The Apple iPhone 6 was released on Friday, Sept. 19 and has been the talk of the technology realm for more than a few weeks. However, it has a lot of people wondering what makes this phone better than the other phones that have been on the market for much longer.

“The iPhone 6 is just catching up to Samsung and their Galaxy phone,” said senior Brooke Minnich, Samsung Galaxy user. “People buy it for the iPhone, they don’t buy it for what is actually on it.”

Minnich has a good point; What is new about the iPhone 6 that is not already available in the Samsung Galaxy phone? After looking through the Apple website and finding what can be expected with the new iPhone 6, I have come to this conclusion: not much. Everything that Apple is claiming as great updates are things that have been available on other smartphones for years now, like the “swiftkey” feature with is a simple replica of the “swype” feature on androids.

The truth of the matter is that the iPhone is simply just another smartphone like all the others on the market. Unlike other brands, Apple has built a following of product users that are the greatest example of brand loyalty, but this stems from the functionality of the phone.

Other smartphones have the same basic operating system, which makes it easy to switch between brands when it comes time for an upgrade. Alternatively, Apple has a unique system so people who gravitate to iPhones are more likely to keep purchasing them because they do not want to learn how to use something new.

“I think that Apple should come up with a new idea instead of upgrading something that doesn’t need upgrading,” junior Amber Lowther said. As an iPhone user of two years, she admits that she does not feel compelled to stay with the Apple product in the future. “There’s a lot of flaw but I heard the Galaxy is pretty cool,” Lowther said.

Although many people like it, I agree with Lowther that there is little about the iPhones that lures me in. As an HTC One user, I prefer the functionality of my phone over Apple’s phone. I come from a family of iPhone users but for a third of the price I managed to get a phone that functions the same as, if not better than an iPhone.

“I like it [the iPhone] because it is simpler to use and you know where everything is,” sophomore Amy Lai said. “I think it’s more efficient. The only downfall is that the push notifications are annoying.”

Overall, I am disappointed in the iPhone 6 after all of the hype and the long wait. Apple seems to be focused on trying to catch up to the other popular phone brands but they are getting away with it because people are willing to hold out for the brand name. I try to remain unbiased when the new iPhones are released and hope they will actually be worth the price and the name, but Apple never ceases to let me down.

This new phone release is sure to make all other iPhones obsolete, as it has been with every new phone release from Apple. The newest iPhone may be “bigger than bigger” as Apple states on their website, but Apple has made minimal changes besides the size to be worth a new phone release. It had me looking at the specifications of the iPhone 6 and asking, “What else?”

Sydney Dawn

Published September 24, 2014