iPhone 6 and 6 Plus Changing Users' Reading Habits as iPad Usage Declines - MacRumors
Skip to Content

iPhone 6 and 6 Plus Changing Users' Reading Habits as iPad Usage Declines

by

Since their September launch, Apple's iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have produced record-setting revenue and sales for Apple, but looking beyond financials, the handset also is radically changing the reading habits of those who own the large-sized devices, according to news-reading service Pocket.

Pocket recently analyzed 2 million article and video opens and examined the reading behavior of readers both before and after the launch of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. In particular, the study compared how iPhone and iPad usage changed after the recent iPhone launch.

PKTBlog_iPhone6_v2
According to the results, customers with an iPhone 5s and an iPad spent an equal amount of time with each device. As users adopted the iPhone 6, however, they spent considerably more time reading on their iPhones than on their iPads, with users choosing their iPhone over the iPad 72 percent of the time.

This trend was even greater among iPhone 6 Plus owners, who grabbed their iPhones 80 percent of the time when they wanted to read. The big screen of the iPhone 6 Plus also increased video watching by 40 percent.

Even before it was announced, analysts expected the larger-screened iPhone 6 and 6 Plus would cannibalize iPad sales, especially for the 7.9-inch iPad mini. Overall, iPad sales are on the decline, dropping as much as 12.7 percent year over year as the tablet market begins to slow.

Related Roundup: iPad
Tag: Pocket
Buyer's Guide: iPad (Don't Buy)
Related Forums: iPad, iPhone

Top Rated Comments

whooleytoo Avatar
150 months ago
There's also an element of "newest, shiniest device" though. When I got my iPhone, I started using that more. Then I bought an iPad Air, which I used for everything. Next week I'm getting a new MacBook Pro, which I'll use more..
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bpeeps Avatar
150 months ago
iPhone 6 + iPad Air is perfect for me.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ThunderSkunk Avatar
150 months ago
I won't be satisfied until I can connect my brain to the net and all the content online is simply an extension of my memory.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
allanfries Avatar
150 months ago
If I had an iPhone 6, (and I would never get anything larger than 4.7" for a phone) I would still reach for my mini for all reading, web based things while at home. My iPad is a coffee table tablet 99% of the time. As I'm home 90% of the time as well, going to my phone instead of my tablet seldom happens.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TMRJIJ Avatar
150 months ago
Lot of ipad 2 users whose iPads have been bricked by ios8 accounting for some of this.

Nope! (Replying from iPad 2 with iOS 8.1.1)
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
150 months ago
Sadly, books created in Apple's own iBooks Author won't open in iBooks on an iPhone. They still only open on iPads. Was hoping they'd enable this with iOS 8, or on a 6plus...
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iPad A16 Colors

Here's When to Expect an iPad 12 With Apple Intelligence

Friday May 1, 2026 8:21 am PDT by
A new entry-level iPad 12 with Apple Intelligence support likely remains months away, based on a comment shared by an Apple executive this week. On an earnings call on Thursday, Apple's CFO Kevan Parekh said that the company's iPad revenue in the March-June quarter will face a "difficult compare" due to the the launch of the entry-level iPad 11 with the A16 chip in March 2025. Parekh is...
Dynamic Island iPhone 18 Pro Feature

11 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 18 Pro

Monday May 11, 2026 9:01 am PDT by
We're only four months out from the launch of Apple's premium next-generation smartphone lineup, and while we're not expecting a sea change in terms of functionality, there are still several enhancements rumored to be coming to the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth noting is that Apple is reportedly planning a major change to its iPhone release cycle this year, adopting a...
iOS 26

iOS 26.5 Features: Everything New in iOS 26.5

Monday May 11, 2026 5:09 pm PDT by
Apple released iOS 26.5 after a few months of beta testing, and while it doesn't have the Siri features we were hoping for since those are being held until iOS 27, there are a handful of useful changes worth knowing about. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. End-to-End Encryption for RCS Support for end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for RCS messages between iPhone and...