iPhone 6

[illmonkey]

Just had a beer with a friend and they said they can get me 30% off my rental (had I ordered with them 30% off the handset too!).

With the 5s only being £60 cheaper over the term and with this discount, the 6 will stay. The 5 paid for my £200 upfront and now rental will be £25ish, can't complain.

[BlackST]

illmonkey said:

Just had a beer with a friend and they said they can get me 30% off my rental (had I ordered with them 30% off the handset too!).

With the 5s only being £60 cheaper over the term and with this discount, the 6 will stay. The 5 paid for my £200 upfront and now rental will be £25ish, can't complain.

30% off the monthly fee and the price of the handset? Sounds too good to be true getting £150+ a handset off?

[RobM77]

Teppic said:

Efbe said:

Civpilot said:

gaz1234 said:

I've just ordered a Nokia 605 on the bending aspect.

Only 9 people reported bent phones though? Anyway, independent testing has now been done.

http://www.macrumors.com/2014/09/26/consumer-repor...

and you believe that "9" figure? seriously?!?

While there may have been more than 9 occurrences, only 9 have been reported directly to Apple.

Absolutely. However, what percentage of people who've just spent £600+ on a new iPhone 6 wouldn't report it to Apple? Or if they bought from their carrier, their carrier would report it to Apple. Surely most would. Even if only 50% would, that's still only about 1 in half a million phones bending. Even if 99% of people with bent phones never said a word to Apple about the matter, that's still only 900 phones out of 10 million phones bent, and that's a pretty low failure rate.

[xreyuk]

BlackST said:

30% off the monthly fee and the price of the handset? Sounds too good to be true getting £150+ a handset off?

I work for a large mobile provider and that's the friends and family discount we get.

2 contracts for ourselves at 50% off, and 8 friends and family at 30% off.

[Bbunter]

RobM77 said:

Absolutely. However, what percentage of people who've just spent £600+ on a new iPhone 6 wouldn't report it to Apple? Or if they bought from their carrier, their carrier would report it to Apple. Surely most would. Even if only 50% would, that's still only about 1 in half a million phones bending. Even if 99% of people with bent phones never said a word to Apple about the matter, that's still only 900 phones out of 10 million phones bent, and that's a pretty low failure rate.

Yep, it's another case of "waaaah waaah, I can't get a 6, lets bang on about a load of manure to do with how crap the 6 is, yeah that'll work". It makes me laugh. So far I've had mixed reactions, the majority have been, "that's very nice, I'll get one when I upgrade". Some have been "oh waah Its not fair that I'm tied into a (insert long time) contract, on my P.O.S. Android / windows phone, did you know that's full of 4 year old Android technology, and it bends easily". Yeah, okay, whatever.

[NDA]

Bbunter said:

Yep, it's another case of "waaaah waaah, I can't get a 6, lets bang on about a load of manure to do with how crap the 6 is, yeah that'll work". It makes me laugh. So far I've had mixed reactions, the majority have been, "that's very nice, I'll get one when I upgrade". Some have been "oh waah Its not fair that I'm tied into a (insert long time) contract, on my P.O.S. Android / windows phone, did you know that's full of 4 year old Android technology, and it bends easily". Yeah, okay, whatever.

I have always treated my phones as little lap tops. I take care of them because part of the pleasure of using them is that they're unscratched and new looking. It's how I keep my cars too. So drop tests, bend tests, fire tests, weapon tests are a bit irrelevant. Every phone will smash if you drop it and obviously a thin aluminium phone will bend if you really want to try.

[TheAngryDog]

You shouldnt be able to bend a phone with your bare hands. I dont know how much pressure that guy is putting on the phone when he is bending it, but it wouldnt surprise me if it is around 90lbs.

But, what are people actually doing with their phones to bend them? Phones do not bend on their own in a shirt pocket. This is coming from a non-iPhone "fan" so no bias there.

[devnull]

My 6+ arrived last Monday, love the phone but noticed it had dead pixels in the corner of the screen. Booked an appointment at the Genius Bar and had it swapped out with a new one. No questions asked, no fuss.

"Cool story bro", you might think, but it is this type of fuss free customer service experience which sets Apple apart from other vendors.

Many years ago when I used to work in PC World customer service, our processes would have made it much much harder for the consumer.

[oobster]

I should be picking up a 6+ in the next couple of hours.

[TheAngryDog]

devnull said:

My 6+ arrived last Monday, love the phone but noticed it had dead pixels in the corner of the screen. Booked an appointment at the Genius Bar and had it swapped out with a new one. No questions asked, no fuss.

"Cool story bro", you might think, but it is this type of fuss free customer service experience which sets Apple apart from other vendors.

Many years ago when I used to work in PC World customer service, our processes would have made it much much harder for the consumer.

While I do agree that this service is very good, it is flawed. The nearest Apple store to me is over 20 miles a way, which is inconvenient in some ways, especially when the replacement phone you get from Apple is faulty and you have to go back again to get it replaced, when you can get an appointment.

I have had to send my HTC One (M7) back to HTC because of an issue with the camera (purple tinge on low light photo's) and this service was free, but I did have to wait for 2 weeks, but my phone comes with a 2 year RTB warranty, and last time I was an iPhone user it only came with a 1 year warranty, and I had to pay £60 for the privilege of a second year (is this still the case?)

Upshot is, is that I aren't knocking the Apple service, I really do think it is a great idea having these stores and being able to go and see someone about your phone issue, even if the appointment can take a week or two to get, by which time I *couldve* sent my phone to the manufacturer for replacement. BUT, that doesnt beat the face to face, available when you get there, walk out with a replacement phone service. I've never been able to fault Apple's customer service when I was an iPhone user.

[CRB14]

20 miles is nothing really. London has several stores but I guarantee you could drive 20 miles quicker than one could get from, say, Bermondsey to Covent Garden.

[Bbunter]

oobster said:

I should be picking up a 6+ in the next couple of hours.

Good choice. I'm using my 6+ now. I've gotten over the initial 'what have I done' thing, and I am liking it a lot. It's a cracking bit of kit.

[MitchT]

TheAngryDog said:

But, what are people actually doing with their phones to bend them? Phones do not bend on their own in a shirt pocket. This is coming from a non-iPhone "fan" so no bias there.

If I sit down with my 4S in a front pocket of my jeans it can dig into my leg with sufficient force as to cause me discomfort should I lean forward, so any device that has a significantly larger surface area and is thinner is going to bend or be squeezed out of my pocket and fall on the floor with the inevitable consequences.

If I wanted something that large I'd buy an iPad mini. The iPhone is supposed to be a phone with some other useful features, not a tablet that you happen to be able to make phone calls on.

[Tidybeard]

JayZ4 said:

oobster said:

Recommend keeping an eye on this, very few Apple stores showing stock at the moment but there are a couple.

http://iphone6stockchecker.com/

Check just after midnight is your best bet, they seem to do a full restock then and just reserve one to collect later that day

Excellent, thanks both. Shame I live in the north west - nothing for either Manchester or Liverpool stores yet but will keep checking.

[TheAngryDog]

CRB14 said:

20 miles is nothing really. London has several stores but I guarantee you could drive 20 miles quicker than one could get from, say, Bermondsey to Covent Garden.

I don't live in London. My nearest one is Milton Keynes. It's not an issue to me as I arent getting an iPhone. When I lived up north I had to travel 75 miles an Apple store. That's quite a bit, 150 mile round trip.

[Bbunter]

I saw something in Newbury yesterday, which was a new one on me. A 'power reseller', this was a shop which was austensibly an Apple Store, but with its own name.

[BlackST]

xreyuk said:

BlackST said:

30% off the monthly fee and the price of the handset? Sounds too good to be true getting £150+ a handset off?

I work for a large mobile provider and that's the friends and family discount we get.

2 contracts for ourselves at 50% off, and 8 friends and family at 30% off.

Same as the Vodafone scheme.
You don't get the discount off the upfront cost of the handset though do you? The mobile provider would be at a huge loss that way.

[Teppic]

Bbunter said:

I saw something in Newbury yesterday, which was a new one on me. A 'power reseller', this was a shop which was austensibly an Apple Store, but with its own name.

There are a number of these 'power resellers' dotted around the country (I've got one in Ipswich). They sell MacBooks, Macs, iPods, iPads and accessories. They are not 'proper' Apple Stores. They do not sell iPhones and do not have a Genius Bar.

[viggyp]

Ok, I've noticed some people are having issues connecting their iPhone 6's via bluetooth to their car stereo's and headsets.......and I'm having a similar problem which is driving me up the wall. The problems below have happened with iOS 8 and 8.0.2. Apologies in advance for the dull post.

I'm no tech-head but how complex is bluetooth technically?

With my "5" it paired to my Kenwood stereo and Plantronics headset easily. To connect to the stereo, all I had to do was press the button with the phone icon. This button would give me access to my phonebook and I could start and end a call also.

First thing, the "6" pairs with my headset and I can hear everything but cannot end a call with the headset, only the phone?!

With my car strereo the "6" pairs and plays music via bluetooth but It's trying to sort out the phone part which is driving me nuts.

To start a call I now have to press the volume knob on the stereo but cannot end a call from it as it puts the call on hold and dials the previous number which I contacted. Again, I have to end a call via the phone meaning the "phone" icon button on the stereo is now rendered useless. No ringtone or voices are coming through the car speakers.

Anyone else having the above problems??

[NDA]

Teppic said:

There are a number of these 'power resellers' dotted around the country (I've got one in Ipswich). They sell MacBooks, Macs, iPods, iPads and accessories. They are not 'proper' Apple Stores. They do not sell iPhones and do not have a Genius Bar.

I went into one in London recently and was distinctly unimpressed with the service.