch handset made its debut for ₹39,000. Barely a few thousand units were sold in the country according to retailer estimates, and a major reason for sluggish sales is due to the cost of the handset, which is higher than the price of a 16GB iPhone 6. Apple's looking to rectify the situation not by bringing down the retail price of the SE, but by raising the prices of the iPhone 6 and 6s by as much as 29%.

Citing an anonymous source, ET Tech said:

The iPhone 5s, which is still on sale in India, saw a modest price hike as well, and is now offered for ₹22,000 instead of ₹18,000. The iPhone 6 was selling for a discounted ₹31,000, but the price of the phone has been "revised" to ₹40,000. The iPhone 6s has seen a similar correction from ₹40,500 to ₹48,000. It looks like the price hike was designed to create a buffer between the SE and the larger iPhone 6 and 6s:

It looks like Apple is working hard to position the phone better in the Indian market:

However, that may not work given the diminutive 4-inch form factor, as Indians have a preference for large-screened phones as they're better suited for media consumption:

What do you guys think of the price hike of the iPhone 6 and 6s?

It's been an eventful six months for iPhone and iOS: Though the 6s is just a half-year old, it's been joined by a 4-inch upstart — the iPhone SE — and iOS 9 has seen three significant updates, culminating with iOS 9.3. Is the iPhone 6s still best in class? Have any of our iOS wish list items been checked? Here's our six-month review.

First: Are you still happy with the iPhone 6s and iOS 9?

Rene

Yeah. Hell yeah. For the last couple weeks I've been shrink-graded to the iPhone SE, but my heart is still with iPhone 6s Plus. It's everything I loved about the bigger 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus but with the convenience of 3D Touch and a much-improved camera. Oh, and ludicrous speed.

iOS 9 wasn't as transformational as iOS 7, which had a whole new design, or iOS 8, which changed the functionality game with extensions, but it's been solid. The biggest thing it's given me is compatibility with Apple Watch, which is huge but another topic entirely.

Serenity

Internally, the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus are just about perfect. They have a stunning camera for both photographs and video, blazing fast processor, and I almost never run into slowdowns, even when attempting somewhat memory-intensive tasks. When it comes to the exterior, however, I'm still not convinced. My iPhone 6s is rose gold and stunning — but you'd never know, because I've kept it in a case my entire time with the phone. The slippery rounded bezel is still too prone to slipping out of my hand for me to want to ever risk it caseless; my iPhone 6 still bears gravity's scars, and I'm not stupid enough to do it a second time. Instead, my 6s lives in Apple's Smart Battery Case, both to keep it protected and to extend its battery life. I had no qualms about my battery life on the 6s Plus, but once I returned to the 6s, mid-day drain became a definite problem for my power-user habits.

iOS 9 has continued to impress as Apple's internal team polishes. There are still bits that elude me — despite the Proactive system being a neat concept, I rarely use anything the phone suggests save for recently-opened apps — but the company has made big strides in solidifying the operating system and pushing forward great initiatives like Night Shift.

Bader

I haven't used the iPhone 6s as much as I thought I would back in September, largely because I immediately gravitated to its larger sibling, the 6s Plus. While I spent most of the previous year with the iPhone 6, thinking its Plus counterpart too big, something coalesced in the intervening 12 months, and now I can't get enough of the 5.5-inch screen.

It also helps that iOS 9, despite lacking picture-in-picture (which I believe to be a fundamental omission from the 6s Plus), feels more like a full-fledged desktop OS than ever before, even on a phone screen. Subtle things, like the interchange between 3D Touch-based multitasking and quick access to content through the Today menu in Notification Center, makes a huge difference in getting things done. And it's so much easier to type on the larger screen, especially in portrait.

Lory

I was never happy with Apple's decision to update its flagship phone exclusively as a larger device. That's why I never upgraded to the iPhone 6 or 6s. Thank goodness Apple launched the iPhone SE this year. I finally have a current model device, but it feels exactly the same as my favorite design, the iPhone 5.

As for iOS 9, overall, I'm pleased. Since updating to iOS 9.3, there are a few features that are even more impressive, like Night Shift mode.

Let's talk iPhone first. What size are you using right now?

Rene

iPhone SE, because shiny and new. But I used the iPhone 6s Plus from September until March, and I'll be back to using it again fairly soon. If the iPhone is a pocket-sized window into the internet and apps, then the iPhone Plus is the biggest such window that will still fit into most pockets.

That means, when I'm out and about, even if I don't have a MacBook or iPad Pro with me, I can still get some measure of work done. Oh, and watch surprise Star Wars or Marvel trailers at a decent size. That's invaluable.

Serenity

I just switched back to an iPhone 6s after months of using 6s Plus — and wow, does it feel better. Now, the 6s Plus has a lot of phone going for it: I love its optically-stabilized video and huge screen, and it's hard to say no to its incredible battery life. But I found that as nice as having an almost-tablet in my pocket is, it's also a bit dangerous if you have a job you can get done with a computer. I'd frequently spend longer amounts of time attempting to work on my 6s Plus rather than switch over to my iPad or Mac — even when the task made far more sense to do on the larger devices. I guess I'm device lazy. Switching back to the 6s has gotten me out of most of these bad habits, and I can't say I hate being able to put my phone comfortably into a pocket again.

Bader

iPhone 6s Plus! But also iPhone SE! And the contrast is so stark it's almost comical. Going between them, as I have been for two weeks or so, allows you to see the diversity of experiences inherent in using the same operating systems with a screen nearly 40% larger and with over two million more pixels.

Subjectively, going back to using a one-handed phone is a relief, but typing is cramped and reading is much more difficult (though it could be due to my quickly-aging eyes!). That said, I'm going to stick with the iPhone SE for a while and see what comes of it.

Lory

iPhone SE in the house!

Are you sticking with the 6s, or are you coveting the SE?

Rene

I'm using the SE because it's review season, and I want to give it a fair shot, and because it really is the fastest engine in the smallest body imaginable. But I'll be back on iPhone 6s Plus eventually.

The display size simply can't be beat for me, and that camera — including the optical image stabilization — is just aces.

And yeah, I do miss 3D Touch when it's not there. I've made it a point to use it to increase my navigational speed and so now I'm pressing hard on the SE and it kinda keeps looking at me like "What's your problem, pressy person?!"

Serenity

I thought very, very briefly about picking up the SE, but in the end, chose the 6s to return to. I love the design and form-factor of the 4-inch screen, but it's just a teensy bit too small for my purposes. 4.7-inch is the sweet spot for my enjoyment — and my pockets. And though most people may look at 3D Touch as a niche feature, I love having it on my iPhone. I use left-edge multitasking constantly, as well as the Settings app's 3D Touch shortcut to turn on Low Power Mode.

Bader

There are a couple of things keeping me from going SE full-time: the vibration motor, which sounds like a chainsaw compared to the Taptic Engine inside the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus; and 3D Touch-based multitasking, which I didn't realize how much I used until I no longer had it in front of me.

Six months in, what's your favorite feature?

Rene

The speed and optics. I'm cheating by bundling them together, but the A9 processor includes the Image Signal Processor (ISP) that helps make the camera so great.

I can grab my phone, take a picture, and have something not only usable, but natural and often times beautiful, without any fuss or muss. And when you just want to capture a moment, especially a fleeting moment, that's all that matters.

Bader

What I can capture with the camera still blows me away. Though Apple may not be alone at the top of the camera pile anymore, I still feel like the A9+12MP iSight consistently offers the best camera experience in the smartphone world. I'm also a huge fan of Live Photos and leave the feature on practically all the time, because I love seeing what little quirks those three seconds of video pick up on either side of the shutter.

Serenity

Seconding Bader. Camera and Live Photos are a constant delight. I've even taken some hero shots for iMore with my iPhone camera over my DSLR — camera you have with you, and all that — and they've come out great. I also really enjoy 3D Touch shortcuts, even if no one else does.

What are you less than thrilled with?

Rene

If Apple would just delete the bezels, double the battery size, and make it twice as light, it would be perfect. Oh, wait? You mean in a universe with physics and stuff. Okay…

I wish iPhone 6s also had OIS. I wish I could double-click the sleep/wake button to quickly access the camera. I wish it had four speakers like iPad Pro, so I didn't cover up the sound so freaking always. I wish the screen was 10-bit and DCI-P3 color space. (Yeah, sure, native @3x would be nice to avoid the scaling flicker, but only when it's power-efficient.)

But those are more hopes for the future than condemnations of the present. Apple made a lot of smart choices with the iPhones 6s, and it shows.

Serenity

Battery life on the 6s isn't great for power users, especially coming from a 6s Plus. The iPhone Smart Battery Case helps a ton, but if I have to hide my beautiful phone in a case, I sure wouldn't mind if Apple put out just a few more colors in its lineup: Rose gold case for Rose gold phone, maybe?

Bader

The iPhone 6s Plus is massive: it's heavier than its predecessor, and compared to other 5.5-inch phones on the market, it feels unwieldy. Apple has to, at some point, improve the screen to bezel ratio, which will hopefully cut down on the amount of extra space above and below the display. While I understand the home button is necessary for a number of tasks, I'm hoping it gets incorporated into display itself at some point — if not iPhone 7, then iPhone 8!

Lory

As I mentioned before, I'm less than thrilled with the size of the iPhone 6s. After watching Ren and Bader taking pictures with their iPhone 6s, I can admit that the larger screen does look like it is great for photography, but it is still too large to be comfortable for me.

What's your number one wish-list item for iPhone 7?

Rene

Lighter. Hey, stop laughing. Seriously. When I use an iPhone 6s Plus I use it constantly. I check messages while out walking, I read before going to bed, and it's still heavy enough that I feel the weight after a while.

Apple's "obsession" with thinness has always been a side effect of lightness, because lightness is core to usability. iPhone 6s Plus traded some lightness for 7000 Series aluminum, a Taptic Engine, and 3D Touch. Just like iPad 3 did for Retina. I'd like to see the Plus get that lightness back and then some. Just like iPad Air.

Oh, yeah, and even more waterproofing, inductive charging, dual cameras, and, of course, delete the bezels!

Serenity

I would not mind a case redesign for iPhone 7: The screen size is great, but those curved bezels will be the death of my phone if left caseless. With something as gorgeous as the rose gold iPhone, you want to feel like you can show it off, not hide it away in a case.

I'm also hoping for more depth of field in the iPhone 7's camera. When taking photo comparisons last month with the Galaxy S7, I definitely felt a bit jealous comparing my macro photos to the S7's gorgeous f/1.7 aperture — though Apple would need to first fix the light and pixel dilation problems a larger aperture would present.

Bader

As attractive as the iPhone 6s is, I believe Apple overcorrected from the 5s. The all-metal phone is too slippery, and often feels precarious while in the hand without a case. I don't worry about screen resolution or pixel density; I worry about the phone slipping from my hand and cracking on the concrete. Here's hoping the iPhone 7 has a more hand-friendly design.

Lory

Better be four inches is all I'm sayin'. No, actually, I'm certain the iPhone 7 will not have a four-inch model. But, if there is going to be a second generation iPhone SE released at the same time as the iPhone 7, I'd hope for 3D Touch.

Apple needs to go back to the drawing board on the EarPods. Those things are so uncomfortable (and the name is stupid) that I can't wear them for more than 10 minutes at a time. I know there are hundreds of third-party earbuds that are better, but I'd like to be able to use the freebies without them literally bruising my cartilage.

iOS: How's it been treating you?

Rene

Pretty great. I love the new deep and back links in iOS 9. They make it much easier to move into apps at specific places, and back out of them to exactly where you were before. The new typeface, San Francisco, is gorgeous and makes everything look fresh and elegant. News is a first step to what I hope will be a system-level news service. The new Spotlight stuff is really useful, though I'd love it to be a full-on, first-class Siri variant for text entry. And wow-bang do I love the new Notes app. The old one was a useful text sync tool. The new one lets me collect almost anything and have it available almost everywhere.

For iPad, everything from Split View to keyboard shortcuts makes working on an iPad much less work and much more productive. More of that, please.

Serenity

Even with its occasional bugs, iOS 9 is lovely to spend time in — and between iPhone and iPad Pro, I spend a lot of time in it. As with all operating systems, there are still bits that need improvement, but I'm overall quite happy with what I can do in iOS 9.

Bader

Never better! I've reached a point where I spend more time on my iPhone than I do on my laptop, and increasingly feel comfortable taking on tasks, from editing documents to filing tax returns, that I wouldn't have just a couple of years ago. Much of that can be attributed to the incredible developer community, but credit to Apple for sticking with its single-screen modality and adding features, such as Handoff, Today widgets and Extensions, that add considerable value for power users. It's a deft balancing act that continues to defy expectations.

Lory

I haven't had any complications with iOS 9. The only real issue I've had is remembering all of the cool features that weren't there in iOS 8.

Your favorite feature?

Rene

Oh, not fair! If I had to choose, it would be deep and back links on iPhone, and multi-window multitasking on iPad.

Serenity

On the iPhone, it's going to have to be iOS 9.3's Night Shift. I could never get into Fluxx on the Mac becuase the graphic designer in me saw nothing but "ORANGE!", but that feeling has gone away surprisingly quickly with iOS and Night Shift. Maybe it's because I'm largely viewing text and tweets at night, rather than photos and huge desktop screens, but I'm very thankful for the feature making bright white screens easier on the eyes. On the iPad, Split View is how I live my life. Without a Mac laptop, Split View and the keyboard's quick app switcher make my day-to-day work at iMore possible, and they've completely changed how I use the iPad, full stop.

Bader

It's a small thing, but being able to clear every notification from an entire day, rather than by app, has completely changed the way I interact with my iPhone. It took a long time, but I can finally say that Apple's notifications are as good as Android's, which was an area the OS underperformed for many years.

Lory

The app suggestion feature is one of my favorites. In the morning, the Remote app is on deck for me to control my Apple TV. When I connect my iPhone to my iHome iDL100 alarm clock at night, my sleep aid app, myNoise is right there on my Lock screen. I also love the additions to the Notes app. I'm all about making lists and the checklist feature in Notes is the best thing Apple ever did for productivity.

Your biggest frustration?

Rene

Most of my frustrations have been fixed over the last few years. I agree with Serenity and Bader that a better Home screen for iPad would be fab, and better custom keyboard support is overdue. I also wish Skype wouldn't ring on my phone after I've answered on my computer. Or call relay, same thing. More than anything, I'm looking forward to what's coming next.

Serenity

Notification Center, despite its helpful widgets, is a mess. Widgets are helpful. Notifications are helpful. But the current display is chaotic and highly unhelpful. I really want to see Apple take a redesign stab at it in iOS 10.

Also: Home screen redesign, anyone? The 12.9-inch row of home screen icons just looks farcical at this point.

Bader

Third-party keyboards are still treated as second-class citizens, which I don't understand. It feels like Apple threw the functionality in there with iOS 8 and forgot about it. But I want to swipe with SwiftKey and predict with Fleksy, but neither are stable enough to continue using for more than a few hours.

iOS 9.3: Improvement? Too many bugs?

Rene

I've had no major bugs with iOS 9.3. Night Shift is neat, and the education stuff is the beginning of something special. Notes lock is okay, but I want it on the system level for every app. And I want News in more countries. Feels like even Apple Pay is moving faster, and that's... demoralizing?

Bader

Night Shift! What an awesome addition. Subtle, yes, but it's meant to just work. I don't have any quantitative data to suggest I am sleeping better, but I believe it's taking me less time to actually fall asleep now, which I think is the goal.

Serenity

As mentioned above, I heart Night Shift. I'm also finding myself actually using the News app, now: The algorithms have been much improved, and I'm getting information I actually care about, rather than articles that seem to be pulled out of the sky.

Lory

Well, since Apple had to immediately pull the update for older devices, and then subsequently send out a second update to fix a bug with links in Safari, I'd say iOS 9.3 was off to a bad start. But, I haven't had any problems since the initial changes. I'm a big fan of Night Shift. I've been using Flux on my Mac for years, so I'm familiar with the concept. When my face is in front of a screen starting at 6:00 a.m., you'd better believe I don't want that harsh blue light burning my retinas first thing in the morning. So, yeah. I think the 9.3 update is an improvement.

Your top wish-list item for iOS 10?

Rene

. HEYO!

Serenity

Home screen redesign, home screen redesign, home screen redesign. Pretty please.

Bader

Let's start recognizing the Plus line for what it is: a small tablet. I want picture-in-picture and split-screen multitasking in landscape mode.

Lory

The only thing I can think of is better Handoff and Continuity. It is a source of frustration for me because sometimes Handoff and AirDrop works perfectly, and other times, I am stuck trying to figure out workarounds because I've lost the connection between devices.

What are your impressions?

Do you have an iPhone 6s or 6s Plus? How are you liking it, six months in? Let us know below.

After going big and bigger with the 4.4-inch and 5.5-inch iPhones, Apple has returned to the 4-inch screen size with iPhone SE, which concentrates down all the power of an iPhone 6s into a body that looks just like an iPhone 5s. That makes it the smallest iPhone of this generation... in every way.

So, how does reachability and pocketability balance against visibility and scalability? Let's find out!

Display sizes

All modern iPhones have a 16:9 aspect ratio, the same as high-definition television (HDTV). Here are the screen sizes:

• iPhone SE: 4 (3.48 × 1.96) inches .
• iPhone 6s: 4.7 (4.1 × 2.3) inches .
• iPhone 6s Plus: 5.5 (4.79 × 2.7) inches.

Pixel counts

The amount of pixels you get on each screen works out to:

• iPhone SE: 1136 x 640 (727,040 total) at 326 ppi.
• iPhone 6s: 1334 x 750 (1,000,500 total) at 326 ppi.
• iPhone 6s Plus: 1920 x 1080 (2,073,600 total) at 401 ppi.

iPhone 6s Plus is actually 2208x1242 internally (2,742,336 total) but scaled down for display. That makes it, internally, almost iPad big:

That internal pixel count makes designing easier. It's exactly 3x the base iPhone resolution compared to iPhone SE's 2x. Aside from needing to drive and scale down all those pixels, though, they're not very meaningful to us right now.

Interfaces

What is meaningful is how they all work. Here's how text and the keyboard look in portrait mode:

And here are photo collections:

Because of the extra space, there are a few cases where you get an expanded interface in portrait mode:

It's in landscape where the differences become... more different. The keyboards on the bigger iPhones get more keys as well.

Tabs get a special treatment in Safari.

And on iPhone 6s Plus, there's support for iPad-style split view layout, which means two columns side by side.

How important that ends up being to you will depend on how often you use your iPhone in landscape, of course.

Where the smaller size helps enormously, however, is one-handed ease of use — reaching across the screen to reach any area on the screen.

Hands-on

The big and bigger iPhones 6s offer more information — or bigger information in zoom mode — but they're not as easy to use one handed. iPhone SE doesn't give you as big a window into apps and the web, but wow but it's easy to handle.

So it all comes down to what's most important to you, the small, super-convenient size, or the big, super-powerful screen.

Culinary magazine Bon Appétit is the latest publication to experiment with iPhone-only photography, shooting all of the photos for its March issues on the iPhone 6s. The photographers hired for Bon Appétit's "Culture Issue" were told to shoot everything from photos of food to portraits of restaurant owners using Apple's latest phone rather than their normal DSLR cameras.

The magazine interviewed its photographers, Damon Gardner, Matt Haas, Cait Oppermann, Michael Graydon, and Nikole Herriot, about the experience of shooting with nothing but an iPhone:

Among the difficulties, the photographers cited a lack of manual controls over aspects such as depth of field and keeping light consistent. Herriot also noted notifications, which aren't an issue on a standalone camera, kept popping up and distracting her from the shoot.

While none of the photographers are planning on using an iPhone professionally again any time soon, a few of them expressed noted that they'll be using their phone's camera more often.

You can find the March issue of Bon Appétit on newsstands now.

Source: Bon Appétit

Apple is beginning to launch a new World Gallery as a way to bring some attention to the amazing photographers from across the globe that have been shooting on the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. Billboards are currently going up, and if last year's #ShotOniPhone6 campaign is any indication, this year's World Gallery is going to be every bit as inspiring.

The gallery includes 53 photos from 41 photographers that will be featured in 85 cities in 26 countries around the world. The overarching theme this year, if there is one, appears to be people — children, women, and men living their lives, doing their jobs, and being in the moment. While some of the artists featured are professionals, others are everyday people inspired by the world around them and able to use the iPhones 6s to capture what they see and feel.

The iPhones 6s feature an all-new 12 megapixel iSight camera with an Apple A9-powered image signal processor (ISP) that makes it easier than ever to pull your iPhone out, snap a picture, and get the best possible results in the widest range of conditions. That kind of "everyday photography" makes shooting great pictures more approachable and accessible to everyone, and it makes me want to stop writing this and get out and shoot.

So, while I do that, check out the list of photographers and the gallery of photos, and then grab your iPhone and start shooting your own amazing images!

• Ashish Parmar, Bangalore, Karnataka, India
• Athia Renee, Canton Michigan
• Chris Hamill, The Maldives
• Christopher Anderson, Brooklyn, NY
• Cielo de la Paz, Livermore, CA
• Dustin Cohen, Brooklyn, NY
• Erin Brooks, Lakewood, Washington
• Gianluca Colla, Belle Usine, Fully, Switzerland
• Hollyn Baron, Brooklyn Public Library, NY
• Jake Debruyckere, Mt. Davidson, San Francisco
• Jirasak Panpiansin, Chaiyaphum Province, Thailand
• Jirasak Panpiansin, Chaiyaphum Province, Thailand
• Kevin Mao, Shanghai, China
• Melissa Casillas, Querétaro, México
• Pierre Babin, Plateau Mont-Royal Neighborhood, Montreal, Canada
• Timothy Mulcare, Harvest Moon Orchard, North Salem, NY
• Zak Noyle, Honolulu, Hawaii

Comprised of both a durable plastic shell and a shock absorbent inner layer, the CandyShell from Speck blends both protective layers together beautifully. It's 100% transparent, even around the thicker edges, and offers a smooth feel when installed around the iPhone 6s that's not too slippery to handle. Although the case as a whole is slightly thicker than I expected, its see-through design helps to maintain a slim and sleek appearance with the iPhone 6s inside.

With the case being as stiff as it is, installation proved to be more challenging than anticipated. The CandyShell meets MIL-STD-810G drop test standards, meaning it's good to go without question for when your iPhone 6s inevitably hits the floor. The back of the case features a Speck logo below the camera cutout. The glossy case isn't perfect when it comes to preventing fingerprints and smudges; the smooth plastic does a decent job at hiding them though, and is easy to do a quick wipe-down when necessary.

Around the edges are clear rubber covers for the volume and power buttons that add a firmness when pressed. The mute switch, speaker, Lightning port, and headphone jack are all left open and easily accessible. As mentioned before, the edges of the CandyShell make it slightly bulkier than other clear cases of its kind, but as you can see — it definitely still meets the mark for slim.

The raised bezel on the front grants plenty of clearance for the display of the iPhone 6s while faced down. Speck advertises this case as being UV and scratch-resistant, and from my time with the CandyShell, I have no reason to dispute those claims. While there have been reviews of yellowing over time, I haven't encountered the problem personally. I can say for certain that it's excellent against scratches after consistently pocketing the phone with my car keys, whereas most plastic clear cases start to show wear almost as soon as you take them out of the box.

For a clear case that adds a little more drop protection than average offering, the CandyShell is one worth considering. There's enough grip to help keep the iPhone 6s in your hand and there's not a lot going on in terms of texture, allowing more opportunity for the phone's design to shine through. It also comes with a 1-year warranty from Speck, which is a nice bonus if you run into any issues.

See at Amazon

I'm the kind of guy that likes my iPhone 6s to have enough protection to handle a serious drop without bulking it up. This hybrid case from Urban Armor Gear fits the bill perfectly and it comes in a clear option that shows off the original design of the iPhone 6s.

Built to meet military drop-test standards, the Urban Armor Gear case packs a polycarbonate shell with a rubber bumper that's most prominent at the top and bottom of the case. A hexagonal pattern on the inside remains visible through the transparent shell and is accompanied by 5 mock rivets that are there to simply add to the case's rugged aesthetics.

Included with the case was a plastic screen protector, small cleaning cloth, and an applicator card to help push out air bubbles after application. The screen protector worked great with the case installed and didn't lift up around the edges as some others do.

The lip around the front of the case kept the display of the iPhone 6s from rubbing against surfaces while faced down. Urban Armor Gear managed to utilize dual protective layers in a slim form factor that's also incredibly lightweight. The smooth polycarbonate shell had a nice amount of grip and the crevices that extend to each corner definitely assist in the grip factor.

Around the rear camera lens and flash is a thick rubber bezel that keeps them from getting scratched. With the exception of the mute switch on the side, the volume and power buttons are part of the rubber edges that aid in providing a more precise press when the case is installed around the iPhone 6s. On the bottom are standard openings for the speaker, Lightning port, microphone, and auxiliary port. Although I prefer when case manufacturers leave their logos off the cases they create, the blocky chrome UAG logo in the middle actually compliments the rest of the case very well.

The Urban Armor Gear case for the iPhone 6s comes in a variety of different color options, but if you like some transparency to your cases both the Ice (as pictured) and Ash (slightly darker) are your best choices for the Gear case line. I couldn't be happier with this cover; it provided everything I was after in a solid case without fattening up the sleek iPhone 6s. The included screen protector with the case is a nice bonus, too.

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In our first look at the purchase interest and intent of the Mobile Nations' communities, we tapped into the level of demand for tablets, watches, and TV boxes being offered by the biggest smartphone providers. But the smartphone itself remains the primary digital device for many, and plenty of companies have debuted offerings in the past few months that vied to become holiday purchases — or at least a last-minute buy before the calendar flips over.

So late last month, we asked over 5,700 readers of Android Central, CrackBerry, iMore and Windows Central to share their thoughts on what could be taking their calls. Even the smartphones that garnered the most interest didn't muster the same amount of attention as some of the hot (and newer) non-smartphone products like as Android Wear, Apple TV and the Surface Book.

There are likely numerous reasons for this. First, there is far greater competition in the smartphone market and so there's more to dilute consumer interest in any given model. Second, unlike the new platforms and novel form factors discussed in our last article, the staid monoblock form factor has dominated the smartphone landscape for years now. Third, the contracts that once suppressed holiday season smartphone purchases have been replaced by upgrade plans that have a similar effect of spreading out smartphone purchases throughout the year. Therefore, particularly for devices that debuted earlier in the year, such as the LG G4 and Galaxy S6, many who may have been interested in those devices may have already purchased them.

All this said, some phones certainly fared better — and dramatically so — when it came to whether early adopters were interested in purchasing them or intended to purchase them before the end of 2015.

Android

One clear trend among Android phone owners in our community is that their next phone is likely to be large and true to stock Android. Three of the five top Android phones on their list featured screens over 5.5". In addition, three of them (the Nexus 5X, Nexus 6P and Moto X 2015 Pure Edition) embrace Android as Google has conceived it, with a fourth (the BlackBerry Priv) coming pretty close both in terms of both stock purity and phablet contention.

Given BlackBerry's long history in mobile (many of you likely had a BlackBerry as your first smartphone) and the quiet clamoring of a subset of users for a good Android keyboard phone, it's not too surprising to see such a strong embrace of the Priv. Indeed, among Android phones, it ranked the second highest in terms of imminent purchase intent, with 6% of current Android phone owners (including perhaps some former BlackBerry owners) planning to lay down dollars to pick up the privacy-focused keyboard slider.

The big dog by far, though, was the Nexus 6P, with nearly half of Android phone owners interested in purchasing it and 13 percent planning to buy one before the end of 2015. Indeed, nearly twice as many Android phone owners would opt for the Nexus 6P versus the 5X. The 5X, though, was no slouch, ranking third overall and attracting purchase interest from nearly a quarter of Android phone owners.

Sandwiched between them was the Samsung Galaxy Note 5, which nearly 30% of Android phone owners said they were interested in purchasing. 2015 saw a significant redesign of the historically plastic Note and improvements to its S Pen stylus. These seem to have been enough to stave off some competition from its stablemate, the Galaxy 6 edge+, which boasts a thinner, and arguably cooler, curved screen design. The newcomer virtually tied with the LG G4 in terms of of both purchase interest and intent and fell below the even newer video-focused LG V10, which also offers an extended secondary display for quick access tools.

Both of the larger Samsung phones placed higher than the smaller and older Galaxy S6 devices which, as noted earlier, may have already been purchased by those eager to snap up Samsung's current generation of Galaxy S devices. While its screen may be shatterproof, demand for the Motorola Droid Turbo 2 was not. The Motorola flagship variant for Verizon had to contend with both carrier exclusivity and the software meddling of Verizon, despite Motorola having convinced Big Red to ease back a bit on the customizing. Also featuring a lighter skinning touch than in years past is the HTC One A9. The device, which hews closer to the iPhone's design than previous One devices like the M8 and M9, just isn't showing the overall muscle of more popular, larger devices.

iPhone

In contrast to the clear preference for bigger phones shown by Android users, iPhone users were split just about evenly between the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. A middling 14 percent of current iPhone owners planned to upgrade to one of Apple's newest smartphones in the near future. The relatively low number could be due in part to the relative burst of upgrades that accompany the launch of a new iPhone, landing well before the holiday season, with Apple showing record numbers for those upgrading early. However, at Apple's volumes, even 14% would represent a lot of shiny fruit logos moving quickly out of small white boxes.

Apple also likes to talk up how many Android owners are switching to iPhone. We saw some limited evidence of that, with nearly 10% of Android phone owners considering jumping ship for the iPhone 6s Plus although immediate purchase intent was quite low. As for those crossing over the other way, only the Nexus 6P and Galaxy Note 5 — the same two phones most likely to woo Android users — came close to having a similar level of appeal to iPhone owners as the iPhone has to Android phone owners. The Note 5 fared particularly well, with 12% of iPhone users expressing interest in purchasing it. Only 1%, though, were prepared to do so before the end of 2015. In other words, while both Android and iPhone users may flirt with their main competitive OS, they're very rarely willing to commit to changing their relationship status.

Windows Mobile

The Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL are the first Windows flagships to not only bear the Microsoft brand, but also the first to drop the "Windows Phone" operating system in favor of Windows 10 Mobile. The prolonged wait for a new king of the Windows phone hill has resulted in some pent-up demand, with about a quarter of current Windows Phone owners expressing interest in both the 950 and 950 XL and a high 9% saying they were planning to upgrade to the larger Windows device by the end of 2015.

The better news for Microsoft, though, was that a similar if not higher percentage of Windows PC owners — a far larger group — expressed similar sentiment. The company's message of ecosystem integration may be paying off even as Microsoft embraces rival mobile operating systems more fully. Windows PC owners may also like the idea of recreating (much of) their desktop OS experience using the new phones' Continuum feature.

On the other hand, as with iPhone owners, the Note 5 also held a lot of appeal with 20% of Windows Phone owners expressing interest in it; the number was even higher (39%) for Windows PC owners. Also as with the iPhone owners, though, a minuscule percentage of Windows Phone owners actually saw themselves picking one up imminently.

BlackBerry

We already noted the BlackBerry Priv's appeal among current Android phone owners. BlackBerry owners, though, were even more eager to embrace the first smartphone that eschews BlackBerry 10 for Google-flavored Android. About 30% of current BlackBerry owners expressed interest in purchasing a Priv.

What was more impressive, though, was the number of BlackBerry owners planning to pony up for privacy, privilege and (Google) Play. About 11% of BlackBerry owners said they intended to buy a Priv before the end of 2015. That was the second highest intent percentage overall among the four phone ownership camps, trailing just Android phone owner intent to purchase a Nexus 6P.

Indeed, BlackBerry owners' interest in the Priv did not extend to other Android phones. No other phone — not even the otherwise strongly-embraced Note 5 — drew interest from more than 10% of BlackBerry owners, and no others tempted even 1% of BlackBerry owners to purchase them before the end of 2015. The BlackBerry flock may be smaller than in years past, but it's dedicated to BlackBerry regardless of their choice of OS.

For this article, Mobile Nations surveyed 5,757 Web site visitors from the U.S. and Canada between November 25th and December 5th, 2015.

Apple has just announced the Smart Battery Case for iPhone 6s and... it has a big, abrupt hump on the back. That's led to a lot of internet noise about it being bump-ugly and jokes that Industrial Design must have hit the eggnog extra early this year. So what's going on?

$99 from the Apple Store

Let's start with the assumption that Apple isn't, as a rule, stupid. Maybe that's a bad assumption, but let's give them the benefit of the doubt. Then, let's speculate about the choices that led to the Smart Battery Case and what the possible alternatives might have been. That way, even if we still disagree with some or all of those choices, we can do it in an informed way. We can hate smart.

Why make an Apple battery case?

There have been third-party battery cases for years, so why would Apple choose now to enter the market?

1. There's money that's been left on the table for years by not offering one.
2. Apple has and are now willing to spend the resources to do it.
3. Brand visibility and integration can potentially achieve more than third-party offerings.

Why not build in more battery?

Theoretically, everyone wants more battery in their phone. Practically, almost nobody would enjoy living with the tradeoffs that more battery requires.

1. Batteries are insulators and not radio transparent, so including more cells demands other concessions, like larger sizes to better dissipate heat.
2. Which is why Apple already offers an iPhone with a bigger built-in battery—the iPhone 6s plus.
3. Which lets people choose between battery and bulk, as does a case—people can put it on when they need it and take it off when they don't.
4. Because batteries add more weight than they do power, and lightness translates to usability.

Why a hump?

Once Apple decided to make a battery case, we can look at some existing third-party battery cases and see what trade offs they've made.

1. They use hard materials and so, to easily put them on and take them off, they need to break into two pieces.
2. They're bulky and often make it harder to pocket the phone.
3. They can interfere with cellular signals.
4. They don't let you charge the case and the phone at the same time.
5. They offer hardware components for checking charge level.

Assuming Apple didn't want to simply replicate an existing product philosophy and case, they could figure out what different trade offs could be made.

1. They could use a flexible material that peels on and off and lets them keep a one piece design.
2. They could minimize bulk to keep it as pocketable as possible.
3. They could mitigate antenna interference as much as possible.
4. They could let you charge both the case and the phone at the same time.
5. They could offer a software-based way for checking charge level.

So, the Smart Battery Case?

Apple decided to go with as naked a battery as possible, just a cell package, some silicone, a Lightning port and connector, and a light. That allowed them to hide a hinge inside, which makes getting it on and off easy even without breaking it apart.

It also means less material to interfere with radio signals. Add a passive coupled antenna inside the case, and cellular reception is impacted as little as possible.

Likewise, the reduced bulk keeps the overall size as small as possible so you can hold it and fit it in pockets as comfortably as possible.

Because Apple is Apple, they also used a fully featured Lightning pass-through that lets the case and phone charge at the same time, and maintains compatibility with other Lightning accessories like the Dock.

Also, while an amber-to-green light will show status while charging, Apple can also show it on the Lock screen and Notification Center at any time.

But the hump, the humpty-hump?!

In a perfect world there'd be a Smart Battery Case that in perfectly matched the space grey, silver, gold, or rose gold finishes, that doubled or quintupled charge capacity, and that was as thin and elegant as the standard silicone case. But we live in this horrible real world, where physics is a jerk and where every choice made comes with an egregiously equal and opposite opportunity cost.

By prioritizing a minimalist, one-piece design, the Smart Battery Case becomes something of a throwback to the early days of smartphones with their extended battery humps—which, like bell bottoms and big beards, instead of succumbing to extinction are now cycling back around.

You can absolutely hate the way it the Smart Battery Case for iPhone 6s looks and, after you've tried it, hate the way it works too. Or you can love it more than any of the battery packs that have come before.

Personally, I'm waiting until I get one. From some angles it looks okay, from others it looks like Luke with Yoda on his back. In the real world, using it day-in, day-out? We'll see.

The point is to consider the choices and the alternatives and to decide if, in the end, they're better or worse for you. Because that way, unlike the dumb stuff that clogs up the 'net, you can hate or love it smart.

$99 from the Apple Store

Apple has released a new color for its cases for the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, with the leather models now coming in red. These cases join Apple's red silicone cases as part of the (Product) Red campaign, which donates a portion of the proceeds from participating products to fight AIDS.

Apple has been a participant in (Product) Red since its inception almost ten years ago. The company has offered products ranging from cases and covers to (Product) Red iPods in its support efforts.

You can grab Apple's new red leather iPhone 6s case for $45, while the 6s Plus case will run you $49.

• $45 from Apple
• $49 from Apple

Carphone Warehouse has announced its Black Friday deal, through which the UK retailer is discounting £100 off the upfront cost on the iPhone 6s, iPhone 6 and iPhone 5s. The deals are valid through November 30.

During the sale, you can get a 16GB iPhone 6s on EE for £32.49 per month with an upfront fee of £50, which nets you 1,000 minutes, unlimited texts and 1GB of data. The 16GB iPhone 6 from O2 can be bought for £28.50 per month and no upfront fee, with the monthly plan offering 500 minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB of data. Finally, the 16GB iPhone 5s is available from Vodafone with a £50 upfront fee and a monthly plan that offers 500 minutes, unlimited texts and 500MB of data for £17.

Carphone Warehouse iPhone sale