back to article Bought an iPhone 6 Plus? Odds are you've binned the iPad

Apple fans are ditching their iPads after buying a new phab-ulous big screened iPhone 6 Plus, a survey has revealed. The mobile reader app Pocket has unveiled research that suggests people who buy mobile phones with large screens no longer spend as much time using their tablets. In a statement which might tickle British …

  1. David Lawton

    I use my iPad more than ever before and i have an iPhone 6.

    Its really depends what I'm up to.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Exactly

      After the 5s had a little journey through the washing machine I bought an iPhone 6.

      I use my iPad mini just as much. Reading eBooks on it is a better experience than on the widescreen iPhone.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Exactly

        You know even if you have damaged the iPhone 5S I'm pretty sure you can take it back to Apple and they will replace it for a cost - far less than buying a new one.

        Also if you has bought Applecare Plus it includes accidental damage (albeit with some exclusions) so you can have two accidents over the 2 years and just pay around £50 excess - not too bad for a phone that costs upwards of £500.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Exactly

          There is a 3rd option. The mobile phone section of a household contents insurance policy might cover the cost of the new iDevice. I know it did when my Samsung went phut.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Exactly

            You really want to screw your no-claims bonus and perhaps quite a significant excess to claim a few hundred pounds on our household policy? You will probably end up paying for it for the next 5 years in higher than necessary premiums.

    2. This post has been deleted by its author

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        The survey / graphic was for the 5S, 6 and 6+ and Applecare (with accidental cover) is relevant for any of those models and their comparison against an iPad is also relevant as clearly the iPad is still a better choice for many uses. I switch between iPhone 6+, iPad Air and Macbook depending on what I am doing.

        Things like reading list and handoff just make it even easier.

  2. Simple Si
    Paris Hilton

    hahaha

    ...you said 'fanny pack'!

    Interesting to see the stats on bum bag ownership levels IPhone 6 Plus customers.

    (Paris - Need I say more?)

    1. Arctic fox
      Happy

      @Simple Si Indeed - thus demonstrating how easy it is for.............

      ............speakers of British and American English to misunderstand each other totally. In American ears the term "bum bag" would sound like something owned by a tramp (for the benefit of our compadres from the eastern side of the Pond a tramp in British English is a hobo, not a lady of dubious reputation).

      1. frank ly

        @ Arctic Fox Re: @Simple Si Indeed - thus demonstrating how easy it is for.............

        So, tell us about the fanny.

        1. Khaptain Silver badge
          Coat

          Re: @ Arctic Fox @Simple Si Indeed - thus demonstrating how easy it is for.............

          >So, tell us about the fanny.

          I can't really judge from the article but there appears to be 2 possible cases

          1 : Something is required in order to pack the fanny.

          2 : The fanny will be used to pack something else.

          In either case those rounded corners will probably be far more welcome that sharp pointy ones..

          1. VinceH

            Re: @ Arctic Fox @Simple Si Indeed - thus demonstrating how easy it is for.............

            "2 : The fanny will be used to pack something else."

            Benidorm.

            Sticky Vicky.

            I'm ashamed to know that.

            1. Khaptain Silver badge
              Coffee/keyboard

              Re: @ Arctic Fox @Simple Si Indeed - thus demonstrating how easy it is for.............

              @VinceH, that definately makes a change from pulling a rabbit out of a hat.

              [PS : If you go a googling Vinces' references it is important to note that it might/will return a NSFW result..lol.... it made me laugh]

              1. VinceH

                Re: @ Arctic Fox @Simple Si Indeed - thus demonstrating how easy it is for.............

                "[PS : If you go a googling Vinces' references it is important to note that it might/will return a NSFW result..lol.... it made me laugh]"

                Oops, yes - sorry about that; I should have said NSFW for the benefit of those who might have gone-a-googling.

            2. Anonyomous Jim
              Trollface

              Re: @ Arctic Fox @Simple Si Indeed - thus demonstrating how easy it is for.............

              Bloody hell, she was going when I was 17 - 25 years ago!

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: @ Arctic Fox @Simple Si Indeed - thus demonstrating how easy it is for.............

            To be fair, I note that even Americans learn fairly fast when they discover the different meaning of "fanny" in real English. Takes them about a fortnight (which, no, is not four days, even for an American guess). The languages differ far more than most people on either side realise and not just in vocabulary.

      2. Bloakey1

        Re: @Simple Si Indeed - thus demonstrating how easy it is for.............

        Indeed and a fanny is quite a different kettle of fish as it were. We are also want to throw fagots on the fire or eat them, we smoke our fags and we abstain from laying our sods on the front lawn. we also say that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on his ass and my wife's hairy box is a small hollow cubed object somewhat hirsute in nature and she keeps socks in it (1.).

        Now that is cleared up, lets start on the Aussies and the Irish.

        1. Hmmm, is that where all the missing ones go?

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I do use my 6+ more but would not say I use my iPad significantly less and would not consider not using it. Perhaps if I had an iPad Mini (even though there is still a huge difference in actual screen area) but if anything it makes me consider getting a larger iPad when / if they arrive.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "Odds are you've binned the iPad"

    Hardly - seems a bit of a stretch - binned rather infers you have got rid of the iPad - well the survey shows they may be using the iPhone proportionally more but do still use the iPad - not that they have binned it completely.

    The survey also does not seem to give any indication of how the stats were generated or how many people were involved. For example I may use the iPhone 6+ more frequently to do quick searches etc. but would still swap to the iPad for longer browsing etc. So if it's based on number rather than time it may not be very representative.

    I think in reality people may use their larger screen iPhones more (as they are more convenient) but the survey did not actually ask anything about 'would they be prepared to get rid of their iPad as a result' - suspect the result of that would have been a lot lower.

    1. Ted Treen
      Facepalm

      Aww C'mon...

      ...it's Jasper hoping for a load of anti-Apple trolls.

      The terms "sophistry" and "economical with the actualité" might spring to mind.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Please note and do not apply willy nilly

      This is a USA survey, not a British or French or Australasian or Italian or Japanese survey.

      It seems to me one of the biggest failings of these commentaries is that the authors are unaware that we are not all Americans with American culture, habits, conditions and tastes - Thank Heavens, much as big business and, it seems, London governments would have it otherwise.

      1. Phil.T.Tipp

        Re: Please note and do not apply willy nilly

        Indeed. There is also a complete lack of citation regarding numbers etc. This is meaningless twaddle of the first water.

      2. Simon Harris

        Re: Please note and do not apply willy nilly

        fanny.. willy... i see what you did there!

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    What is it Steve Jobs had said?

    So does the iPhone 6+ come with 'sandpaper to file down fingers'?

  6. brianclegg

    Good, but no cigar

    It's interesting, but it's possible that some of the effect is due to the novelty factor - most people with an 6 plus and an iPad will have had the iPad significantly longer. I also suspect it depends how they use the iPad - I use mine mostly for text-based activities - I can touch type on an iPad keyboard, but I couldn't on an iPhone 6/6 plus, so wouldn't see much of a change.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    When you first get a bigger phone

    I think initially there's a tendency for tablet usage to drop. Ultimately, the tablet still has the bigger screen, so I'd expect usage to creep up again*.

    * Based on my experience of moving to an iPhone 3GS to a Samsung S3, a couple of years back.

  8. Frankee Llonnygog

    I'd complain about reprinting a press release for Pocket but

    I really like Pocket. And Feedly

  9. Nifty Silver badge

    Thats what we get for our SIMs

    With an iPad 3g/4g you cannot buy any pay as you go non-expiring data. For an occasional user - say 4 hours a month on trains (for those moments where there's data coverage), Ovivio and Samba used to be the answer, but are no more.

    With an iPhone 6+ you can pop in a Three 321 SIM and sip as little or drink as much data as you like with no expiry on the credit - at 1p/MB.

    Suddenly the device makes the usability case due to the restrictive quirks of the mobile networks.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Thats what we get for our SIMs

      Exactly this. This is why I bought an Xperia Z Ultra rather than a tablet (they were available for £205 at the time.) I need the mobile network a few hours a month, so a Gbyte lasts months. OK not as good as a Galaxy Note but half the price.

      I don't understand the weirdness of the networks, but at least this one is easy to exploit.

      1. Paul

        Re: Thats what we get for our SIMs

        I too have an XZU, and occasionally I think about getting a tablet but for nearly all the times I'd use a tablet, the phablet is actually more convenient and likely to be within arm's reach. And if I want to do something "productive" rather than "consume", I have an ultrabook which resumes sufficiently quickly if I open the screen when I'm standing up, it's ready to use by the time I sit down, and it has a keyboard and runs a real OS (linux).

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Thats what we get for our SIMs

          Snap. I have seen the future, it is us and it works.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Thats what we get for our SIMs

      Three specifically forbid using the '321' SIM in anything other than a handset, so they will cut it off if they detect it being used in a tablet or MiFi device.

      I know because I was going to do exactly this. Ended up with a £6 per month SIM from Vodafone which 'shares' the data allowance on my main phone SIM (which I always had several GB unused, anyway).

  10. Shane Sturrock

    Phone apps are still phone apps

    I've got an iPad mini and recently bought an iPhone 6+ to replace my old 4. I expected to drop the mini and just use the iPhone thus reducing my device list to my rMPR and a phone but as it happens, the iPhone 6+ still runs iPhone apps and not iPad apps and many of them don't handle landscape well. The built in Apple apps do and Mail is a revelation on the 6+ but I still prefer true iPad apps in many cases so I've kept the iPad and now just have a bigger phone than before. On the plus side (no pun!) the phone's battery life is way better than the iPhone 4.

    I'll likely get another iPad in a year or so once this one hits three years old, so no, the 6+ doesn't make an iPad redundant but I think I'll go for a bigger one next time, maybe even the rumoured 'Pro'.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    20% versus 28% - not that much difference

    Seems the conclusion is "owners of brand new iPhones use them more than their several year old tablets". I could have told them that.

    How about controlling for the age of the iPad, whether it is a Retina model, whether it is an iPad 2 upgraded to iOS 8 (hear that slowed it down noticeably, though 8.1.1 is supposed to address that)

    Maybe revisit this in a year when the 6/6+ are a year old and the 6S is the new hotness. Bet people use that more than something they've owned for a few years, at least at first, and the stats on the 6/6+ have leveled off a bit...

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I hate to say this but isn't the study rather stating the bleedin' obvious. As the size of the screen on the iPhone gets closer to the size of the screen on the iPad there will be less reason to go an seek out the iPad to, for example, read the news. Most people seem to have their phone on them all the time but the tablet typically has to be fetched, that's a big mental barrier to overcome. If you want watch a film though or do some serious reading there's no substitute for a larger screen hence the continued usage of tablets.

    If anything in the next couple of years I think we'll see tablets with progressively larger screens. Why? Because people will still buy tablets - they will still want to read books and watch movies on screens larger than the six(ish) inch limit that a phone screen can reasonably have. Once you get over the barrier to going and getting a device you might as well enjoy it the experience on a screen as big as is reasonable

  13. Gob Smacked

    One type of slab estate should be enough for everyone!

    At least, as a 3 year user of a Galaxy Note phone, I never felt the temptation anymore to buy a tablet. I *like* them, but don't need a tablet. A good Windows laptop yes. Something serious that works in most environments next to the quick-dirty-and-useful gadget.

  14. Kar98

    So close!

    I ditched my iPad after buying a Lumia 1320.

  15. David Paul Morgan

    the common factor here is...

    ... that people who have a large smartphone are going to use it as a small tablet with telephony?

    I use my Xperia Z2 (tethered) with my Z1 Compact - the Tablet is more for pdf's, Zinio, browsing and the compact is for txt/hangouts/facebook/twitter/Good.

    At meetings, it's the Tablet as you have to read minutes and take notes, so that's easy with the Swype (etc ) keyboard.

    cursus equorum

    I agree about having a decent data tariff!

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon

Other stories you might like