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iPhone 6: Sales Figures Plus Hands-On First Impressions

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For the most part here in the UK, pre-orders for the iPhone when collecting from the Apple Store itself were pretty hassle-free. I queued for about 20 minutes and 10 minutes after that I was walking out the store with my 64GB Space Grey iPhone 6. Those turning up on the day were less fortunate. The iPhone 6 Plus had sold out and only a few of its smaller sibling, the iPhone 6 remained.

According to staff at the event, pre-orders were fairly equal, with a slight lead enjoyed by the iPhone 6 but a healthy amount of people were opting for the larger iPhone 6 Plus. So Apple's decision to launch both phones at the same time, despite many people thinking the larger model's sales might suffer, appear to have been the right one - at least according to my local Apple Store.

As for sales figures, well the official numbers won't be in for a few days but as far as pre-orders go, Apple has already broken its record many of its previous launches, including that for the iPhone 5, which totalled 2 million pre-orders in the first 24 hours. The combined count for both the new models stands at 4 million for the 24 period when pre-orders went live.

Which iPhone 6 is best for you?

Like many people I suspect, I was a little annoyed the 32GB capacity had been ditched. I was also torn between the smaller and larger of the new models, but whilst in the queue, potential owners were handily given each phone to try as well as the usual lines of new devices standing proud in the store itself, teasing passers by. The iPhone 6 Plus was the first I grabbed and my decision to pre-order the smaller iPhone 6 seems to have been the better one.

Don't get me wrong here - the Plus is fantastic, and if you spend most of your day tweeting, emailing and texting as well as using it as your primary camera, the larger display plus extra battery life are sure to come in very handy. It fits nicely in your hand and despite it's large size iOS8 is still easy to use.

I asked other people that had pre-ordered why they'd gone for the iPhone 6 Plus too and there was a varied reply. Some didn't have a tablet so felt the larger model was the best balance between their laptop or PC and didn't want to own a trio of devices, while others were keen smartphone photographers and saw the better camera as the main selling feature, along with better battery life.

Of those that went for the iPhone 6, their main reason for upgrading from earlier models was the larger screen size - a bigger keyboard being the most desirable feature. Interestingly, some of those I spoke to said they'd have considered the iPhone 6 Plus over the smaller model if it had included a stylus, such as the one Samsung includes with its Galaxy Notes. Likewise, one guy I spoke to already owned an iPad Mini, so going for the iPhone 6 Plus was pretty pointless.

Hands On And First Impressions

Both devices give several clear impressions when you hold them. They're remarkably thin, made even more so by the immaculately rounded edges - a similar trick that we saw with the generations up until the flat-edged iPhone 4. This can feel a little disconcerting at first; they can be tricky to pick up from flat surfaces and may not feel like they fill your hand as much as an iPhone 5 for example, but the feeling passes and you're soon left to admire the perfect finishing, which makes them undeniably more lust-worthy than any previous iPhone.

All the buttons are up to Apple's usual solid standards and feel more durable than other smartphones such as Google's Nexus 5. The Home button is slightly smaller than that on the iPhone 5 and 5S, but is still just as easy to use. It has additional feature now too, especially compared to the iPhone 5. It is of course, the sensore for Apple's touch ID, which can replace the need to enter a passcode amongst other things, but lightly tapping on it twice activates Apple's new feature called Reachability.

This brings the top four rows of app icons down to the bottom of the screen to improve one-handed use. I say improve because it doesn't totally solve the problem of the bigger devices clashing with iOS8 when it comes to one-handed use. Previous iPhones were smaller for a reason and as many out there will tell you, one-handed use is a very useful feature. Sadly, Reachability isn't completely convincing as several of the icons that are furthest away still require you to move your hand slightly - at least my average-sized thumb wouldn't reach.

iPhone 6 (left) vs iPhone 5 (right). The larger keyboard size is very evident sitting side by side

Something that's instantly improved by the larger screen, though, is the keyboard. As the interfaces are so similar-looking, you initially don't get a feel for just how much bigger the keyboard is on the iPhone 6 compared to the iPhone 5 or 5S for example - bigger buttons mean fewer mistakes and more accurate typing. Then of course there's the ability to add custom keyboards - a much-awaited feature introduced finally in iOS 8.

Featured on the App Store today is one called SwiftKey - a third party keyboard that claims to learn the way you type to offer suggestions and a significant amount of other customization than we've seen in iOS before.To install any new keyboard, you'll also need to go to General > Keyboard and search for the third party model you've downloaded. From here you just need to give it full access and then it will appear the next time you send a text message or email

It can take a bit of getting used to but the ability to quickly and easily insert email addresses and other form data, which SwiftKey quickly learns is just the tip of the iceberg as far as making the iOS 8 keyboard more efficient to use goes.

I'll be back with my favorite iOS 8-centric apps, battery life tests and more. If you've bought the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus or will be soon, let me know what you think in the comments and feel free to ask questions too.