Apple’s new iPhone 6: What it means for your newsroom

Apple has this week unveiled its new iPhone products to consumer and media fanfare. The company’s move to 'phablets' includes the usual range of upgraded specs, but the real news for journalism is in the change of the device screen size and its technological capabilities. Both have potential impacts for media organisations and the business model of delivering news.

The reaction from newsrooms is a fusion of optimism and caution. Here’s what some of the leading thinkers in technology and journalism are saying about the new iPhones:

Roger Fidler, program director for digital publishing at the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute (RJI) blogged on their website that Apple’s convergence of the smart-phone and mini-tablet will mean a better user experience. “For news organisations, smartphones with larger screens should make reading and viewing their content more appealing to owners of all ages, especially seniors.” RJI’s 2014 Mobile Media News Consumption Research indicates people who have tablets and smartphones tend to use mobile media more for news than those who only had smartphones. They also were more likely to pay for mobile news content. “I’m willing to wager that the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus introduced today will give a boost to news organizations as well as Apple,” Fidler said.