It’s been a busy year for Apple, in terms of marketing, public relations and product release. It could also be said that it’s been a rocky year for Apple, as they’re deal with rock band U2 to release their album wirelessly to all Internet-able iDevices for free has been widely regarded by critics and consumers as a PR catastrophe.

Firstly, the launch of iOS 8 was heralded by the company as “the biggest update since the iPhone 3G,” but most users (including myself) found the update to be only a poor, glitchy minute visual “overhaul” that adds redundant features and offers a false feeling of customization, allowing more third party domain over Apple software such as the camera and keyboards. Oh, and the emoji button on the keyboard is now a smiley face. I almost feel like I’m punching him in the face when I press him to send those comedic little faces to my friends.

Two days after the launch of iOS 8, the two new models or the venerable iphone line, the iphone 6 and 6+ released, retiring the iPhone to its thin, rounded origin of the iPhone, similar to iPhone one through three. The regular iPhone 6 is has a screen that’s wider than the iPhone 5, and offers more real estate with the iPhone 6+. The 6+ features a 5.5-inch screen and boasts a huge, retina display screen.

The iPhone 6 fixes a few of the design flaws of the predecessors. The iPhone is now far more comfortable to hold in the hand, and now features the lock button on the side of the phone. This is a relatively old motif of smart phone design, but new to Apple. It can be observed and perhaps criticized that Apple’s staunch conservatism to the design has hurt overall opinion of the Apple devices, and as such has left us wanting more from Apple’s overall phone functionality. The iPhone 6’s screen looks and feels great now, and is likely the selling point of the device. It’s like watching an HD television six inches from your face. The keyboard feels far more organic and cramped on the wider screen, and allows for a more natural typing position. The newfound width of the iPhone seems to be the greatest ally of this launch. The iPhone 6+ while large, may not be suited for those who enjoy compact phones. The 6 is compact and will fit in your pocket, but the 6+ May be too large to be portable for some who are fairly mobile.

Overall, the iPhone 6 was a solid launch, but fails to live up to the hype of the seminal iPhone 4, while still correcting some things that the iPhone 5s suffered from. iOS 8 has yet to prove that it can be a solid platform, with clunky and redundant features that I have yet to use because of their lack of innovation.