While iPhone 6 pre-orders are already backlogged and lineups at Apple stores are sure to be long for the retail launch on Friday, some keen on having the latest will be sporting Apple’s shiny new smartphone by next week. But will they be getting more work done with it?
That’s the question Constellation Research analyst Sholto Macpherson asks in his analysis of the new devices. With an eye for how the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus will perform for business users, he considers both the upsides and downsides of the hardware that was unveiled just last week.
iPhone 6 business upsides
- A larger screen and higher resolution, especially on the iPhone 6 Plus, means Apple is able to display more information on the screen at once. That translates into a whole new layout for the messages app, which allows you an Outlook-style preview of each message without leaving your inbox list.
- Wi-Fi calling will be a boon for users who find they get bad reception when in the office or at home. Calls on the iPhone 6 can be seamlessly transferred between Wi-Fi and a typical cellular network if you leave the office while on a call too.
- Touch ID will now offer a single sign-on solution for opening third-party apps on your iPhone. That could save time compared to typing in passwords and provide better security than no authentication before opening apps that may contain sensitive data.
- Apple Pay could be a convenient way to tie business credit cards to employee devices. It’s likely an automated receipt tracking system will be available for expenses as well.
iPhone 6 business downsides
- Apple doesn’t integrate well with the productivity suites offered by competitors Microsoft and Google.
- Speakers being placed on the bottom of the iPhone 6 may lead to less-than-ideal sound quality when on speaker phone.
- Those who actually talk a lot on their smartphones may not appreciate the bigger size of the iPhone 6 Plus.
Even if you aren’t on the pre-order list or willing to wait in line for hours before the dawn to get your new iPhone 6, you can still get many of the same productivity benefits by updating your older iPhone to iOS 8, which is being released later today. The iPhone 4S and more recently released iPhone models are compatible, as is the iPad 2 and more recently released iPad models.