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If they'd have minimal bezels, for comfort, in an iPhone 5 body we'd have about ~5.2" available for the screen. Unfortunately keeping the bezels for the fingerp

If they'd have minimal bezels, for comfort, in an iPhone 5 body we'd have about ~5.2" available for the screen. Unfortunately keeping the bezels for the fingerprint reader, earpiece, and front camera (~60% screen to body ratio) means that while it would fit better in small hands, the small screen may not give a great experience with today's content (sites, apps), or our eyes. My old iPod Touch 5th gen. was quite a shocker for everyone who nostalgically reminisced about the good old times of small screens. I guess it depends what one expects from the phone.

rock_artist 7y ago
that's something many people would've hoped. but Apple product cycle is re-cycle. so the R&D of this SE allows going to target price while keeping their expected revenue. Sadly as I'm not getting any younger my SE 4" becomes harder on my eyes and my decision of having 16GB at the time got it to be filled. though it's really the best phone and most reliable phone I had. (that's btw a pro for using the iPhone 6s -> 8 design including fixes for bendgate/audio ic/etc at least I hope so)
Eric_WVGG 7y ago
a 5.4" iPhone has been consistently rumored for this fall, would have an "6/7/8 Plus" screen in your 5-series form factor.
jason0597 7y ago
Why not put the fingerprint reader at the side or at the back? That would help a lot
- CydeWeys 7y ago
  I never understood why Apple kept putting it on the front. It's so much better on the back like it is on most Android phones. You can unlock the phone without having to adjust your grip on it, which is great. This home button/fingerprint reader combo is taking up so much precious real estate on what is a small device, and I just don't get it. It seems like bad design to me.
  - tass 7y ago
    Probably to allow unlocking without lifting it off the surface it's on.
  - jimbokun 7y ago
    Which is why Apple created Face ID to solve this problem.
  - close04 7y ago
    > on the back like it is on most Android phones The jury is solidly still out on the "better" part. There's no consensus between customers on this topic. Manufacturers who placed the fingerprint sensor (and power button, earlier) on the back, or even the side despite the clear disadvantage of having a tiny sensor, did so to make the bottom bezel slightly smaller, not because of proven better ergonomics. And given the opportunity they switched back to the front, under the screen. Most also chase thinness at the price of smaller batteries which says nothing about the soundness of the decision. > This home button/fingerprint reader combo is taking up so much precious real estate The button is there because the design comes from a time when the screens were small so on-screen buttons were a waste, and the body needed to be large enough to accommodate everything else. This phone is an iPhone 8 with a better SoC. It's not a new design or even a redesign. The design isn't bad, it's old. And it's old so it can be cheap. They achieved a worthwhile result a pricepoint where at the very least it provides exceptional software support and a current generation SoC. There are few phones that serve that segment (OP5 was pretty much the last one in the price range - good SoC, OKish support, regular old bezels). You can freely sacrifice this for better screen to body ratio phones if that quality is more appealing.
    - Dylan16807 7y ago
      You make it sound like the iphone 8 came out ages ago. It was two and a half years ago. We were long past the point of on-screen buttons being a waste, or the body needing to be larger. In phone-land this isn't an old design, it's a retro design. It doesn't save money to do it this way.
      - 7y ago
smeyer 7y ago
The screen on the old iphone SE (i.e. the iphone 5 body) still seems fine to me when using it with today's content. About a year ago I upgraded from one to an iphone XR but on the occasions I use the smaller phone it still seems fine.
abruzzi 7y ago
To me this is the opposite of what I want in a small phone. It is less the physical size, rather that since 99.9% of all my usage is one handed, I need my thumb to be able to reach anywhere on the screen. With the ability to have minimal bezels, my preference would be to shrink the phone to meet the screen, not to enlarge the screen.

rock_artist 7y ago

that's something many people would've hoped. but Apple product cycle is re-cycle. so the R&D of this SE allows going to target price while keeping their expected revenue. Sadly as I'm not getting any younger my SE 4" becomes harder on my eyes and my decision of having 16GB at the time got it to be filled. though it's really the best phone and most reliable phone I had. (that's btw a pro for using the iPhone 6s -> 8 design including fixes for bendgate/audio ic/etc at least I hope so)

Eric_WVGG 7y ago

a 5.4" iPhone has been consistently rumored for this fall, would have an "6/7/8 Plus" screen in your 5-series form factor.

jason0597 7y ago

Why not put the fingerprint reader at the side or at the back? That would help a lot

CydeWeys 7y ago
I never understood why Apple kept putting it on the front. It's so much better on the back like it is on most Android phones. You can unlock the phone without having to adjust your grip on it, which is great. This home button/fingerprint reader combo is taking up so much precious real estate on what is a small device, and I just don't get it. It seems like bad design to me.
- tass 7y ago
  Probably to allow unlocking without lifting it off the surface it's on.
- jimbokun 7y ago
  Which is why Apple created Face ID to solve this problem.
- close04 7y ago
  > on the back like it is on most Android phones The jury is solidly still out on the "better" part. There's no consensus between customers on this topic. Manufacturers who placed the fingerprint sensor (and power button, earlier) on the back, or even the side despite the clear disadvantage of having a tiny sensor, did so to make the bottom bezel slightly smaller, not because of proven better ergonomics. And given the opportunity they switched back to the front, under the screen. Most also chase thinness at the price of smaller batteries which says nothing about the soundness of the decision. > This home button/fingerprint reader combo is taking up so much precious real estate The button is there because the design comes from a time when the screens were small so on-screen buttons were a waste, and the body needed to be large enough to accommodate everything else. This phone is an iPhone 8 with a better SoC. It's not a new design or even a redesign. The design isn't bad, it's old. And it's old so it can be cheap. They achieved a worthwhile result a pricepoint where at the very least it provides exceptional software support and a current generation SoC. There are few phones that serve that segment (OP5 was pretty much the last one in the price range - good SoC, OKish support, regular old bezels). You can freely sacrifice this for better screen to body ratio phones if that quality is more appealing.
  - Dylan16807 7y ago
    You make it sound like the iphone 8 came out ages ago. It was two and a half years ago. We were long past the point of on-screen buttons being a waste, or the body needing to be larger. In phone-land this isn't an old design, it's a retro design. It doesn't save money to do it this way.
    - 7y ago

smeyer 7y ago

The screen on the old iphone SE (i.e. the iphone 5 body) still seems fine to me when using it with today's content. About a year ago I upgraded from one to an iphone XR but on the occasions I use the smaller phone it still seems fine.

abruzzi 7y ago

To me this is the opposite of what I want in a small phone. It is less the physical size, rather that since 99.9% of all my usage is one handed, I need my thumb to be able to reach anywhere on the screen. With the ability to have minimal bezels, my preference would be to shrink the phone to meet the screen, not to enlarge the screen.