Apple was
mocked following the launch of its large-screen iPhone 6 and 6 Plus
phones, with some critics accusing the firm of playing catch-up with the
likes of Samsung and HTC.
And
now the firm’s own co-founder Steve Wozniak appears to have sided with
these critics, saying Apple should have released a larger, phablet-style
much sooner.
If it had, continued Mr Wozniak in an interview with CNNMoney, the
tech giant would have been able to steal a larger portion of the
smartphone market from its rivals over the past three years.
The
64-year-old said: ‘Tech is like a song. You can get all the details
from someone else, but you're not sure you like it until you hear it for
yourself.’
Mr
Wozniak co-founded Apple with Steve Jobs during the 1970s, and was
responsible for designing the Apple I computer. He left the company in
1987.
Apple’s
4.7-inch iPhone 6 and the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus were the first devices
to break away from the firm's typical 4-inch displays on previous
handsets.
They were unveiled at the Flint Center for the Performing Arts at De Anza College in Cupertino in September.
Apple’s 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and the
5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus were the first devices to break away from the
firm's typical 4-inch displays on previous handsets. They were unveiled
at the Flint Center for the Performing Arts at De Anza College in
Cupertino in September by boss Tim Cook (pictured)
Following the announcement, rival HTC
tweeted: 'Happy to congratulate Apple on joining the world of big
screens!' The HTC One M8 has a 5-inch display
The iPhone 6’s screen rivals those on the HTC One and Amazon's Fire phone.
While the iPhone 6 Plus’s 5.5-inch display puts it in the same league as the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge and Galaxy S5.
Following the announcement, rival HTC tweeted: 'Happy to congratulate Apple on joining the world of big screens!'
An image titled 'Dear iPhone 6 users: Welcome to 2012', was then created by New Jersey-based Google+ user Ron Amadeo.
The
image poked fun at the fact that many Android devices have featured
Apple's ‘new’ NFC (near field communication) chips for swipe-payment
since 2012, as well as keyboard apps, which were new to Apple devices
through iOS 8.
Elsewhere, Google launched its own mobile payment system, similar to Apple Pay, back in 2011.
Mr
Amadeo placed the Apple iPhone 6 alongside the Nexus 4 and reveals that
features such as the larger screen, NFC, third-party keyboards, widgets
and cross-app communication have been around since at least November
2012.
During
the interview with CNNMoney, Mr Wozniak also dubbed the Apple Watch a
‘luxury fitness band’ and said he had, so far, been unenamored with
smartwatches.
However, he added that Apple’s version is more distinctive than others on the market and he’s ‘still going to give it a try.’
