When it comes to technology, there are early adopters (ie those mad people who will stand in the rain outside a store for days to get their fix) and what I like to call normal people.
I am usually one of the last people in my peer group to get the latest It Phone. To illustrate, I was still using a Blackberry Bold long after the first iPhone was already growing barnacles. But a serendipitous turn of events - aka the end of my iPhone 5s contract - meant I got my hands on an iPhone 6s Plus reasonably close to the release date.
Normally, I would consider myself a techonogically-savvy human. But armed with my iPhone 5s, my newly-minted iPhone 6s Plus (rose gold, 128GB, natch) and my home computer, I was reduced to a blithering mess.
After wrestling for five hours with my new toy, I finally got the familiar sight of my partner and dog on the home screen.
Is it faster than the 5s? Too early to say. Did I try the new 3D feature? No, I was too damned tired.
Before nodding off, I jotted down three key things about setting up the iPhone 6s (or 6s Plus) that I wish I had known before I lost an entire evening doing it.
1. Update the software on your old iPhone
It sounds simple (in hindsight, of course) that your two phones - old and new - will need to speak the same language.
I had put off upgrading my iPhone 5s software to iOS 9 for weeks. Turns out this was a bad move.
I backed up my iPhone 5s (running iOS 8.4, an embarrassing admission to any tech-heads reading this) to iTunes and was all ready to restore the backup to my new baby.
But the 6s Plus had other ideas. No matter how many times I seemed to perform the backup-restore tango, the 6s Plus still wanted more.
After five futile attempts, the lightbulb went off (OK, I read something on a Mac users' forum). You can't put a 2015 engine in a 2002 car and expect it to run smoothly, so it's important your two phones are both running the same software before you can expect them to whisper sweet nothings to one another.
The fix? Update your old phone to iOS 9 before performing your final backup.
Time wasted: two hours
2. The backup password is the VERY first password set on your iTunes account
Trust me when I tell you this is the single most important thing you will read about setting up your iPhone 6s (other than how to turn the damn thing on). I could have cooked a lamb shoulder in the time it took me to sort out this riddle.
We are always being told to change our passwords to make them more alpha-numeric and hack-proof (ie not "1234qwerty" or "password"), so it would make sense that the password to protect The Entire Contents of Our Most Used Gadget would be up to date. Not so.
I was all set to restore my iPhone 5s backup to Miss 6s Plus (the rose gold ones are female, obviously), when it asked me for a special backup password. Say what?
Overcome with the sinking feeling that I don't remember setting a special backup password, I set about trying to crack it.
First, I tried my current iTunes password. Rejected. Then my iPhone passcode. Nada. Then about 10 permutations of my most commonly used passwords. Zip.
After some furious searching, I learned that despite all the advancements in password technology, in some nostalgic quirk, iTunes wants the very first password you set for your iTunes account. Ex-partners' birthdays, dead pets' names, anniversaries of relationships long expired - they are all possible candidates. Be prepared for some awkward moments.
The fix? Cast your mind back, way back. And as soon as you're able, change the encrypted password to something you can actually remember.
Time wasted: 1.5 hours
3. The iPhone 6s Plus is big. Very big
Compared to the diminutive 5s, the iPhone 6s Plus is a monster. And playing with it in the store does little to prepare you for its size when you actually go to use it.
Men will find slipping it in to a pocket a whole lot more cumbersome, and there aren't too many handbags with a side pocket that's the right size (although this could spell the need for a new handbag - or two).
As a one-handed texter, the 6s Plus is more than a handful, and I have slightly larger than average lady hands.
But on the plus-side, unlike with the transition from iPhone 4 to 5, at least Apple has had the decency to keep the chargers the same size, so you can continue the common pastime of collecting - then losing - charging cords.
The fix? Get used to texting with two hands and buy yourself a sturdy case, ol' fumble-fingers.
Time wasted? one minute per text message (in lost multi-tasking opportunity)
Do you have any iPhone 6s wisdom to share? Login and post a comment below.
Melissa Singer is weekend news director for The Age.
