Since last week’s announcement of the new iPad Pro and the 4in-screen iPhone SE I have been entertaining treasonous thoughts. Should I sideline the iPhone 6 Plus (which is sometimes a tight fit in my pocket) and move over to a smaller phone and then combine it with an iPad?
I determined to buy the iPad Pro junior, the one with the 9.7in screen, and use it as a portable while out and about during the day. I even bought an Apple Pencil in anticipation. I would need something with a bigger screen if I let the 6 Plus go.
Despite this resolve, I chickened out at checkout. Perhaps, I thought, I should rethink my requirements. Do I really need an iPad? I have a MacBook which is almost as small and almost as light (especially when he iPad’s keyboard case is taken into account). And the MacBook does everything I need, including page composition for Macfilos and photo processing.
And would I be happy with a smaller phone after the undoubted allure of the phablet 6 Plus? Almost certainly not, but I am not alone in these thoughts. I just cannot wean myself of the 6 Plus, big as it is. For ultra-portable reading, browsing, for doing almost everything, the iPhone 6 Plus wins. The larger size and the tighter pocket fit is something I’m prepared to trade for convenience.
Lauren Goode recounts on The Verge how she had similar temptations and she tells us here why she decided she couldn’t go back to the iPhone SE, despite its many attractions:
I have an IPhone 4S and an IPad mini 4….works for me.
Yes, it’s really a matter of taste. It would work for me as well and, indeed, this is what I had before I got the 6 Plus. I was so keen to have just one device and not two that I let the iPad mini go. Later I bought an iPad Air 2 but found I didn’t use it. It was too big and heavy to cart around during the day and I found I was using the 6 Plus for everything. I suppose its just a matter of what suite–very individual.
I made my choice last year when I bought a 6+ and then took it back when I discovered that it was too big for my little hands… I liked the size of the screen, but I just couldn’t manage it, so I returned to my iPhone 5…
I had been using the 5 as an input device for Apple CarPlay… I abandoned that, which was not very well executed on my Pioneer car player anyway, and just installed a couple of 60gb USB keys full of FLAC files… What a revelation!
I had been running out of space, but I was then able to empty all of the music and I use it for phone, email, sat-nav, bit of browsing, taking the odd snap, text messages, dictionary… oh lordy…
Until I just wrote this, it never occurred to me, how much I use the phone for reasons other than its intended purpose…??
Getting a bit long in the tooth, so I might well choose one of these SE jobbies.
As for the iPad… I like the MacBook, you sold it well Mike… And you continue to sell it!