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The biggest changes to the operating system come from what third-party developers can now do with it. The company is allowing all sorts of applications to tap into core functionality of the phones by letting developers add custom sharing options (meaning in addition to Twitter and Facebook, you’ll finally be able to share directly to apps like Pinterest or Instagram), and offering “Custom Actions” to third parties. Custom Actions open up a plethora of new options, like the ability to add third-party camera filters to an image you’re editing. Developers can now also create widgets that can live in the Notification Center or lock screen, and will have deeper control over what they can do with Apple’s camera software.

This kind of deep customization is something of a sea change for Apple. The fact that it’s letting developers tap into deep levels of its mobile operating system suggests an openness and willingness to experiment that we haven’t seen from the company in a very long time. Personally, I would like to see Apple extend this kind of thinking and allow users to set default e-mail, browser, or music applications on the device. Isn’t it time the company had enough confidence in its software that it didn’t feel the need to lock users into a single experience?

There are other annoyances. Even on the new, larger phones, Apple insists on interruptive notification banners that obscure important areas of applications. Though it has given developers new ways to access data across apps, it buries the options for users in hard-to-find, off-screen menus. With new complexity comes new ways of doing things, and Apple has yet to really crack the code on how to make every new feature feel intuitive and natural.

Minor software nitpicks aside, there’s not much to complain about here. So the real question is whether you want the big one or the really, really big one.

Holding it up to a normal-size head looks slightly absurd
While consumers are already clamoring for the larger of the two phones, I found the iPhone 6 Plus too large and unwieldy to use as my daily driver. It does offer better battery life and an improved camera stabilizer compared with the iPhone 6, but its size proved to be more than I wanted to grapple with on a regular basis. Do the math: The iPhone 6 Plus’s body is over 6.2 inches tall and 3 inches wide, which means one-handed use feels messy even with Reachability, and holding it up to a normal-size head looks slightly absurd. Maybe there are legions of Galaxy Note fans in the world just waiting for Apple’s take on the phablet, but I’m not one of those people.

On the other hand, the iPhone 6 feels like the perfect phone in my hand. Not too big and not too small. Its thin frame still makes the device seem compact, but the added display real estate is a breath of fresh air if you’re coming from an earlier model. Yes, this is an iPhone 6 in my pocket. And yes, I am happy to see you.

iPhone 6 Plus features an A8 chip built on second-generation 64-bit desktop-class architecture. , iPhone 6 Plus features an A8 chip built on second-generation 64-bit desktop-class architecture. , iPhone 6 Plus features an A8 chip built on second-generation 64-bit desktop-class architecture.