[obsidyen]

From GSM Arena. The output doesn't seem ruler flat anymore.
 

 

Very good audio quality, not quite the best

The Apple iPhone 6s audio output is identical to that of its predecessor. Sadly that's not very good news as last year Apple took a step back in that regard, and unfortunately it failed to patch things up now.
When plugged into an active external amplifier, the Apple iPhone 6s posted excellent scores with the rather mediocre stereo crosstalk reading being the solitary exception.
Rather impressively, there's virtually no degradation when you plug in a pair of headphones. The spike in stereo crosstalk is so limited that in comparison, the iPhone 6s fares way better here than in the first test. Granted, there are phones out there that do even better, but that will only matter to the most extreme audiophiles.
In both cases, volume levels were above average although Apple used to be class leading here too and now it's just matching most competitors and falling behind the elite. Still, the overall output is very good and would please the majority of users.
Anyway, here go the results so you can do your comparisons.
 
 

 

[andromeda1954]

  From GSM Arena. The output doesn't seem ruler flat anymore.
 

These measurements say little  about the sound quality, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts

 

[elfary]

FTR they have measured an European iPhone. That explains their assesment of output power. Non European delivers 1 volt so it's almost first in class along with HTC M8/9.
 
You can tell it's European by the huge CE stamp on the back and the 0682 code which is absent from non EU iPhones:
 
http://www.gsmarena.com/apple_iphone_6s-review-1314.php

 

[bcarr112281]

 
You can tell it's European by the huge CE stamp on the back and the 0682 code which is absent from non EU iPhones. . . .

 
No, not necessarily. You'll find the CE mark on many types of items in the U.S. Indeed, I noticed it on a power strip earlier this afternoon. (I didn't check for an 0682 code.)
 
Best regards,
Brian

 

[a_recording]

Got a quick update from Apple support yesterday after my issue was escalated to engineering; they said they were investigating and confirmed that they had received several similar complaints. So that's promising.

 

[elfary]

 
You can tell it's European by the huge CE stamp on the back and the 0682 code which is absent from non EU iPhones. . . .

 
No, not necessarily. You'll find the CE mark on many types of items in the U.S. Indeed, I noticed it on a power strip earlier this afternoon. (I didn't check for an 0682 code.)
 
Best regards,
Brian

The size of the CE and 0682 is what matters. As en European user that avoids european iPhones i know very well the back of different iPhones since i've been for three years tracking down non European iPhones on local 'craiglists'.

Rest assured that the iPhone measured in gsmarena is volume capped.


If the tonality it's not right, then nothing else really matters.

 

[elfary]

Got a quick update from Apple support yesterday after my issue was escalated to engineering; they said they were investigating and confirmed that they had received several similar complaints. So that's promising.

We'll wait. But that they have received more complaints is important for our case.

Just for the sake of knowing: pre 6s iPhones are all unaffected even if running iOS 9?

My iPhone 6 running iOS 8.3 drives my Westone Pro 50 and Shure SE535 like champ. Without any kind of background disturbance.

I might switch to an iPhone 6 Plus running iOS 9 so i just want to be sure that its background is as black as it was in iOS 8.

You never know...


If the tonality it's not right, then nothing else really matters.

 

[Erukian]

Sort of on topic, does anyone know with the new bluetooth 4.2 chips and iOS 9, if the iPhones finally support AptX?

 

[chowk]

I also raised it with apple support via live chat, but not sure how much It'll help.

Given the number of people affected (small), I'm not holding my breath for a fix.

Given how much it costs, it feels crap to have to compromise on the headphone out.

So, I'm back on the 5s and the 6s is heading back to Apple.

 

[elfary]

I also raised it with apple support via live chat, but not sure how much It'll help.

Given the number of people affected (small), I'm not holding my breath for a fix.

Given how much it costs, it feels crap to have to compromise on the headphone out.

So, I'm back on the 5s and the 6s is heading back to Apple.

I can understand that. In my book the 6s that does not exist. I think is a design weakness and it will not get fixed but hopefully Apple will take not of the issue for iPhone 7.


If the tonality it's not right, then nothing else really matters.

 

[RugbyPlayer]

I have the 6s and i have a similar but slightly different issue. I have tried a few different pairings, the only amp i have is an ibasso d6, and headphone wise i have the mr. speakers mad dogz, and some tdk IEMS. When i use the d6 and the mad dog headphones i get a static noise in the headphones. However the mad dogs alone don't. Also the d6 amp with the tdks does not have the static noise nor do the headphones when plugged in directly.

 

[smaragd]

iPhone 6 Plus here and no difference between 8.3 and 9.0.1 ... Still as black as black can be... No noise whatsoever... So I do think it's a hardware issue.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[elfary]

iPhone 6 Plus here and no difference between 8.3 and 9.0.1 ... Still as black as black can be... No noise whatsoever... So I do think it's a hardware issue.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Cool. So i'll go ahead and will trade my non European iPhone 6 64 for the non European iPhone 6 Plus 128 that i managed to track down.

And then chill put until 256gb phones are out and Apple has sorted out whatever has led to ruin the pitch black background that iPhones had until 6s.


If the tonality it's not right, then nothing else really matters.

 

[Baroninkjet]

I also raised it with apple support via live chat, but not sure how much It'll help.

Given the number of people affected (small), I'm not holding my breath for a fix.

Given how much it costs, it feels crap to have to compromise on the headphone out.

So, I'm back on the 5s and the 6s is heading back to Apple.

Once last year I spent several hours working my way through three levels of chat support. Finally, they admitted that there was a problem. But they said they had no way to report it for repair. And there was nothing I could do either.
 
That was the day I decided my 6 would be my last Apple product ever.

 

[LouisArmstrong]

Still happily using my 128GB 6S Plus Rose Gold unit with Layla and Kaiser 10. No hissing / buzzing issue at all. It still can't beat my AK240, but is at least on par with a lot of mid-range portable DACs/ DAPs out there.