iPhone Plus Experiment

When the iPhone 6 Plus introduced the massive new screen option four years ago, it came with compelling Plus-only landscape features that were heavily promoted. This seemed like a great new option that should only get better as its features would surely be enhanced over time. With the iPhone XS Max debut, the experiment is over.

The 6 Plus was a major announcement in the history of the iPhone. It finally satisfied those who demanded a larger iPhone screen option. The new option ballooned the screen from its original 3.5″ and previous-model 4″ all the way to 5.5″. A huge jump and very large considering the iPad mini is 7.9″. The large screen, Plus-only landscape features, and my large hands made this an easy choice for me.

After I got the 6 Plus, I sold my iPad since now I have the best of both worlds always with me, though it is still quite massive for a phone in your pocket. Since then, iOS has given the iPad much love including multitasking features Slide Over, Split View, and Picture in Picture. I thought surely at least some of this would trickle down to the iPhone Plus, considering that competitors were doing this with their large-format phones, but after four years and the great new iPad-only features, the Plus was never improved upon. Even though the XS Max screen is now a whopping 6.5″ it still gets no love for iPad-like large-format features.

Last week’s iPhone XS release effectively ended any hype over the larger screen landscape features ever improving. Since the XS has a terrific, massive display (nearly 6″ and larger than the Plus), and the same camera as its bigger brother I, personally, have no compelling reason to carry around a huge phone. I’m now back to a full-size iPad and will move back to a “normal” size phone. And I won’t be missing the extra iOS features.