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I remember Jobs talking about never making a larger phone. I really wonder if it was a case of him caring about "taste" over "giving people what they want." Th

I remember Jobs talking about never making a larger phone. I really wonder if it was a case of him caring about "taste" over "giving people what they want." There was some leaked Apple internal document where they said that people wanted larger phones. The post-Jobs Apple created larger phones to meet market demands. One thing that always makes me giggle, though, is the fact that if you double tap the home button the screen slides down so you can reach the navigation bar at the top of the screen. If you have to provide a hardware solution like that, isn't it proof that the larger phone provides a worse user experience? I'm excited about the smaller phone. My iPhone 6s is overly difficult to maneuver.

carlisle_ 11y ago
This is a user preference thing. I cannot stand using the smaller sized iPhones, my fingers and thumbs are too large to accurately use the screen. My vision isn't very good either so I wind up having to squint and/or hold small phones very close to my face. I love my gigantic Nexus 6, some people hate it. I like that I can make the text big and still see enough of it on one screen. I can accurately input text, and comfortably hold the phone in my hand. At this point if somebody told me that my large phone was a poor user experience and I had to use a smaller phone, I would be very upset.
- ufmace 11y ago
  I'm a smaller phone fan, and that's perfectly fine with me. You're welcome to your large phone if that's what works for you; I just wish more manufacturer would also make high-end phones that are under 4.5" screen size, i.e. with good screen, memory, camera, speed, etc. I've never had an iPhone, but I'm glad that Apple is making this. Hopefully some of the android manufacturers will follow suit, or I might seriously consider switching.
braythwayt 11y ago
I bought the phone with the largest battery and thus the longest battery life and the fewest "Oh, shit" moments when I'm traveling to conferences or out on my mountain bike. The phone with the largest battery happened to have a larger screen glued to its back. I'm sure I'm representative of a market segment, although possibly not the only market segment.
- greggman 11y ago
  Battery cases solve that for me. I have the largest phone with the largest battery but it's still often not enough. I could carry an external battery like many people but I've watched them (a) forget the cable (b) forget the battery (c) forget to charge the battery. Having a battery cases solves all those. No cable needed, no chance to forget it (well except forgetting the entire phone) and no forgetting to charge since it charging one charges both. It does make the phone larger, thicker, heavier and means I can't have one of the sexier cases but I choose usefulness over looks for this situation
Steko 11y ago
Aren't there more dimensions to user experience then one handed operation?
djrogers 11y ago
> isn't it proof that the larger phone provides a worse user experience? The thing is, at this end of the technology lifecycle there are always tradeoffs to be made. For me, the 4" (and to a smaller event the 4.7") devices sacrifice too much in the way of screen size, battery life, and keyboard usability. In exchange for those things, I sacrificed one-handed use for some use cases. There's a lot more to 'user experience' than just the # of hands I need to send a text message... And it turns out that with my watch I do about 70% of my messaging (by far my most common 'quick one-handed' use case) with my phone in my pocket anyway.
post_break 11y ago
I remember when Dicknose made fun of Samsung for the one handed mode, and when Apple copied it he had to eat his hat.
untog 11y ago
> isn't it proof that the larger phone provides a worse user experience? I think it's proof that they weren't willing to make some significant changes in iOS to account for this size change. The back button being in the top left of the screen is, in retrospect, a pretty bad idea. Android gets many things wrong, but having a back button easily accessible in the bottom bar is very user-friendly. Instead iOS has this double tap thing, and also added swiping to go back. It's better than nothing, but buttons at the top of the screen still feels like a mistake.
Sakiina_ 11y ago
I'm a woman with small hands, and I hardly ever use the reach-ability feature on my 6S Plus. I don't seem to notice that I can't type one-handed, I just type holding it and use the other hand to peck, but I love the larger screen size. It's very comfortable for me and you couldn't pay me to go back to a smaller size. tl:dr; we all have our individual preferences. Glad there's now products for us all.
BashiBazouk 11y ago
Same here. The 6S is just too big for jeans pants pockets, at least for me. I'm wondering how much it will be to trade in the 6s for the SE...
bsimpson 11y ago
I have been carrying an iPhone 6S+ for the past month, and I can usually use it with one hand. Bikes come in various sizes to fit various bodies. Handheld devices should too.
sjwright 11y ago
> I remember Jobs talking about never making a larger phone. It's consistent with the Jobs style to completely dismiss the idea of a product that they are not currently announcing or selling, even when history proved he knew it was a good idea. I've no doubt Steve was mentally locked into small form factor because it was the ideal for the product they were trying to build. The original iPhone sized to fit the market that existed at the time. It was a smarter mobile phone. The current iPhone is a pocket computer with cellular networking and a phone app. This transition was so subtle that most people didn't even notice it at the time.

carlisle_ 11y ago

This is a user preference thing. I cannot stand using the smaller sized iPhones, my fingers and thumbs are too large to accurately use the screen. My vision isn't very good either so I wind up having to squint and/or hold small phones very close to my face. I love my gigantic Nexus 6, some people hate it. I like that I can make the text big and still see enough of it on one screen. I can accurately input text, and comfortably hold the phone in my hand. At this point if somebody told me that my large phone was a poor user experience and I had to use a smaller phone, I would be very upset.

ufmace 11y ago
I'm a smaller phone fan, and that's perfectly fine with me. You're welcome to your large phone if that's what works for you; I just wish more manufacturer would also make high-end phones that are under 4.5" screen size, i.e. with good screen, memory, camera, speed, etc. I've never had an iPhone, but I'm glad that Apple is making this. Hopefully some of the android manufacturers will follow suit, or I might seriously consider switching.

braythwayt 11y ago

I bought the phone with the largest battery and thus the longest battery life and the fewest "Oh, shit" moments when I'm traveling to conferences or out on my mountain bike. The phone with the largest battery happened to have a larger screen glued to its back. I'm sure I'm representative of a market segment, although possibly not the only market segment.

greggman 11y ago
Battery cases solve that for me. I have the largest phone with the largest battery but it's still often not enough. I could carry an external battery like many people but I've watched them (a) forget the cable (b) forget the battery (c) forget to charge the battery. Having a battery cases solves all those. No cable needed, no chance to forget it (well except forgetting the entire phone) and no forgetting to charge since it charging one charges both. It does make the phone larger, thicker, heavier and means I can't have one of the sexier cases but I choose usefulness over looks for this situation

Steko 11y ago

Aren't there more dimensions to user experience then one handed operation?

djrogers 11y ago

> isn't it proof that the larger phone provides a worse user experience? The thing is, at this end of the technology lifecycle there are always tradeoffs to be made. For me, the 4" (and to a smaller event the 4.7") devices sacrifice too much in the way of screen size, battery life, and keyboard usability. In exchange for those things, I sacrificed one-handed use for some use cases. There's a lot more to 'user experience' than just the # of hands I need to send a text message... And it turns out that with my watch I do about 70% of my messaging (by far my most common 'quick one-handed' use case) with my phone in my pocket anyway.

post_break 11y ago

I remember when Dicknose made fun of Samsung for the one handed mode, and when Apple copied it he had to eat his hat.

untog 11y ago

> isn't it proof that the larger phone provides a worse user experience? I think it's proof that they weren't willing to make some significant changes in iOS to account for this size change. The back button being in the top left of the screen is, in retrospect, a pretty bad idea. Android gets many things wrong, but having a back button easily accessible in the bottom bar is very user-friendly. Instead iOS has this double tap thing, and also added swiping to go back. It's better than nothing, but buttons at the top of the screen still feels like a mistake.

Sakiina_ 11y ago

I'm a woman with small hands, and I hardly ever use the reach-ability feature on my 6S Plus. I don't seem to notice that I can't type one-handed, I just type holding it and use the other hand to peck, but I love the larger screen size. It's very comfortable for me and you couldn't pay me to go back to a smaller size. tl:dr; we all have our individual preferences. Glad there's now products for us all.

BashiBazouk 11y ago

Same here. The 6S is just too big for jeans pants pockets, at least for me. I'm wondering how much it will be to trade in the 6s for the SE...

bsimpson 11y ago

I have been carrying an iPhone 6S+ for the past month, and I can usually use it with one hand. Bikes come in various sizes to fit various bodies. Handheld devices should too.

sjwright 11y ago

> I remember Jobs talking about never making a larger phone. It's consistent with the Jobs style to completely dismiss the idea of a product that they are not currently announcing or selling, even when history proved he knew it was a good idea. I've no doubt Steve was mentally locked into small form factor because it was the ideal for the product they were trying to build. The original iPhone sized to fit the market that existed at the time. It was a smarter mobile phone. The current iPhone is a pocket computer with cellular networking and a phone app. This transition was so subtle that most people didn't even notice it at the time.