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The Popularity of the 4.7″ iPhone

217 points by graeme 7y ago

Havoc 7y ago
I suspect that's largely from age of phones and price rather than true screen size preference. The bigger iPhone are hideously expensive if you're not in a high CoL 1st world place
Octoth0rpe 7y ago
I don't doubt that some portion of the iPhone user base really loves the 4.7" iPhone, but I think the author's premise is based on the assumption that the device that people use is the device that people love/want. Note that if this assumption is incorrect, it could be wrong in either direction: there may be a lot of people who are using 5.5" devices and would prefer a 4.7" device, but there could easily be more people who own/use a 4.7" device and would prefer a 5.5" device and simply haven't upgraded yet.
elcomet 7y ago
It is very hard to find small and powerful Android phones nowadays. Post new phones are at least 5.5" which I consider already too big. I eventually bought an old Galaxy A5 2017, which is slow, but has a confortable small screen.
- vesinisa 7y ago
  If it's just about the fact that larger phones generally also have very high dpi (text is too small and hard to read), you can use Android's native dpi scaling to make the phone screen "smaller". I personally can not use newer M-XL size phones on factory settings because the text is too small to read. But then I just scale the display to lower the dpi to a comfortable level in Settings.
  - freehunter 7y ago
    This is an important thing to note and I'm not sure designers take it into account often enough. I know I'm guilty of designing an interface that looks good on an iPhone 5s, SE, 6, 6+, and X with default settings, only to watch someone with an 8+ have their scaling turned way up and blow my user interface out of the water. Alternatively I had an app that worked well on all screen sizes, but one of my friends showed me it wasn't working because they had increased the size of their keyboard and the extra-large keyboard was covering one of the buttons.
- G4E 7y ago
  Exactly. I had high hopes for the sharp r2 compact, which has current high performance specs in a small form factor, but sadly it won't be available in western market. It looks like there is also a demand for small size smartphone on the asian market, so we might see some new ones soon ?
- pmontra 7y ago
  Sony Xperia X Compact here (2016). A little too thick but lightweight. Newer models weigh more.
- sjustinas 7y ago
  I'm on the same boat: a year ago, I bought a first-gen Pixel. Back then, Pixel 2 was already out and even Pixel 3 was on the horizon, but 5" is the absolute maximum size I can comfortably operate using one hand. Hell, I would even take a 4.5" phone with decent specs. My old Moto G was incredibly comfortable.
  - shawabawa3 7y ago
    I held off upgrading from pixel 1 to 3 for ages because I didn't want the phone to be bigger Turns out that while the screen is bigger, the phone is actually slightly smaller. It just has a longer screen and less bezel
- duxup 7y ago
  The Pixel 3a is admittedly just outside your size limit, but it's a capable phone at a good price. Personally I find it right at the limit of a "taller" format phone that while still big-ish, is quite manageable.
- scurvy 7y ago
  Sony? Their entire existence seems to be around making compacts with flagship specs (even if the latest iteration skips a compact model).
- ojagodzinski 7y ago
  Samsung S10e and others from: https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=2018&nHeightMax=150&nWidthMax=72&nThicknessMax=8&fDisplayInchesMin=5.1&chkUSBC=selected&sOSes=2 https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=2018&nHeightM...
  - butteroverflow 7y ago
    Which is 5.8"? Here's the correct search filter: https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=2018&nThicknessMax=8&fDisplayInchesMax=5.5&chkUSBC=selected&sOSes=2 https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=2018&nThickne...
  - robertoandred 7y ago
    The S10e is the same size as an iPhone X. Not small at all.
johncalvinyoung 7y ago
Interesting--and I carry a 4.7" iPhone, and I do like the form factor. But I suspect it's thrown off a bit by the rise in ASP across the line recently--the newer phones are quite a bit more expensive, and I know I'm not the only one who's delayed the upgrade a bit.
justinph 7y ago
4" iPhones are 11%, according to this chart, and those are models that haven't been updated in three years. That's pretty substantial, too.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- raydev 7y ago
  David Smith's apps have a very particular audience. MixPanel is more reliable to get a better view of the entire market.
Brendinooo 7y ago
>iOS 13 drops support for the iPhone 5S, 6 and 6+. These iPhones currently account for 17% of my userbase. A shame to see. I like my SE and will own one for as long as Apple allows, but designers are already forgetting to account for the 320 screen width. I see it with increasing regularity, in apps and on the web. I'd imagine that this will only accelerate once the SE is the only 4" screen left. I don't get it! My hands are probably bigger than 95% of all humans, and I don't think a phone needs to be much bigger than the SE.
- crysin 7y ago
  In my experience its more about the screen real-estate more than the ability to use one hand to navigate a phone that drives people to upgrade their phones to the phablet sizes. People don't seem to care that they can't reach everything on their screen with just their thumb.
  - Brendinooo 7y ago
    True. I would imagine that people who use phones for gaming and video would really benefit from a bigger screen, but I don't do a ton of either of those on my phone anymore.
  - wlesieutre 7y ago
    iOS 13 makes improvements to this, with modal popups showing in a "card" style that can be swiped down to dismiss (as long as you're at the top of any scrolling content). That the "Done" buttons in an upper toolbar have persisted for so long after they were reachable is a bit embarrassing. It was a great design for the original 3.5" iPhone screen, started to get iffy on the 4" iPhone 5 depending on how big your hands are, and has been stupid since the iPhone 6 in 2014. There's still other buttons up there, but you can get away without them more often than before. I guess the concession is that phones are assumed to be two handed devices now, which I think is unfortunate. If I want to two-hand something I have an iPad for that. Give me a one-handed phone with the same camera as the flagship. RIP iPhone SE. More on the popover cards here (EDIT better link): https://medium.com/@hacknicity/view-controller-presentation-changes-in-ios-13-ac8c901ebc4e https://medium.com/@hacknicity/view-controller-presentation-...
robohoe 7y ago
Prices is a big deal these days. Most iPhones X derivitives are hitting $1000 real fast. For those of us that don’t want to pay $29.99/mo just to rent a phone for 2 years and would prefer to buy outright that’s cost prohibitive. Also all the big phones barely fit in pants pockets. For males, maybe, but for females, forget about it - 50% of the phone sticks out of the back pocket. 5.5” and more phones are too big to be a phone, and too small to be a useable tablet.
- dijit 7y ago
  I mean. It’s not cost that makes me choose my SE; I would pay $1000 for a good 4" phone. Apple seems to believe its cost that keeps the SE relevant, and tried to tap the market with the XR... but very few budged it seems.
  - earenndil 7y ago
    Wasn't the XR quite popular? I believe it convinced many of the 4.7"-phone owners to get an X-factor phone.
    - dijit 7y ago
      Actually it seems iPhone XR sales did pick up, but Apple had to further reduce the prices to drive sales. https://m.economictimes.com/tech/hardware/apple-gets-the-message-slashes-iphone-xr-prices/articleshow/68714546.cms https://m.economictimes.com/tech/hardware/apple-gets-the-mes... Not sure if that means people can be bought or wether people really were just price sensitive.
- wil421 7y ago
  I took the dive into the medium Xs with Apple Care. My hobbies can be rough on things and I lost my 7 kayaking. Lately I’ve been thinking what the hell did I spend almost $1500 on a phone for. I’ve bought spec-ed out laptops and home built computers for that price. I loved my 7 and almost had it for 3 years. It would’ve lasted 4-5 years.
  - 7y ago
kasey_junk 7y ago
I own 2 iPhone SE, that I rotate whenever I break a screen. Yesterday I also had the battery replaced on both of them. I don't do this for cost reasons, I do it because I much prefer that size device and Apple won't sell it to me anymore. This strategy will work but will eventually require me to stop receiving os/security updates which is a real problem.
- AlexMuir 7y ago
  Exact same situation here.
- iscrewyou 7y ago
  I have the iPhone 7. At work, everyday, there comes a point when I can’t listen to and charge the phone at the same time. And I curse Apple for it everyday. I finally got my mom an iPhone 7 and took her iPhone SE. I use the iPhone SE with a hotspot off the iPhone 7 and listen and charge it at the same time. I pick up the phone and I admire it every time. Its just the perfect machine. Almost reminds me of the last non-touchbar MacBook Pro. It’s like beating a dead horse at this point, but looking at how they went from the SE form factor to the 7, I always say to myself “what were they thinking?”. Maybe we’ve come to expect too much from Apple. They have been making life easy for a while but when they go the other way, I think the criticism is warranted.
  - djrogers 7y ago
    > I have the iPhone 7. At work, everyday, there comes a point when I can’t listen to and charge the phone at the same time. And I curse Apple for it everyday. It's been over 4 years, and there are literally hundreds* of ways you can accomplish this. That you have chosen to not spend $30 to fix something that apparently causes you such great distress, and instead choose to carry anger over it is kinda curious to me.
  - Shivetya 7y ago
    the reason I went to the 8 series was the wireless charging simply because I wanted to be able to use my wired headset while charging the phone. it has never lost more power than the charger added back even while on a call. I even use Air Pods while it charges wireless at times, all depending on how much mobility I need at the time.
PhasmaFelis 7y ago
It's hilarious to think that, barely more than 10 years ago, having the smallest possible phone was a status symbol.
- jacobush 7y ago
  Or 20 years ago, that Moto flip phone? Looked like a car key :)
- rchaud 7y ago
  It makes sense, though. Back then, phones couldn't do anything except make calls, so the smaller it was, the better. Those who needed PDA functionality got a standalone device like a Palm Pilot or Dell Axim, which had much bigger screens to support the intended workflows.
- zedpm 7y ago
  I imagine it will be again. Once the huge phone cycle wanes (and it may already be doing so), we'll start seeing smaller phones pitched as a hot new development. Then again, with Apple beefing up the functionality of their watch, it may be that watch + AirPods takes the place of the tiny phone. Shrug.
  - dangus 7y ago
    What makes you think the trend will reverse or that this is part of a cycle? Small phones were popular when all they could do was make calls and even texting was sort of cumbersome and rare. Of course you'd want that sort of single use device to be as small as possible. I fail to see how YouTube, Fornite, and Instagram users (to name a few) will want a smaller screen. I also think the market has settled on rather standard phone body sizes that have not changed significantly since 2014 or so.
    - hhunccfing 7y ago
      Foldable screens might change that. Along with AR and maybe even implants.
centrinoblue 7y ago
I absolutely love my 5s mostly for the form factor - will be a sad day when it finally dies
- dgellow 7y ago
  You can still buy an iPhone SE, they have the exact same form factor.
1023bytes 7y ago
It's not really just about size, not many people want to pay $1000 for a smartphone, when you can get nearly all the features for half or thrid that price. I guess analyzing this data for Android would yield better results about size preference.
phs318u 7y ago
As someone who very recently went from an iPhone SE - which I treasured since it came out (and which I nursed through one battery replacement and two screen replacements) - to an iPhone XR (triggered by a another digitiser failure), I can honestly say that I’m loving the performance boost, the massive battery life, the better camera and the brighter screen. However it’s taking some time to adjust to the size (150.9mm x 75.7mm x 8.3mm, versus the SE’s 123.8mm x 58.6mm x 7.6mm). I used to be able to slip my SE comfortably into the front pocket of my pants or jeans, and it’s size coupled with its rigidity meant I never worried that sitting or bending would damage it or discomfort me. I could even put it in a shirt pocket, where it’s relatively light weight (113g vs the XR’s 196gm), wouldn’t cause undue sag in my shirt. For me it’s definitely been a trade off. Having gotten mostly used to it though, (meaning I now carry my phone in my hands much more than I ever did), I don’t think I would go back unless I could get significantly better specs than the original SE (performance, batter, brightness, camer) in the smaller form factor. EDIT: correction to first para.
kolbe 7y ago
The author's app is Pedometer++. My guess is that smaller phones are over represented in his data because people who value step counters probably also value less cumbersome phones to run/walk with. I, for one, chose an SE because I can carry it in my hand comfortably while running.
- gurkendoktor 7y ago
  It could also be the other way around: iPhone SE users don't "live" on their phone and are less likely to download third-party apps beyond the bare necessities, so there are more of us than show up in these statistics. I wish one of the big players like WhatsApp or Google Maps would publish their statistics (or Apple itself, of course).
- 333c 7y ago
  Reading through this thread I keep encountering more reasons to hang onto my SE, such as this (I run with it) and weight as it affects the possibility of RSI. I really hope there's an SE 2 with the same form factor. I'm optimistic because of the recent 4" iPod Touch.
sunkenvicar 7y ago
iOS 13 supports the 6s and the SE. Don’t believe everything you read on the internet.
- Wowfunhappy 7y ago
  The article does not claim otherwise.
  - sunkenvicar 7y ago
    Haha. I must have been hallucinating.
malshe 7y ago
There are at least two other variables which will lead to the same pattern - the weight of the phone and its price. Larger phones are heavier and more expensive. Thus, saying 4.7" phones are popular is like saying: 1) Lighter phones are more popular 2) Cheaper phones are more popular
- pier25 7y ago
  It's anecdotal, but I've never seen someone care about the weight of a phone as a decisive factor.
  - Kye 7y ago
    I have. Do anecdotes and anti-anecdotes cancel out like sound waves, or blow up like matter and antimatter?
    - pier25 7y ago
      > Do anecdotes and anti-anecdotes cancel out like sound waves, or blow up like matter and antimatter? I doubt it :)
  - hhunccfing 7y ago
    Hi, I care significantly about the weight. I find all the new X series iPhones to be too heavy.
    - nabeards 7y ago
      100% agree. I went into an Apple Store for the first time in a long while just a few weeks ago, and I couldn't believe how heavy the phones have gotten I have an iPhone 6 now and just don't see a good reason to upgrade. Even if I can't upgrade to iOS 13, I'll probably wait another year or two.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
vegardx 7y ago
Since these always-on pedometers are built into newer models it seems to make the statistics less relevant, you don't need an app to tell you exactly what Health is able to tell you. That said, you see a lot of Uber drivers using the iPhone SE, while rocking some Android phone for other things. I'm guessing it has something to do with compatibility of the Uber app, or that they're driving for more than just Uber.
- Veen 7y ago
  Pedometer++ has a nice interface and it lets you set goals etc. You don't need it to get the raw stats but it's a more pleasant experience than delving through the health app.
pushtheenvelope 7y ago
i too love my SE. I used to have a 7, but was always too awkwardly big to hold or to put in my pocket. SE is the perfect size. It also has the benefit of helping me manage screen time -- i don't really wanna get sucked into long content on this screen-size, and can save it to consume later on the laptop (or never, which is most often just fine).
dangus 7y ago
From the initial comments here it seems like some of us are mistaking the 4.7" iPhone screen size as one found in the iPhone SE. That is not the case. The 4.7" screen refers to the iPhone 6, 6s, 7, and 8. The iPhone 5, 5S 5C, and SE have the 4" screen and represents 11% of these users. The 4.7" screen most definitely lives on and is essentially the same general dimensions as the iPhone X and XS, with extra inches attributed to increased screen to body ratio.
saagarjha 7y ago
> People really, really like the 4.7″ iPhone. I think this is just that Apple’s flagship devices were sold in this size for more than four years?
nateburke 7y ago
Every time I increase the size of my phone screen, I experience a large step up in the extent to which I am addicted to my phone. It might just be the increased responsiveness of a new phone, but I also think there is a direct relation between personal attachment to a screen-object and the field-of-vision % occupied by that screen object. Squinting might give you eye wrinkles, but I think it is an important check on how much overall screen time you spend in a day. 4S 4 life!
n1000 7y ago
Well, isn't the reason simply the timelag? The iPhone 6–8 are mid-lifecycle, the larger ones are relatively new, and the smaller ones rather at the end of their life cycle? After all iPhones seem to have a 5+ year lifespan [0]. Also the larger X phones come with a crazy price tag. [0] https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12806 https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12806
bdcravens 7y ago
I suspect this has a lot to do with older phones becoming available on MVNOs in the <$300 range.
ksec 7y ago
We could segment it into ( Note: The iPhone SE is 4", not 4.7" ) 4" ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ - 11% 4.7" ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ - 47% 5.8 / 6.1 " ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ - 18% 6.5" ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ - 23% ‏‏‎ But it it important to note this is iPhone distribution for Pedometer++ [1] ‏‏If we look at other source of Data, Such as MixPanel [2] which has a much wider collection of Data. Their Size Distribution. 4" ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ - 6% 4.7" ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ - 39% 5.8 / 6.1 " ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ - 25% 6.5" ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ - 30% ‏‏‎ And unless the App or Mixpanel is extremely popular in Asia ( Excluding Japan which we are known for preferring iPhone 4.7" Size ), this is excluding vast amount of people in that region where Sales Data suggest they vastly prefer iPhone 5.8"+ Size. And given the 3+ years lengthy iPhone replacement circle, the data doesn't really shows or suggest whether the 4.7" user are holding out because they have no newer 4.7" iPhone to choose from, waiting to make the jump into 5.8/6.1" iPhone, or my guess would be iOS 12 with i6s up are good enough for vast majority of our daily task, and they are holding it for even longer. Note: Apple currently has 900M Active iPhone User base, and is trending towards 1 B sometime in 2020. Even a 10% usage base prefer 4" is an 100M unit opportunity. Of course that is assuming those users really want a SE Size phone and not buying it because of its price. [1] https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pedometer/id712286167 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pedometer/id712286167 [2] https://mixpanel.com/trends/#report/iphone_models/from_date:-1395,report_unit:month,to_date:0 https://mixpanel.com/trends/#report/iphone_models/from_date:...
- graeme 7y ago
  Good analysis. Any idea why mixpanel leaves off everything earlier than a 6s though? For the more recent data, at least as display on my mobile browser.
  - ksec 7y ago
    You can actually tick earlier models under the graph if you are on Desktop Browsers. The Mixpanel Data above are shown back to 5c as well.
larrik 7y ago
I've had iPhones exclusively since the 3G, buying basically every other year. My happiness peaked with the 5. The 6 was "fine", the 7 was a downgrade, and I then I didn't like any of its replacements and finally got an XR, which I don't like nearly as much as the 7 or 6.
Finnucane 7y ago
I'm in the 0% of users still holding on to their iPhone 5. Yeah, I know, I should get a new phone, but I was really hoping 5G would be sorted before I did that. And when I do, I'll buy the smallest phone I can get.
- jdhn 7y ago
  5G is the reason I'm hoping my iPhone 6 holds out until next year, which is when the iPhones with 5G are rumored to be released.
iscrewyou 7y ago
iPhone 6 and 6s still make 21% of the pie chart. I wonder how many of these people are still holding on to the phone due to the headphone jack and the charger.
- DanTheManPR 7y ago
  I hold onto my SE and 6s plus for that reason. I do own AirPods, and I like them... but they don't have quite enough battery life for a whole day worth of conference calls, audiobooks and podcasts. And they definitely cannot compete with standard headphones for music. A headphone jack easily accommodates any headset device I want to use, and I'm not willing to regress back to using an adapter dongle.
  - iscrewyou 7y ago
    Same here. I have a good set of headphone that are not wireless. I use an SE at work as an iPod touch (hotspot with my 7). I like being able to charge the phone and still be able to listen to stuff on my headphones. I like my AirPods at the gym and gym only.
- 0xffff2 7y ago
  I'm a 6s+ holdout. That's among the reasons, but the real reason is that the phone still does everything I want it to do. There's just nothing remotely compelling about an Xs for me. I probably wouldn't bother upgrading for $100, certainly not for ~$1000.
- ncphillips 7y ago
  Fingerprint scanner and charger. I really don't want FaceID; and, since I have cables throughout my apartment, I don't want to have to buy 10 new cables :(
- tartinipaolo 7y ago
  I believe this is a huge issue to many iPhone holders.But also there is really no need in buying a new phone every year.
imagetic 7y ago
I should have stockpiled a few of those refurbished iPhone SEs apple had restocked just to hold out and be happy as long as possible.
geuis 7y ago
I’m still using my trusty 6s. About a month ago I took my phone in to get the battery replaced. Curious, I asked the Apple rep about a 10s and after some hemming and getting $200 trade-in for my 6s I made the switch. I regretted it immediately. I was stuck in the Apple store for over an hour trying to setup the new phone while it slowly downloaded an update before I could even finish getting it into a minimal user state, meaning I couldn’t go home and continue setting up later. The faceid was interesting at first but really annoying pretty quickly. TouchID is really useful since I don’t always want to have to look into the phone. ApplePay as a convenience is ruined by the lack of a TouchID sensor. With FaceId you have to look at the phone and then double press a button on the side of the phone. My brain boggled at how they’ve ruined the entire ApplePay usage process. Final straw was the lack of a headphone jack, which has been my primary holdout reason. Turns out, the dongle is just annoying. Combined with my immediate experience and second thoughts, I went back into the store (since I was still stuck there setting up the new one) and got my old phone back and paid the difference. It was a bit unusual for the Apple staff but they were super nice and got my 6s back. At that point I left with both phones since I wanted to try the new one over night to give it a shot. Next day, I had enough and went back to the store and returned the 10. I’m still quite happy with my 6s and honestly may have to consider an Android phone when this one dies. I’ve been a loyal Apple customer for over 30 years and have just been disappointed with them for the choices they’ve been making in the last few years. At work I returned the 2018 MacBook Pro and got a 2015 one because of the terrible oversized trackpad and useless Touch Bar. I hope they change some things soon.
derefr 7y ago
I was last looking for a new phone around the time the iPhone X came out, but I decided on an iPhone 8 instead of an X. The X was not only more expensive, but also felt heavy and chunky in a way that I hadn't experienced since the original iPhone. It put me off. I decided that I'd wait until my next phone upgrade to get on the screen-to-body-ratio bandwagon. I'm guessing a lot of people are in the same boat. It normally takes at least four generations before an old model of phone starts feeling slow running modern versions of apps, so we're not yet at the point where anyone who had to make that decision (small-screen light cheap phone, or big-screen expensive heavy phone) has felt the need to upgrade again, and so had the chance to re-evaluate the landscape.
akeck 7y ago
I get this. My Plus let's me do art and work more effectively, but I must be constantly vigilant of RSI due to its weight.
vbezhenar 7y ago
I recently bought iPhone 8 after using 4S for many years. That screen is too huge! I would switch it to SE if not for better tech inside (better fingerprint reader is the main selling point for me, but better CPU is nice too). I'm using iPhone 8 for almost a year now and I can't get accustomed to it. I loved when I could use phone with one hand. Also my hands are huge, so I have no idea how could one use it with one hand (without that gimmick with double-tapping home button). Now recent iPhone models are just not appealing to me at all. I don't want to use face recognition and they no longer use fingerprint readers. Honestly, give me tiny iPhone with 3'5" display, put latest tech inside and you'll have my $300 immediately.
- santoshalper 7y ago
  Apple has very little interest in your $300. They want to make big, premium, high-margin devices that sell for $800+. It's the same reason they will never make a modular, upgradable desktop (no, the new MacPro does not count), the margins just aren't there. Apple only competes in spaces where they can make a lot of profit It's funny because I am usually not interested in those types of products, but I still admire their commitment to their strategy.
  - vanilla_nut 7y ago
    Give me tiny iphone with 3.5" display and I'll give you my $1000. There is literally no competition in this space and enough people hanging on to SEs and complaining about pocketability that I'm positive it would still sell well. When I pull out my SE when hanging out with someone new, the most common reaction is "wow! I wish my phone was still that small" and a lot of complaints about big phones. There is a huge untapped market here. I'm not suggesting it's bigger than the market for the XS Plus Max 7" behemoth... but it's certainly not negligible. There is a reason the iPod Nano and the iPod Classic were both popular.
- jmull 7y ago
  Won't a phone with the latest tech inside cost more than double $300, regardless of the screen size?
gandalfian 7y ago
Welcome to the Asian century? They like big phones, phablets. We get what they like...
gok 7y ago
> People really, really like the 4.7″ iPhone. It would be more accurate to say that a lot people have 4.7" iPhones. It's been on sale for a long time and iPhones last a while.
mrtron 7y ago
I would bet that corporate customers are a huge purchaser of the iPhone SE. I am aware of several huge companies exclusively purchase that device.
alexnewman 7y ago
I gave up on the SE this year. I bought it when I was new. I switched back to a pixel 3a, but I hate it. I'll probably switch back to a flip phone. I just want a headphone jack, decent battery, and a working phone
geoffmac 7y ago
this guy has mostly developers as users, developers use smaller phones
dade_ 7y ago
Hoping for Sony to release the ACE for international markets: Sony Mobile recently announced the Xperia Ace (SO-02L) for the Japanese market. This is Sony’s smallest handset released in 2019, with a 5-inch FHD+ display, a water resistant body, Snapdragon 630 chipset, 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. https://www.xperiablog.net/2019/06/20/xperia-ace-is-an-international-release-now-more-likely/ https://www.xperiablog.net/2019/06/20/xperia-ace-is-an-inter...
wuliwong 7y ago
I upgraded to the latest iphone XS this year after my iphone 7s had a cellular antenna failure which Apple would not fix even with my apple care plan. After about 4 months with this new phone I still prefer the older phone. I do not really notice better clarity or colors in this OLED screen and I miss the home button. Wouldn't mind that headphone jack back either. :) I also do not like the location of the "utility menu" now. I have to swipe down from the upper right-hand corner which is a big stretch for me, I often use 2 hands. This is an action I have to do often and I am not sure why apple moved it to that location. In the end, I will stay with this phone as I like the faster processor and more RAM but the design and execution seems to have been a step back. I've owned a 5s, 6s, 7s and Xs and I would choose the 4.7" as my preferred form factor.
ngcc_hk 7y ago
Love to use a SE as an second (third sim) to my max. Sad to see that form factor to go. Did get a new iPod of that form factor.
ChuckMcM 7y ago
I'm I reading this right? A person who sells an app called "Pedometer" (which tracks your steps) sees iPhones that fit easily in your pocket as the most common size for people who buy the App? If so I'd guess people who measure their steps correlates strongly with people who don't like to carry extra carry bags.
asauce 7y ago
I recently upgraded from an iPhone 6 to an iPhone XR. I love the new phone, however I still miss the size of the 6. I was able to hold and operate the phone in one hand. Using two hands for the XR is a pain in the ass, but using one hand feels like I could drop it at any moment. I think one factor that caused this phenomenon is the lack of innovative growth in the mobile device industry. Phone companies need to sell more units... however there are no industry-shaking improvements to be made. Therefore they default to upgrading the most obvious ones, namely screen size/resolution and camera quality. Therefore our phones get bigger for the sake of advancement.
forrestthewoods 7y ago
Is this information biased by app? Are people more likely to strap a smaller phone to their arm? I’d be curious to know if this device distribution is similar for different apps.
donohoe 7y ago
I am on my 3rd iPhone SE and I have a 'new' one for when this one dies or becomes unrepairable. I've been pretty vocal in my praise for it that my daughter choose it as her first phone despite the other options.
readhn 7y ago
my only reason for upgrade to 6s plus and then 7 plus was better camera - optical image stabilization on 6s plus and dual camera with portrait mode on iphone 7 plus. small iphones (6S and 7) do not have the best cameras.
kozak 7y ago
I have a Pixel 2 XL, and I like its width, but its length is totally pointless. I don't get why they don't make phones with less enongated aspect ratio. 9:16 is ought to be enough for everyone, why would anyone want a vertical screen that is taller than that.
nazgulnarsil 7y ago
Rumor has it Apple will put a 5.4 inch screen in a iPhone 8 size body. I hope it's true because the Android manufacturers will definitely copy them and I'll be able to get a phone under 68mm wide again.

217 points by graeme 7y ago

I suspect that's largely from age of phones and price rather than true screen size preference. The bigger iPhone are hideously expensive if you're not in a high CoL 1st world place

Octoth0rpe 7y ago

I don't doubt that some portion of the iPhone user base really loves the 4.7" iPhone, but I think the author's premise is based on the assumption that the device that people use is the device that people love/want. Note that if this assumption is incorrect, it could be wrong in either direction: there may be a lot of people who are using 5.5" devices and would prefer a 4.7" device, but there could easily be more people who own/use a 4.7" device and would prefer a 5.5" device and simply haven't upgraded yet.

elcomet 7y ago

It is very hard to find small and powerful Android phones nowadays. Post new phones are at least 5.5" which I consider already too big. I eventually bought an old Galaxy A5 2017, which is slow, but has a confortable small screen.

vesinisa 7y ago
If it's just about the fact that larger phones generally also have very high dpi (text is too small and hard to read), you can use Android's native dpi scaling to make the phone screen "smaller". I personally can not use newer M-XL size phones on factory settings because the text is too small to read. But then I just scale the display to lower the dpi to a comfortable level in Settings.
- freehunter 7y ago
  This is an important thing to note and I'm not sure designers take it into account often enough. I know I'm guilty of designing an interface that looks good on an iPhone 5s, SE, 6, 6+, and X with default settings, only to watch someone with an 8+ have their scaling turned way up and blow my user interface out of the water. Alternatively I had an app that worked well on all screen sizes, but one of my friends showed me it wasn't working because they had increased the size of their keyboard and the extra-large keyboard was covering one of the buttons.
G4E 7y ago
Exactly. I had high hopes for the sharp r2 compact, which has current high performance specs in a small form factor, but sadly it won't be available in western market. It looks like there is also a demand for small size smartphone on the asian market, so we might see some new ones soon ?
pmontra 7y ago
Sony Xperia X Compact here (2016). A little too thick but lightweight. Newer models weigh more.
sjustinas 7y ago
I'm on the same boat: a year ago, I bought a first-gen Pixel. Back then, Pixel 2 was already out and even Pixel 3 was on the horizon, but 5" is the absolute maximum size I can comfortably operate using one hand. Hell, I would even take a 4.5" phone with decent specs. My old Moto G was incredibly comfortable.
- shawabawa3 7y ago
  I held off upgrading from pixel 1 to 3 for ages because I didn't want the phone to be bigger Turns out that while the screen is bigger, the phone is actually slightly smaller. It just has a longer screen and less bezel
duxup 7y ago
The Pixel 3a is admittedly just outside your size limit, but it's a capable phone at a good price. Personally I find it right at the limit of a "taller" format phone that while still big-ish, is quite manageable.
scurvy 7y ago
Sony? Their entire existence seems to be around making compacts with flagship specs (even if the latest iteration skips a compact model).
ojagodzinski 7y ago
Samsung S10e and others from: https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=2018&nHeightMax=150&nWidthMax=72&nThicknessMax=8&fDisplayInchesMin=5.1&chkUSBC=selected&sOSes=2 https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=2018&nHeightM...
- butteroverflow 7y ago
  Which is 5.8"? Here's the correct search filter: https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=2018&nThicknessMax=8&fDisplayInchesMax=5.5&chkUSBC=selected&sOSes=2 https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=2018&nThickne...
- robertoandred 7y ago
  The S10e is the same size as an iPhone X. Not small at all.

johncalvinyoung 7y ago

Interesting--and I carry a 4.7" iPhone, and I do like the form factor. But I suspect it's thrown off a bit by the rise in ASP across the line recently--the newer phones are quite a bit more expensive, and I know I'm not the only one who's delayed the upgrade a bit.

justinph 7y ago

4" iPhones are 11%, according to this chart, and those are models that haven't been updated in three years. That's pretty substantial, too.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
raydev 7y ago
David Smith's apps have a very particular audience. MixPanel is more reliable to get a better view of the entire market.

Brendinooo 7y ago

>iOS 13 drops support for the iPhone 5S, 6 and 6+. These iPhones currently account for 17% of my userbase. A shame to see. I like my SE and will own one for as long as Apple allows, but designers are already forgetting to account for the 320 screen width. I see it with increasing regularity, in apps and on the web. I'd imagine that this will only accelerate once the SE is the only 4" screen left. I don't get it! My hands are probably bigger than 95% of all humans, and I don't think a phone needs to be much bigger than the SE.

crysin 7y ago
In my experience its more about the screen real-estate more than the ability to use one hand to navigate a phone that drives people to upgrade their phones to the phablet sizes. People don't seem to care that they can't reach everything on their screen with just their thumb.
- Brendinooo 7y ago
  True. I would imagine that people who use phones for gaming and video would really benefit from a bigger screen, but I don't do a ton of either of those on my phone anymore.
- wlesieutre 7y ago
  iOS 13 makes improvements to this, with modal popups showing in a "card" style that can be swiped down to dismiss (as long as you're at the top of any scrolling content). That the "Done" buttons in an upper toolbar have persisted for so long after they were reachable is a bit embarrassing. It was a great design for the original 3.5" iPhone screen, started to get iffy on the 4" iPhone 5 depending on how big your hands are, and has been stupid since the iPhone 6 in 2014. There's still other buttons up there, but you can get away without them more often than before. I guess the concession is that phones are assumed to be two handed devices now, which I think is unfortunate. If I want to two-hand something I have an iPad for that. Give me a one-handed phone with the same camera as the flagship. RIP iPhone SE. More on the popover cards here (EDIT better link): https://medium.com/@hacknicity/view-controller-presentation-changes-in-ios-13-ac8c901ebc4e https://medium.com/@hacknicity/view-controller-presentation-...

robohoe 7y ago

Prices is a big deal these days. Most iPhones X derivitives are hitting $1000 real fast. For those of us that don’t want to pay $29.99/mo just to rent a phone for 2 years and would prefer to buy outright that’s cost prohibitive. Also all the big phones barely fit in pants pockets. For males, maybe, but for females, forget about it - 50% of the phone sticks out of the back pocket. 5.5” and more phones are too big to be a phone, and too small to be a useable tablet.

dijit 7y ago
I mean. It’s not cost that makes me choose my SE; I would pay $1000 for a good 4" phone. Apple seems to believe its cost that keeps the SE relevant, and tried to tap the market with the XR... but very few budged it seems.
- earenndil 7y ago
  Wasn't the XR quite popular? I believe it convinced many of the 4.7"-phone owners to get an X-factor phone.
  - dijit 7y ago
    Actually it seems iPhone XR sales did pick up, but Apple had to further reduce the prices to drive sales. https://m.economictimes.com/tech/hardware/apple-gets-the-message-slashes-iphone-xr-prices/articleshow/68714546.cms https://m.economictimes.com/tech/hardware/apple-gets-the-mes... Not sure if that means people can be bought or wether people really were just price sensitive.
wil421 7y ago
I took the dive into the medium Xs with Apple Care. My hobbies can be rough on things and I lost my 7 kayaking. Lately I’ve been thinking what the hell did I spend almost $1500 on a phone for. I’ve bought spec-ed out laptops and home built computers for that price. I loved my 7 and almost had it for 3 years. It would’ve lasted 4-5 years.
- 7y ago

kasey_junk 7y ago

I own 2 iPhone SE, that I rotate whenever I break a screen. Yesterday I also had the battery replaced on both of them. I don't do this for cost reasons, I do it because I much prefer that size device and Apple won't sell it to me anymore. This strategy will work but will eventually require me to stop receiving os/security updates which is a real problem.

AlexMuir 7y ago
Exact same situation here.
iscrewyou 7y ago
I have the iPhone 7. At work, everyday, there comes a point when I can’t listen to and charge the phone at the same time. And I curse Apple for it everyday. I finally got my mom an iPhone 7 and took her iPhone SE. I use the iPhone SE with a hotspot off the iPhone 7 and listen and charge it at the same time. I pick up the phone and I admire it every time. Its just the perfect machine. Almost reminds me of the last non-touchbar MacBook Pro. It’s like beating a dead horse at this point, but looking at how they went from the SE form factor to the 7, I always say to myself “what were they thinking?”. Maybe we’ve come to expect too much from Apple. They have been making life easy for a while but when they go the other way, I think the criticism is warranted.
- djrogers 7y ago
  > I have the iPhone 7. At work, everyday, there comes a point when I can’t listen to and charge the phone at the same time. And I curse Apple for it everyday. It's been over 4 years, and there are literally hundreds* of ways you can accomplish this. That you have chosen to not spend $30 to fix something that apparently causes you such great distress, and instead choose to carry anger over it is kinda curious to me.
- Shivetya 7y ago
  the reason I went to the 8 series was the wireless charging simply because I wanted to be able to use my wired headset while charging the phone. it has never lost more power than the charger added back even while on a call. I even use Air Pods while it charges wireless at times, all depending on how much mobility I need at the time.

PhasmaFelis 7y ago

It's hilarious to think that, barely more than 10 years ago, having the smallest possible phone was a status symbol.

jacobush 7y ago
Or 20 years ago, that Moto flip phone? Looked like a car key :)
rchaud 7y ago
It makes sense, though. Back then, phones couldn't do anything except make calls, so the smaller it was, the better. Those who needed PDA functionality got a standalone device like a Palm Pilot or Dell Axim, which had much bigger screens to support the intended workflows.
zedpm 7y ago
I imagine it will be again. Once the huge phone cycle wanes (and it may already be doing so), we'll start seeing smaller phones pitched as a hot new development. Then again, with Apple beefing up the functionality of their watch, it may be that watch + AirPods takes the place of the tiny phone. Shrug.
- dangus 7y ago
  What makes you think the trend will reverse or that this is part of a cycle? Small phones were popular when all they could do was make calls and even texting was sort of cumbersome and rare. Of course you'd want that sort of single use device to be as small as possible. I fail to see how YouTube, Fornite, and Instagram users (to name a few) will want a smaller screen. I also think the market has settled on rather standard phone body sizes that have not changed significantly since 2014 or so.
  - hhunccfing 7y ago
    Foldable screens might change that. Along with AR and maybe even implants.

centrinoblue 7y ago

I absolutely love my 5s mostly for the form factor - will be a sad day when it finally dies

dgellow 7y ago
You can still buy an iPhone SE, they have the exact same form factor.

1023bytes 7y ago

It's not really just about size, not many people want to pay $1000 for a smartphone, when you can get nearly all the features for half or thrid that price. I guess analyzing this data for Android would yield better results about size preference.

phs318u 7y ago

As someone who very recently went from an iPhone SE - which I treasured since it came out (and which I nursed through one battery replacement and two screen replacements) - to an iPhone XR (triggered by a another digitiser failure), I can honestly say that I’m loving the performance boost, the massive battery life, the better camera and the brighter screen. However it’s taking some time to adjust to the size (150.9mm x 75.7mm x 8.3mm, versus the SE’s 123.8mm x 58.6mm x 7.6mm). I used to be able to slip my SE comfortably into the front pocket of my pants or jeans, and it’s size coupled with its rigidity meant I never worried that sitting or bending would damage it or discomfort me. I could even put it in a shirt pocket, where it’s relatively light weight (113g vs the XR’s 196gm), wouldn’t cause undue sag in my shirt. For me it’s definitely been a trade off. Having gotten mostly used to it though, (meaning I now carry my phone in my hands much more than I ever did), I don’t think I would go back unless I could get significantly better specs than the original SE (performance, batter, brightness, camer) in the smaller form factor. EDIT: correction to first para.

kolbe 7y ago

The author's app is Pedometer++. My guess is that smaller phones are over represented in his data because people who value step counters probably also value less cumbersome phones to run/walk with. I, for one, chose an SE because I can carry it in my hand comfortably while running.

gurkendoktor 7y ago
It could also be the other way around: iPhone SE users don't "live" on their phone and are less likely to download third-party apps beyond the bare necessities, so there are more of us than show up in these statistics. I wish one of the big players like WhatsApp or Google Maps would publish their statistics (or Apple itself, of course).
333c 7y ago
Reading through this thread I keep encountering more reasons to hang onto my SE, such as this (I run with it) and weight as it affects the possibility of RSI. I really hope there's an SE 2 with the same form factor. I'm optimistic because of the recent 4" iPod Touch.

sunkenvicar 7y ago

iOS 13 supports the 6s and the SE. Don’t believe everything you read on the internet.

Wowfunhappy 7y ago
The article does not claim otherwise.
- sunkenvicar 7y ago
  Haha. I must have been hallucinating.

malshe 7y ago

There are at least two other variables which will lead to the same pattern - the weight of the phone and its price. Larger phones are heavier and more expensive. Thus, saying 4.7" phones are popular is like saying: 1) Lighter phones are more popular 2) Cheaper phones are more popular

pier25 7y ago
It's anecdotal, but I've never seen someone care about the weight of a phone as a decisive factor.
- Kye 7y ago
  I have. Do anecdotes and anti-anecdotes cancel out like sound waves, or blow up like matter and antimatter?
  - pier25 7y ago
    > Do anecdotes and anti-anecdotes cancel out like sound waves, or blow up like matter and antimatter? I doubt it :)
- hhunccfing 7y ago
  Hi, I care significantly about the weight. I find all the new X series iPhones to be too heavy.
  - nabeards 7y ago
    100% agree. I went into an Apple Store for the first time in a long while just a few weeks ago, and I couldn't believe how heavy the phones have gotten I have an iPhone 6 now and just don't see a good reason to upgrade. Even if I can't upgrade to iOS 13, I'll probably wait another year or two.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

vegardx 7y ago

Since these always-on pedometers are built into newer models it seems to make the statistics less relevant, you don't need an app to tell you exactly what Health is able to tell you. That said, you see a lot of Uber drivers using the iPhone SE, while rocking some Android phone for other things. I'm guessing it has something to do with compatibility of the Uber app, or that they're driving for more than just Uber.

Veen 7y ago
Pedometer++ has a nice interface and it lets you set goals etc. You don't need it to get the raw stats but it's a more pleasant experience than delving through the health app.

pushtheenvelope 7y ago

i too love my SE. I used to have a 7, but was always too awkwardly big to hold or to put in my pocket. SE is the perfect size. It also has the benefit of helping me manage screen time -- i don't really wanna get sucked into long content on this screen-size, and can save it to consume later on the laptop (or never, which is most often just fine).

dangus 7y ago

From the initial comments here it seems like some of us are mistaking the 4.7" iPhone screen size as one found in the iPhone SE. That is not the case. The 4.7" screen refers to the iPhone 6, 6s, 7, and 8. The iPhone 5, 5S 5C, and SE have the 4" screen and represents 11% of these users. The 4.7" screen most definitely lives on and is essentially the same general dimensions as the iPhone X and XS, with extra inches attributed to increased screen to body ratio.

saagarjha 7y ago

> People really, really like the 4.7″ iPhone. I think this is just that Apple’s flagship devices were sold in this size for more than four years?

nateburke 7y ago

Every time I increase the size of my phone screen, I experience a large step up in the extent to which I am addicted to my phone. It might just be the increased responsiveness of a new phone, but I also think there is a direct relation between personal attachment to a screen-object and the field-of-vision % occupied by that screen object. Squinting might give you eye wrinkles, but I think it is an important check on how much overall screen time you spend in a day. 4S 4 life!

n1000 7y ago

Well, isn't the reason simply the timelag? The iPhone 6–8 are mid-lifecycle, the larger ones are relatively new, and the smaller ones rather at the end of their life cycle? After all iPhones seem to have a 5+ year lifespan [0]. Also the larger X phones come with a crazy price tag. [0] https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12806 https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12806

bdcravens 7y ago

I suspect this has a lot to do with older phones becoming available on MVNOs in the <$300 range.

ksec 7y ago

We could segment it into ( Note: The iPhone SE is 4", not 4.7" ) 4" ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ - 11% 4.7" ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ - 47% 5.8 / 6.1 " ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ - 18% 6.5" ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ - 23% ‏‏‎ But it it important to note this is iPhone distribution for Pedometer++ [1] ‏‏If we look at other source of Data, Such as MixPanel [2] which has a much wider collection of Data. Their Size Distribution. 4" ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ - 6% 4.7" ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ - 39% 5.8 / 6.1 " ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ - 25% 6.5" ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ - 30% ‏‏‎ And unless the App or Mixpanel is extremely popular in Asia ( Excluding Japan which we are known for preferring iPhone 4.7" Size ), this is excluding vast amount of people in that region where Sales Data suggest they vastly prefer iPhone 5.8"+ Size. And given the 3+ years lengthy iPhone replacement circle, the data doesn't really shows or suggest whether the 4.7" user are holding out because they have no newer 4.7" iPhone to choose from, waiting to make the jump into 5.8/6.1" iPhone, or my guess would be iOS 12 with i6s up are good enough for vast majority of our daily task, and they are holding it for even longer. Note: Apple currently has 900M Active iPhone User base, and is trending towards 1 B sometime in 2020. Even a 10% usage base prefer 4" is an 100M unit opportunity. Of course that is assuming those users really want a SE Size phone and not buying it because of its price. [1] https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pedometer/id712286167 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pedometer/id712286167 [2] https://mixpanel.com/trends/#report/iphone_models/from_date:-1395,report_unit:month,to_date:0 https://mixpanel.com/trends/#report/iphone_models/from_date:...

graeme 7y ago
Good analysis. Any idea why mixpanel leaves off everything earlier than a 6s though? For the more recent data, at least as display on my mobile browser.
- ksec 7y ago
  You can actually tick earlier models under the graph if you are on Desktop Browsers. The Mixpanel Data above are shown back to 5c as well.

larrik 7y ago

I've had iPhones exclusively since the 3G, buying basically every other year. My happiness peaked with the 5. The 6 was "fine", the 7 was a downgrade, and I then I didn't like any of its replacements and finally got an XR, which I don't like nearly as much as the 7 or 6.

Finnucane 7y ago

I'm in the 0% of users still holding on to their iPhone 5. Yeah, I know, I should get a new phone, but I was really hoping 5G would be sorted before I did that. And when I do, I'll buy the smallest phone I can get.

jdhn 7y ago
5G is the reason I'm hoping my iPhone 6 holds out until next year, which is when the iPhones with 5G are rumored to be released.

iscrewyou 7y ago

iPhone 6 and 6s still make 21% of the pie chart. I wonder how many of these people are still holding on to the phone due to the headphone jack and the charger.

DanTheManPR 7y ago
I hold onto my SE and 6s plus for that reason. I do own AirPods, and I like them... but they don't have quite enough battery life for a whole day worth of conference calls, audiobooks and podcasts. And they definitely cannot compete with standard headphones for music. A headphone jack easily accommodates any headset device I want to use, and I'm not willing to regress back to using an adapter dongle.
- iscrewyou 7y ago
  Same here. I have a good set of headphone that are not wireless. I use an SE at work as an iPod touch (hotspot with my 7). I like being able to charge the phone and still be able to listen to stuff on my headphones. I like my AirPods at the gym and gym only.
0xffff2 7y ago
I'm a 6s+ holdout. That's among the reasons, but the real reason is that the phone still does everything I want it to do. There's just nothing remotely compelling about an Xs for me. I probably wouldn't bother upgrading for $100, certainly not for ~$1000.
ncphillips 7y ago
Fingerprint scanner and charger. I really don't want FaceID; and, since I have cables throughout my apartment, I don't want to have to buy 10 new cables :(
tartinipaolo 7y ago
I believe this is a huge issue to many iPhone holders.But also there is really no need in buying a new phone every year.

imagetic 7y ago

I should have stockpiled a few of those refurbished iPhone SEs apple had restocked just to hold out and be happy as long as possible.

geuis 7y ago

I’m still using my trusty 6s. About a month ago I took my phone in to get the battery replaced. Curious, I asked the Apple rep about a 10s and after some hemming and getting $200 trade-in for my 6s I made the switch. I regretted it immediately. I was stuck in the Apple store for over an hour trying to setup the new phone while it slowly downloaded an update before I could even finish getting it into a minimal user state, meaning I couldn’t go home and continue setting up later. The faceid was interesting at first but really annoying pretty quickly. TouchID is really useful since I don’t always want to have to look into the phone. ApplePay as a convenience is ruined by the lack of a TouchID sensor. With FaceId you have to look at the phone and then double press a button on the side of the phone. My brain boggled at how they’ve ruined the entire ApplePay usage process. Final straw was the lack of a headphone jack, which has been my primary holdout reason. Turns out, the dongle is just annoying. Combined with my immediate experience and second thoughts, I went back into the store (since I was still stuck there setting up the new one) and got my old phone back and paid the difference. It was a bit unusual for the Apple staff but they were super nice and got my 6s back. At that point I left with both phones since I wanted to try the new one over night to give it a shot. Next day, I had enough and went back to the store and returned the 10. I’m still quite happy with my 6s and honestly may have to consider an Android phone when this one dies. I’ve been a loyal Apple customer for over 30 years and have just been disappointed with them for the choices they’ve been making in the last few years. At work I returned the 2018 MacBook Pro and got a 2015 one because of the terrible oversized trackpad and useless Touch Bar. I hope they change some things soon.

derefr 7y ago

I was last looking for a new phone around the time the iPhone X came out, but I decided on an iPhone 8 instead of an X. The X was not only more expensive, but also felt heavy and chunky in a way that I hadn't experienced since the original iPhone. It put me off. I decided that I'd wait until my next phone upgrade to get on the screen-to-body-ratio bandwagon. I'm guessing a lot of people are in the same boat. It normally takes at least four generations before an old model of phone starts feeling slow running modern versions of apps, so we're not yet at the point where anyone who had to make that decision (small-screen light cheap phone, or big-screen expensive heavy phone) has felt the need to upgrade again, and so had the chance to re-evaluate the landscape.

akeck 7y ago

I get this. My Plus let's me do art and work more effectively, but I must be constantly vigilant of RSI due to its weight.

vbezhenar 7y ago

I recently bought iPhone 8 after using 4S for many years. That screen is too huge! I would switch it to SE if not for better tech inside (better fingerprint reader is the main selling point for me, but better CPU is nice too). I'm using iPhone 8 for almost a year now and I can't get accustomed to it. I loved when I could use phone with one hand. Also my hands are huge, so I have no idea how could one use it with one hand (without that gimmick with double-tapping home button). Now recent iPhone models are just not appealing to me at all. I don't want to use face recognition and they no longer use fingerprint readers. Honestly, give me tiny iPhone with 3'5" display, put latest tech inside and you'll have my $300 immediately.

santoshalper 7y ago
Apple has very little interest in your $300. They want to make big, premium, high-margin devices that sell for $800+. It's the same reason they will never make a modular, upgradable desktop (no, the new MacPro does not count), the margins just aren't there. Apple only competes in spaces where they can make a lot of profit It's funny because I am usually not interested in those types of products, but I still admire their commitment to their strategy.
- vanilla_nut 7y ago
  Give me tiny iphone with 3.5" display and I'll give you my $1000. There is literally no competition in this space and enough people hanging on to SEs and complaining about pocketability that I'm positive it would still sell well. When I pull out my SE when hanging out with someone new, the most common reaction is "wow! I wish my phone was still that small" and a lot of complaints about big phones. There is a huge untapped market here. I'm not suggesting it's bigger than the market for the XS Plus Max 7" behemoth... but it's certainly not negligible. There is a reason the iPod Nano and the iPod Classic were both popular.
jmull 7y ago
Won't a phone with the latest tech inside cost more than double $300, regardless of the screen size?

gandalfian 7y ago

Welcome to the Asian century? They like big phones, phablets. We get what they like...

gok 7y ago

> People really, really like the 4.7″ iPhone. It would be more accurate to say that a lot people have 4.7" iPhones. It's been on sale for a long time and iPhones last a while.

mrtron 7y ago

I would bet that corporate customers are a huge purchaser of the iPhone SE. I am aware of several huge companies exclusively purchase that device.

alexnewman 7y ago

I gave up on the SE this year. I bought it when I was new. I switched back to a pixel 3a, but I hate it. I'll probably switch back to a flip phone. I just want a headphone jack, decent battery, and a working phone

geoffmac 7y ago

this guy has mostly developers as users, developers use smaller phones

dade_ 7y ago

Hoping for Sony to release the ACE for international markets: Sony Mobile recently announced the Xperia Ace (SO-02L) for the Japanese market. This is Sony’s smallest handset released in 2019, with a 5-inch FHD+ display, a water resistant body, Snapdragon 630 chipset, 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. https://www.xperiablog.net/2019/06/20/xperia-ace-is-an-international-release-now-more-likely/ https://www.xperiablog.net/2019/06/20/xperia-ace-is-an-inter...

wuliwong 7y ago

I upgraded to the latest iphone XS this year after my iphone 7s had a cellular antenna failure which Apple would not fix even with my apple care plan. After about 4 months with this new phone I still prefer the older phone. I do not really notice better clarity or colors in this OLED screen and I miss the home button. Wouldn't mind that headphone jack back either. :) I also do not like the location of the "utility menu" now. I have to swipe down from the upper right-hand corner which is a big stretch for me, I often use 2 hands. This is an action I have to do often and I am not sure why apple moved it to that location. In the end, I will stay with this phone as I like the faster processor and more RAM but the design and execution seems to have been a step back. I've owned a 5s, 6s, 7s and Xs and I would choose the 4.7" as my preferred form factor.

ngcc_hk 7y ago

Love to use a SE as an second (third sim) to my max. Sad to see that form factor to go. Did get a new iPod of that form factor.

ChuckMcM 7y ago

I'm I reading this right? A person who sells an app called "Pedometer" (which tracks your steps) sees iPhones that fit easily in your pocket as the most common size for people who buy the App? If so I'd guess people who measure their steps correlates strongly with people who don't like to carry extra carry bags.

asauce 7y ago

I recently upgraded from an iPhone 6 to an iPhone XR. I love the new phone, however I still miss the size of the 6. I was able to hold and operate the phone in one hand. Using two hands for the XR is a pain in the ass, but using one hand feels like I could drop it at any moment. I think one factor that caused this phenomenon is the lack of innovative growth in the mobile device industry. Phone companies need to sell more units... however there are no industry-shaking improvements to be made. Therefore they default to upgrading the most obvious ones, namely screen size/resolution and camera quality. Therefore our phones get bigger for the sake of advancement.

forrestthewoods 7y ago

Is this information biased by app? Are people more likely to strap a smaller phone to their arm? I’d be curious to know if this device distribution is similar for different apps.

donohoe 7y ago

I am on my 3rd iPhone SE and I have a 'new' one for when this one dies or becomes unrepairable. I've been pretty vocal in my praise for it that my daughter choose it as her first phone despite the other options.

readhn 7y ago

my only reason for upgrade to 6s plus and then 7 plus was better camera - optical image stabilization on 6s plus and dual camera with portrait mode on iphone 7 plus. small iphones (6S and 7) do not have the best cameras.

kozak 7y ago

I have a Pixel 2 XL, and I like its width, but its length is totally pointless. I don't get why they don't make phones with less enongated aspect ratio. 9:16 is ought to be enough for everyone, why would anyone want a vertical screen that is taller than that.

nazgulnarsil 7y ago

Rumor has it Apple will put a 5.4 inch screen in a iPhone 8 size body. I hope it's true because the Android manufacturers will definitely copy them and I'll be able to get a phone under 68mm wide again.