Today Apple is going to announce three new iPhones. One of them should be a small form factor like the old SE. Apple discontinued the iPhone SE at the tail end of 2018 and has stated that the next iOS…
Today Apple is going to announce three new iPhones.
One of them should be a small form factor like the old SE.
Apple discontinued the iPhone SE at the tail end of 2018 and has stated that the next iOS update will not run on the old SE hardware.
I have a number of friends and family members who have the old SE, love the small form factor, and do not want a larger phone in their pockets, purses, and hands.
As a result, these people have been holding onto phones that have gotten a bit old and badly in need of an upgrade.
But more importantly in my view, if Apple wants to tightly control the hardware that iOS can run on (which obviously they do), then they should put a wide enough variety of hardware into the market to support their user base.
It is unlikely that any of my friends and family members are going to move to Android, where there is a wide variety of hardware form factors to choose from. The iOS lockin is very powerful.
So Apple doesn’t need to do this so much for business reasons. But I do think they should do this for other reasons.
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Seriously. This giant phone trend is nonsense. Nonsense! I'm a 6'5" man with large hands who still swears by an SE, despite being mocked by friends and strangers whenever I pull out my "tiny phone". I had a 6S and promptly ditched it for an SE after feeling like the thing was designed to slip out of my enormous hands. That whole "reachability" feature they added when they started with this phablet obsession was basically an admission of guilt—"Yeah, this phone is too big for your hands and goes completely against our brilliant ad campaign about the phone vs hand size, but Samsung made a big phone and people are buying it! We're scared they're taking our customers away so we're making big phones now. Here's a workaround."
Thanks, I hate it.
As someone holding on tightly to an out of date iPhone and a 2015 MacBook Pro (oh my god, the current laptop keyboard/trackpad/port situation is a whole 'nother even more intense rant), I think Apple has fucking lost it product-wise. I'm saying this as someone who has been on Apple products since 1987 and lived through the dark days of Apple in the 90s.
To me it's an example of what happens when you put a finance guy and not a product guy at the top of the totem pole. Instead of asking "is this product the best it could be?" the thought process seems to be "Will this product make money? How can it make MORE money?"
"Yeah, it doesn't sit on a table flat anymore, but it'll sell when we market it as 'THE SHINIEST IPHONE EVER'"
"It sure is awkward to use one handed, but it'll sell when we market it as 'THE NEWEST IPHONE WE'VE EVER MADE'"
Bigger and bigger iPhones with better and better cameras and more and more letters tacked on to the end will sell to a captive audience when Apple has the brand power they do. And that might seem good enough when all you're doing is comparing yourself to what the rest of the market is releasing, and when market success is beating last year's sales. But is that the Apple we want?
Nope.
I want my Apple back. The SE was the last phone form-factor that still had Steve Job's approval on it, and it sucks that it's so obvious.
SE size but all-screen like the X would be perfect I think. Up to Apple whether they call it the iPhone SEX.
There's nothing current and SE size in the Android world either (except at slow feature-phone level).
Even better, release two new phones, one in SE size but all screen so the screen's bigger, and one with SE screen size but all screen but the phone's smaller.
By my calculations you could fit a 5" screen on an "SE X". A size comparison: https://i.imgur.com/OKZiWrN.png
Amusingly, Apple had to side-step exactly the same naming conundrum in 1989 when they released their new M68030-based models—the Macintosh II was followed by the IIx and the Macintosh SE was followed by the... SE/30.
Here's hoping for an iPhone SE/30. Sadly they missed the ideal time to release it, being that last January was the SE/30's 30th anniversary. That would have been cute. As they were both (for their time) small and powerful computers, it would have been perfect. I was almost expecting it as soon as they released the iPhone SE... and Apple isn't entirely immune to nostalgia, though it is rare.
An interesting bit of trivia: the SE/30 is the only Apple computer to ever to include a slash in its name. (Honorable mention does go to the Apple IIe which was occasionally stylised in type as //e, but that wasn't its actual name.)
By Nition 2019-09-120:11 After making the diagram I'm convinced what I actually want is the "XS" - the 4" all-screen option. Super compact and no less functional than an SE.
By spurgu 2019-09-2413:55 This is brilliant! I would have a hard time choosing between the SEX and the XS but I think I'd go for the SEX.
Please Apple, make this happen.
By mumblemumble 2019-09-1021:222 reply > mocked by friends and strangers whenever I pull out my "tiny phone".
Interesting. I don't often get mocked for having an SE, but I do often have people asking what model my phone is and where they can get one.
My current hope is that we might see something like the SE come back now that Jony Ive's had at least a glancing blow from the boot. Maybe now Apple's at least a little bit more able to resist the constant drive to make the phones wider and wider so that they can fit the same amount of electronics and battery into a thinner and thinner device.
Yeah, hopefully! Nobody is asking for paper thin phones, and this needless obsession with THIN is we have to thank for gems such as:
- the phone no longer sitting flat
- the headphone port being removed
- the phone being impossible to get a good grip on without a bulky case
- "nearly one day of battery" life being the bar for "what good battery life is"
Who trades a couple of millimeters of thickness in exchange for the above? I hope someone in Apple is listening and can convince themselves and others inside that thickness is not the enemy.
It is a common misconception that Apple is obsessed with thinness when it comes to iPhones. Since the iPhone 6, each iteration has been thicker:
http://socialcompare.com/en/comparison/apple-iphone-product-...
By Spooky23 2019-09-110:59 iPhone 6 (Plus) was when it was realized that people care a lot about the camera. Folks bought iPhone 6 Plus phones they didn’t want for stabilization.
Apple prioritized camera over thickness at that point. Battery is lower on the list and is mostly addressed by CPU improvements.
IMO it’s frustrating that they are so conservative with a mature product. We waited over a decade for basic waterproofing. Apple has an incredible supply chain, but Samsung can deliver better/more diverse form factors. Example: ruggedish phones.
Apple’s focus is both amazing and frustrating to me. They had and lost an opportunity to break Microsoft clients in business.
By microcolonel 2019-09-1023:53 Basically why I bought a Moto G⁷ Power: it's about the same size as all the other phones these days, and it actually has two to three days of battery life. It's about the thickness of an iPhone 5, which was fine.
I personally think the iPhone 4S's display was a good size and resolution, and the form factor is good for human hands. If they could close in the bezels a bit, cut off a tiny bit of chin and forehead, and make the shell like the iPhone 5C... and make it run Android... I'd probably be game.
They could probably procure a really nice display in terms of colour, switching speed, sustained brightness, and black levels, maybe even increase the refresh rate to 120Hz for the interaction latency benefit. At 960x640, the quality of each of those pixels could be spectacular, and it'd further help with the end-to-end latency.
For the last couple of years I didn't ever bring a smartphone with me, just my trusty Nokia 106, which itself gets about a month of standby time per charge. I still carry the 106 because I'm still not used to having to charge a device so often.
By toomanybeersies 2019-09-117:421 reply What's wrong with the phone no longer sitting flat? Is that really a critical issue?
Also, most people have cases on their phone, which usually make the phone sit flat.
By jeena 2019-09-118:20 Wouldn't it make sense to replace the mm of the case with battery?
By dkraft 2019-09-1023:06 Nearly a half a day of battery life is what i observe the white corded Iphoniers clamor for. Thin satisfies two goals: minimum fire risk, maximum pocket risk.
No one has ever asked me that. They know it's an old phone or the SE. It looks the same as the 5 and 5s.
Thing is, it is not nonsense. People here always cry for 'voting with your wallet'. Well, people did and here we are. Apple was massively criticised for _years_ that they did not put out a large phone, because that's where all of the android market went.
Then, when they finally made the iPhone 6 their sales were so large that the next year's phone was deemed a flop even though it did extremely well. (If one would remove iPhone 6 from the sales chart, the 6S would still continue the trend in increased sales every year).
I would love apple to also offer a smaller phone, but offering people what they actually want was not a mistake.
By SomeOldThrow 2019-09-117:271 reply > offering people what they actually want was not a mistake.
You can’t read customer preference from the market when they stopped offering choice in this regard. I bought a large phone because that’s the choice they offered and fucking hate it.
I think they do have pretty good numbers because the iPhone 5S was still sold even after the 6 was out. So, when the 6S came out they could compare how well the 1 year old 6 fared against a then one year old 5S.
Also they did make the SE. I am pretty sure Apple knows what is most money making strategy.
This being said, they do offer (or will soon) a Mac Pro which clearly is not there to make big bucks. They could (and I would love them to) offer a smaller phone with latest internal specs. They do have bandwidth for that.
By SomeOldThrow 2019-09-1115:42 My fear is that what makes apple money is inherently an expensive, shitty phone for everyone. They are incentivized to keep us purchasing high dollar products, not to make quality products.
The software has me over a barrel. I would dump Apple hardware in a heartbeat if I could get it running on a phone built for reliability. I’d stop complaining about the hardware so much if they allowed independent app stores with better curation. Together makes me look for alternatives (which also suck mostly for software reasons).
By addicted 2019-09-117:22 1) I can't remember anyone reliable who thought the iPhone 6s was a flop, as opposed to the fact that the iPhone 6 had an immediate surge due to pent up demand.
2) The fact that Apple went so many years without a big screen phone, with people demanding it, and then when Apple.did release it they underestimated demand, proves that Apple can be mistaken in their assessment of the market. You're correct that just because people here seem to indicate they want a small phone doesn't mean a market for it exists. But I do remember the exact same comments being made about a larger screen size phone as well before the iPhone 6. IOW, just because Apple doesn't offer a small phone, doesn't mean the market for that doesn't exist either
By whyoh 2019-09-118:57 >People here always cry for 'voting with your wallet'. Well, people did and here we are.
Did the SE sell poorly?
They could offer a big phone and a small phone to hit both target markets.
By jhrmnn 2019-09-117:37 Unless the target market for the small phone is not worth it at the scale of Apple.
By Paperweight 2019-09-110:39 It's quite spineless and revealing to abandon the standard smartphone screen size right after running those ads.
I guess they're doing product development out of fear instead of boldness, now. Just a typical committee-led US corporation trending back to the mean. Maybe they should get a new CEO from Pepsi, again.
By inglor 2019-09-1022:04 I absolutely agree. I switched from iPhone to Android (Galaxy S10e, smallest one I could find that was high end but still huge) last year.
I would switch back in a heartbeat with a new SE. Moreover, I would love a high-end SE rather than a "low end" one.
By Wistar 2019-09-112:51 Amen. The SE is the ideal size for me because, with an Otter Box case, it fits in a shirt vest pocket or a jeans front pocket although I prefer the shirt pocket. I'd love it if they'd make a new one in the exact same size. I know I will try to keep this one going as long as I can but would buy a new one immediately were it to be offered. I should have bought the last of the old ones that Apple was closing out for cheap. Darn me for not.
"I'm a 6'5" man with large hands who still swears by an SE"
It appears that the SE is 4 inches and the 6S is 4.7. I have a Pixel 3 non-XL and it is 5.5 which seems fine to me. But the Pixel 3 XL at 6.2 was going too far.
Anyway, a real Apple SE[1] has a screen which is a little over 8 inches...
I have a pixel, it's 5 inches and it feels absolutely enormous compared to the SE. I don't like it at all and yet it's classified as "small" today.
Not a fan at all, it's just too big for me. I'm 6'1"
By stjohnswarts 2019-09-1117:00 I find 5-5.25" as optimal for myself. I don't like the 6" phones (and bigger)
By ip26 2019-09-1021:34 I feel the same way but heard an interesting take- ordinary people with ordinary size hands couldn't one-hand anything bigger than four inches, so most of the market has been using two hands since 2010.
By alexnewman 2019-09-114:04 Exactly all of this and a headphone jack. Yes.
By bythckr 2019-09-1114:38 You are not alone. There are many that agree with you and even apple did, before it hindered with what the "shareholders & wolfs of wall street" needed.
By euske 2019-09-111:01 Yeah. This is the day that I miss Jobs and his opinionatedness.
By phs318u 2019-09-115:16 The point has been made before that the problem is most people don't have large hands (especially the quite small people in the rest of the world) - and they have already had to get used to using two hands, so for them - the size increases are a non-change. It's only us giant-handed people that are now hitting this change. But we're not most consumers.
DISCLOSURE: I'm a long-fingered former SE user who recently upgraded to an XR.
By nomel 2019-09-1122:22 I bought a pop socket and never looked back. I’m fine with large phones now, this one being my first. It was entirely unusable out of box.
On the flip side, I'd also be cool with it if the phone industry can manage to move the fashion industry to produce clothing articles with pockets that fits these phones in places that doesn't prevent you from sitting down etc.
Seriously, how do regular people sit with a pencil-box sized iPhone 11/XS Max?
It's why I love my SE. Small, portable, good features a nice phone should have.
By ipsi 2019-09-118:40 I have massive front pockets, so my XS Max happily fits in there, along with my work iPhone 8, and I don't generally notice when sitting down. It seems weird to me that you'd have non-jeans pants that you _couldn't_ do that with.
By toomanybeersies 2019-09-117:44 I'm only being slightly glib, but they usually sit down with the phone in their hand.
By skocznymroczny 2019-09-118:57 I have a Xiaomi 6" flagship and it's too big for me. I mean, I can use it, but it's not too comfortable. I wish there was a bigger market for the 5" phones, but seems the trends are for bigger and bigger.
By antihero 2019-09-119:35 Nah I found the SE frustratingly small.
By erichurkman 2019-09-113:57 Having an uneven phone back such that it falls off of even level surfaces when receiving a phone call is a _vital feature_ that I cannot live without. How else will my phone land on a corner and crack the screen, requiring an expensive repair? Am I supposed to drop it like it's 1999?
Every year I wait on bated breath at the release of a similarly compact phone to the SE. I even recently bought a new one right before they removed them from the store, so I have 2 year apple care+ for it to tide me over.
Ordinarily I would vote with my wallet, but there are no compact Android phones either.
Ironically I still own a Oneplus One which is quite old by todays standards; and I distinctly remember it being called a "Phablet" due to it's obtuse stature in comparison to its contemporaries. However it would not look out of place today, in fact in comparison to my friends iPhone Xs (not max) it hardly seems at all larger!
I would merrily slam down 1K+ EUR for a real flagship phone at a size I can actually use.
(also, I wonder how women get on, since generally they have smaller hands than men.)
By aczerepinski 2019-09-1019:314 reply I wouldn't even call the SE compact. It's just normal. It's the size that Steve Jobs said fits comfortably in your hand, and since hand sizes haven't changed, it's still true today.
By NeedMoreTea 2019-09-1020:381 reply Wasn't that talking about the iPhone 4, before they added the extra row of icons on the 5 and SE form factor?
As is, I have no inclination to give up my SE, and if it fails I'll almost certainly pick up another off eBay or similar.
By ken 2019-09-112:35 No, it was the iPhone 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O99m7lebirE
By wlesieutre 2019-09-1020:38 It’s actually a bit bigger, the original iPhone was 3.5” screen and the iPhone 5 got taller.
I have to give up a bit of grip to get my thumb to the top corners of the screen, but it’s a lot better than anything else and I’d say worth the trade off for the extra space. Bigger than this I’m not convinced.
By ken 2019-09-112:46 David Pogue's review of the original iPhone mentioned "the HUGE 3.5-inch screen" (his emphasis).
https://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/01/09/some-hands-on-time...
By deftturtle 2019-09-1021:56 I noticed the other day that the SE/5s screen is exactly the dimension of a standard business card.
A thousand times this. My absolute number one requirement (after things like, um, the ability to make phone calls) is that it fit in my front-left pocket. I didn't upgrade to the last model for this reason and no other.
But I can only assume that Apple does plenty of market research on their products, so I assume people aren't checking off "the thing is too damn big" under "reasons I didn't upgrade?"
By theshrike79 2019-09-1019:233 reply I've had the 8+ and now XS in my front left pocket just fine. Maybe buy some looser pants? =)
By geerlingguy 2019-09-1019:383 reply I can fit the larger phones (though still prefer the SE size), but my wife has demonstrated how even the SE is often spilling out of whatever pocket or other way-smaller device holding pocket is on her clothing items. Unless fashion trends change, or everyone who uses purses goes for some giant bag (and likes keeping their phones in a bag, not on their person), there is a large number of people who could use a smaller phone.
By eq_sd_ 2019-09-1021:10 Here is a great article on the size of women's and men's pockets and phones: https://pudding.cool/2018/08/pockets/
By rabboRubble 2019-09-1020:49 A good pocket in women's clothing is unicorn level fashion.
I however always have a bra strap. I end up storing my phone there most of the time.
By Nursie 2019-09-117:04 I know a lot of women who find the pocket situation in women's clothes very frustrating. They feel like they're being dictated to that showing off the line of their hip is more important than actually being able to carry anything useful.
By labster 2019-09-1019:56 Buy this $1000 phone, and you can always have it along if you replace your entire wardrobe!
By adrianN 2019-09-117:31 The GameBoy solution: Just have a tailor make pants with pockets that fit the device.
By bangonkeyboard 2019-09-1019:031 reply > (also, I wonder how women get on, since generally they have smaller hands than men.)
The women around me adopted larger phones earlier, because they had purses to carry them in.
Maybe, but I have a mix, my partner has a large phone and carries a backpack(!?) with her everywhere, but her closest friend has an iPhone 5 (which she doesn't update the OS on because "it will get slower").
So in my circles it's already 50/50. But I do see iPhone 5's and SE's amongst my circles more commonly than I should given the age of the phone. I'm not 100% on why, though I often ask. And it's incredibly rare that it's a cost decision.
By bangonkeyboard 2019-09-1019:22 > …her closest friend has an iPhone 5 (which she doesn't update the OS on because "it will get slower").
If her iPhone 5 is still running iOS 6, she is correct.
> my partner has a large phone and carries a backpack(!?) with her everywhere
Bringing the SCR-300 back in style?
By edoceo 2019-09-110:28 Audio quality on that model is not great
By RJIb8RBYxzAMX9u 2019-09-1019:025 reply > (also, I wonder how women get on, since generally they have smaller hands than men.)
PopSockets. In my neck of the woods they are almost as common as phone cases. Some men also use them.
https://www.urbanoutfitters.com/shop/popsockets-tortoise-she...
Oh wow, this is horrible.
By allannienhuis 2019-09-1019:39 my wife swears by hers - makes it much more comfortable to hold while thumb-scrolling. She's not really one to put her phone in her pocket, though. If it's not in her hand or put down beside her, it's in her purse.
By wyclif 2019-09-1123:58 PopSocket Rings are huge in SE Asia. My theory on why is because so many women ride tandem on a motorbike and scroll through their phone while riding as a passenger. I see it all the time here in the Philippines.
By glandium 2019-09-1023:37 Also, phone rings.
By damontal 2019-09-112:15 I use one. I can “hang” the phone between 2 fingers and read with my hand relaxed and not having to grip the phone. I do this on a 5S
By itronitron 2019-09-1019:23 yes, those are also very popular with middle school students as they generally have smaller hands than men
https://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2013/02/how-do-users-r...
People with smaller hands, regardless of gender, often use two hands. Once you're used to using two hands, there's no reason to have a smaller screen.
They use two hands because you give them a phone that's hard to use with one hand. And using two hands is not always an option.
By macintux 2019-09-112:34 I’ve found every iPhone since the original 3.5” form factor too hard to use with one hand. I simply can’t reach all corners one-handed with anything larger.
I’ve been out of luck since the iPhone 4, so I often go for the largest. Might as well get the best camera and battery life.
By baot 2019-09-112:12 I type with two thumbs on a phone because I type with two hands on a keyboard. In fact, one hand is tied up on a computer - on a mouse - more often than I can't use one with my phone. It's an acceptable tradeoff.
By trixie_ 2019-09-111:26 I’m on the beach right now, comfortably reading and replying to this thread with one hand on my SE. The other is shielding my eyes from the sunset.
By littlecranky67 2019-09-119:41 That "study" in that article is hilarious. The author observed people in Airports, Subways, Cafes etc. and whenever someone was using a Smartphone, he took notes (so it is more of an observation that a study). This is biased in so many ways.He went to places where people usually have to kill time, and do so with their smartphone. He didn't observe all those people that had a smartphone in their pocket passing by, going for their day. I don't use my smartphone to kill time, and I restrict myself from using it when not necessary. Yes, it is a tool, I need it to check the bus schedule, buy a ticket etc. And thats it, and thats why I would be totally fine with a 5" display.
Except, say, using the phone on a crowded bus or train or any of the many other scenarios where it's inconvenient to use two hands.
I've no interest in anything bigger than a 7/8, myself. An XS might be borderline okay.
By nightfly 2019-09-118:52 Better rigidity is a good reason to have a smaller screen.
I keep having to ask this every thread, but you know you can double tap the home button and it will bring the screen half way down so you can reach easier. I have no problem using my 8 one handed, and can even use it one handed while biking
By expiredtofu 2019-09-1019:541 reply I have slightly smaller hands, and holding my old 7 one-handed was a chore - and besides, I don't want to double tap for reachability and disrupt how I'm used to doing things when I'm holding the phone with both hands.
I downgraded to an SE recently and the only thing I miss is the screen size; traded that for headphone jack, smaller form that fits my hand nicely, and a design I like better.
By wyclif 2019-09-121:37 That sounds good, but how long will the SE receive iOS updates?
By whywhywhywhy 2019-09-1020:04 I always assumed this feature was added so apps that were optimised for the old side wouldn’t require two hands and new ui features like swipe nav would eventually phase it out.
Yet here I am years later still double tapping my home button several times a day
By jimbob45 2019-09-1022:40 Back in the good days, I could text one-handed blindly while biking thanks to the T9 keyboard system.
By chubbyrabbit 2019-09-116:21 I use mine two handed while biking.
By stjohnswarts 2019-09-1117:04 Using a phone in hand while biking seems to be a horrible idea unless you're riding on an unpopulated salt flats or something...
The X, XS, XR, and now 11 don't have a home button. They all rely on Face ID to unlock.
They still have the “reachability” feature, however. It’s a gesture (that I never use intentionally, but I think it’s a swipe down at the bottom of the screen).
By cbhl 2019-09-1115:49 Today I learned it's still available on those devices -- apparently it's hidden behind an option in Settings > General > Accessibility and off by default.
By anthonybsd 2019-09-1019:342 reply >Oneplus One which is quite old by todays standards; and I distinctly remember it being called a "Phablet" due to it's obtuse stature in comparison to its contemporaries
Wait what? This doesn't make sense. I remember getting OnePlus as well (bought it for a friend in Europe) and the screen size was pretty mainstream at that point. It had 5.46" size. It got released the same year Apple released 6+ which had bigger screen, and in US it doesn't get more mainstream than that. In no particular order a list of other pretty successful smartphones released in 2014:
- Galaxy Note 4 (5.7")
- Google Nexus 6 (6")
- HTC One (M8)(5")
- LG G3 (5.5")
- Droid Turbo (5.2")
Where do you live?
By dragonwriter 2019-09-1019:381 reply Er, all of your examples except maybe the HTC and the Droid Turbo and the iPhone are labelled Phablets (and Apple only because they seem to be immune to the label); the Galaxy Note series is original phablet line and the OnePlus One was bigger than the contemporary iteration of that line.
Your list reinforces the point you are using it to argue against.
By anthonybsd 2019-09-1019:571 reply >Galaxy Note series is original phablet line and the OnePlus One was bigger than the contemporary iteration of that line.
No it wasn't, check the specs. My point is at the point when majority of phones were released in "phablet" sizes no one considered them to be odd anymore. 3 years earlier, perhaps but not in 2014. I remember getting zero strange looks walking around with 6 plus.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy_Note_series
> The Samsung Galaxy Note series is a series of high-end Android-based _phablets_ and tablets developed and marketed by Samsung Electronics.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OnePlus_One
>Type: _Phablet_
By anthonybsd 2019-09-1021:381 reply I understand that when OnePlus One was launched it was in the "Phablet" category. My point is I don't recall anyone using that label on mine (or on my IPhone 6+) because larger phones were becoming a lot more mainstream at that point.
By dijit 2019-09-1022:05 Then we're making the same point.
The overton window has shifted so much that things that used to look ridiculous and had to be labelled as a portmanteau look ordinary today.
By ukyrgf 2019-09-1023:01 I had an HTC One M8 and recall the reviews saying it "verged on being a phablet".
By paulddraper 2019-09-1019:125 reply Android is equally disappointing.
There has never been a successor to the Nexus 4.
By jwives 2019-09-1022:19 I liked the Nexus 4 form factor as well. I've bounced around to larger phones, including the Nexus 6, Pixel and Pixel 2... but I recently went back to a Sony device (XZ1 compact) because it:
(1) Has a headphone jack
(2) Has the same processor as my Pixel 2
(3) Is actually a usable size (roughly the same as the Nexus 4)
I have giant hands and large pockets available but will always prefer a smaller phone.
By asfarley 2019-09-1023:29 Nexus 4 was my favorite phone - beautiful form factor, nice screen, worked well.
By bscphil 2019-09-1021:03 The best phone form factor ever made. I loved my N4.
By willmacdonald 2019-09-117:32 The best designed Android phone was the Moto X 2013. Perfect design, but a terrible camera.
By paulddraper 2019-09-1023:29 But they were larger
By noisem4ker 2019-09-1019:222 reply >there are no compact Android phones either
On Samsung Galaxy S6 and later models, one can tap the home button three times to shrink the screen so that everything can be reached with one thumb. It's called "one-handed mode". I can't say I've used it very often, but when I need it, it's there.
By dijit 2019-09-1019:25 iPhone has this too if you lightly tap on the home button.
For the iPhone X it's also there: https://mashable.com/2017/10/31/how-to-use-iphone-x-reachabi...
Not exactly convenient though.
At this point why not just give people a real overlapping window manager?
By jpindar 2019-09-110:44 My LG G7 has a two window mode (you can slide the division between the two windows up and down). Also there are now many apps that can run in small floating windows, most notably video players.
By noisem4ker 2019-09-1020:39 S7 too. Maybe earlier models.
By saagarjha 2019-09-1020:06 It wouldn't make much sense on a screen that small.
By arvinsim 2019-09-113:38 > (also, I wonder how women get on, since generally they have smaller hands than men.)
Women actually have it better since they always have their purses to put their phones on.
My work bought me an "upgrade" to the XR, as my SE is starting to show some battery issues. But after a day of playing with the XR, I put it back in the box to send back to Apple.
Compared to the SE, the XR is 50% heavier -- even without a case. It doesn't have a good edge to hold onto being so thin, so it makes you want to hold on by the front. But every corner of the front of the device is a UI element that you can accidentally interact with. FaceID failed 90% of of the time for me -- and unlike the fingerprint reader, 100% of the time in the dark of night. That's before I get to the simple annoyances, like how it's not flat, doesn't fit in the pocket so well, and blasts my face full of light in the night.
So Apple lost a sale by not offering a product I want. If my SE breaks, I'll probably just pull my iPhone 1 out of storage -- it still works, has a great form factor, and a much lighter weight than any of Apple's current lineup. Sure EDGE is a little slow and I won't be able to use my Apple Pay, but those are problems I can live with. I live on large screens all day. I don't need a huge phone to be my computer.
I want a choice -- even if that choice is a remanufacture of a 2016 design. An updated design -- say an SE/30 -- would be great. But between that and the keyboard issues in the Macbooks, they've made an Apple fan with upgrades provided by work skip several product cycles. I read enough of these threads to know I'm not the only one. I just wish I knew why they kept leaving money on the table in the pursuit of thinness.
By joecool1029 2019-09-1019:42 > If my SE breaks, I'll probably just pull my iPhone 1 out of storage
Fix it? The guides (and tools) from ifixit are great, screen will take a couple hours at most if you don't have shaky hands. Battery isn't too hard of a swap either.
If it's a screen, working pulls are like $30 from ebay. I don't recommend the aftermarket ones as the colors skew cold. My girlfriend's on her third SE screen now (we don't like cases) and it's still way cheaper than buying a replacement phone.
By TacticalTable 2019-09-1019:171 reply > EDGE is a little slow
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe EDGE has been disabled across a lot of the US.
By joecool1029 2019-09-1019:35 Nationally it's only used by T-Mobile in very small amounts of spectrum, and only as fallback of last resort or for legacy things like burglar alarms. Regionally, there might be some rural specialty carriers using it (stuff like indigo wireless for the mining industry).
AT&T shut their footprint off completely a few years ago to free up spectrum in 850mhz.
Or ebay. I got one for my dad last week, new in box for $165. For his light usage (calls, texts, maps, and photos), it works great.
By eyquem 2019-09-1021:55 My SE started overheating in May and wasn't reparable. The genius tried to sell me on a bigger, newer phone, but I declined. Before I walked out he offered me a brand new SE from the stock room for (I think) $270. Just insist that you're interested in nothing but an SE.
Hoping the new one lasts until they come out with a proper replacement. I don't care if the CPU, camera, etc. are 2-3 generations behind. There's nothing I use the phone for that the SE can't handle just fine.
By Izkata 2019-09-1023:46 > I'll probably just pull my iPhone 1 out of storage -- it still works
The phone may still be functional, and the iPhone may be smarter, but I recently pulled out a flip phone from that era and it couldn't connect to any nearby cell towers. It was too out-of-date.
By LaGrange 2019-09-1023:42 > My work bought me an "upgrade" to the XR, as my SE is starting to show some battery issues.
I got my 5S's battery replaced super cheap literally downstairs from my apartment. I suspect I might end up doing that again, though a potential lack of security upgrades might make me itchy.
By Synaesthesia 2019-09-1019:31 The iPhone 1 is like comically slow by today’s standards.
