5 ms·

I know a lot of people and even Apple seem to think of the SE as "low cost" option. But honestly for me its the size. No phone needs to be bigger than the SE.

by w-ll 2y ago

I know a lot of people and even Apple seem to think of the SE as "low cost" option. But honestly for me its the size. No phone needs to be bigger than the SE. I get that the phone market is over and so Apple needs to make money with other services, streaming video, games etc and people who do that on their phone want bigger phones. But i just need something for calls/txt/music/ the occasionally maps or web search. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9g0Mft1CQ7A https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9g0Mft1CQ7A

halJordan 2y ago
If i had for nickel for every person that chimed in saying "i just want a little phone" I could run a factory making SE clones and also pay for the lawyers Apple sends after me for at least ten years.
- Rinzler89 2y ago
  And you'll instant go bankrupt. The crowd claiming they only want small phones is just a loud minority, but a minority nonetheless, that doesn't generate the profits needed to maintain the economies of scale and margins the likes of Apple expects. The mass market has spoken on the preference for large phones, massively outselling the small ones. It's not some conspiracy from Apple to kill small phones, they gave consumers small phones, but you weren't buying enough of them to show "line goes up" in the board room, so here we are. MKBHD did a video on how weak consumer demand killed the small phone market.
  - eep_social 2y ago
    I see this post every time the topic comes up. You’ve failed to recognize that apple makes shitty small phones and markets them to match. For example, the iphone 12 mini battery was a dog because despite owning the entire vertical they’ve failed to clamp down on software bloat. Just like every google engineer is running the latest workstation with a 38” monitor, every apple dev is clearly running the latest iphone and doesn’t give a rats whisker for performance on slightly older or less lucrative models.
    - NavinF 2y ago
      > For example, the iphone 12 mini battery was a dog That's kinda the defining feature of a small phone. In contrast, my 15 pro max can last over a week because it has a gigantic battery. FWIW there are other manufacturers out there and some of them make small phones. Hardly anyone buys them
      - Zak 2y ago
        Who makes small phones? I searched on GSMArena for phones that are not larger than the Pixel 4A introduced in 2022 or later. There's exactly one: the iPhone SE. Note people calling for small phones will usually say the Pixel 4A doesn't really count as a small phone. https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=2022&nHeightMax=145&nWidthMax=70&nThicknessMax=9 https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=2022&nHeightM...
        NavinF 2y ago
        That's fair, but I suspect there's a huge overlap between people who want small phones and people who don't upgrade their phone often. Doesn't make sense to release a new one often. If you go back to 2020, there are 9 options: https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=2020&nHeightMax=145&nWidthMax=70&nThicknessMax=9 https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=2020&nHeightM... That's an average of 2 small phones per year which is about what I'd expect.
        Zak 2y ago
        If you'll indulge me moving the goalposts just a little, everything but the iPhones and the Pixel are extremely low-end devices with 1 or 2 GB RAM and no more than 32 GB storage. They do have SD slots, but many apps can't be installed to SD cards on Android, and modern apps are pretty bloated. I don't think most people would find these phones acceptable. I think there's probably room in the market for one company to make a decent midrange small phone. I don't think there's room for two because of exactly what you say: I'm in that market segment and I'm in no particular hurry to replace my Pixel 4A, at least as long as LineageOS supports it.
  - beretguy 2y ago
    > And you'll instant go bankrupt. The crowd claiming they only want small phones is just a loud minority, but a minority nonetheless No.We are not a minority. There are plenty of people who would appreciate a 4 inch smartphone. Here, Uniherz just released a kickstarted for 4.3 inch smartphone. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jellyphone/jelly-max-the-smallest-5g-smartphone https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jellyphone/jelly-max-th... At the moment I'm looking at it ~$378,000 raised from the goal of ~$100,000. Edit: no body is talking about business terms, that means people want I small phone.
    - Rinzler89 2y ago
      >No.We are not a minority. There are plenty of people who would appreciate a 4 inch smartphone. Such claims don't mean anything in business terms. There are plenty of people who would appreciate an iphone that slaps your butt everytime it rings, why isn't Apple making one for them?
    - seba_dos1 2y ago
      I too prefer smaller phones and I'd love my Librem 5 to be closer in size to my Nokia N900, but $378,000 is nothing. This campaign is just a marketing stunt.
    - Zak 2y ago
      They made this phone extremely thick, which I don't think is what most people looking for a small phone were hoping for.
- pennybanks 2y ago
  really? everyone tells me that theyre fine with their current phone and they can do everything they need to do. compared to years back when everyone was at least saying they were going to buy the new phone when it releases go even further back tho it was i think im going to switch to iphone/samsung go all the way back and be me: sup guys anyone have a ringtone? bluetooth me i just got this new samsung with 400 texts and free weekends. wanna see how fast i can text with T1
  - amluto 2y ago
    I bought an iPhone 15 Pro, used it for two days, returned it, and bought the best form factor 5G phone ever made: the iPhone 13 mini. I’m not a market research expert, but I think Apple has largely missed the mark by positioning its smaller phones as budget options. There’s demand for a premium small phone. Maybe even make it a wee bit thicker to improve battery life, but it should be narrow and not too tall.
    - doubled112 2y ago
      I also really enjoy my iPhone 13 Mini. I plan to hang onto it for as long as I can because I don’t see good replacement options all that frequently.
    - Braini 2y ago
      Same. I switched from Android (Sony xperia compact series) to a Mini 13 and while it took a while to get used to iOS its just great. A pity they discontinued it, I intend to keep it as long as in any way possible (i.e. until apps don‘t support the then final iOS anymore)
alephnerd 2y ago
> even Apple seem to think of the SE as "low cost" option Becuase it is an entry level model in developing countries. Think of it like what a Tesla Model 3 is for EVs - it's in this weird middle ground between "luxury" and "functional". The Android equivalent is a Samsung A15 or Huawei Nova, and in developing markets your smartphone is your primary computing device so brand prestige does matter. I am a fan of the iPhone SE btw - I find it to be a good mix of functional and sleek, but the screen is too small to read books so I use a Pro Max. Edit: I can't reply, so That's why I said > this weird middle ground between "luxury" and "functional" It's a mid tier model, but has a strong brand connotation outside the HN and Automotive Bubble as "Bougie". Sure it's not a Porsche, but it's not a Corolla or a Hyundai.
- idontwantthis 2y ago
  Having lived in a developing country for 5 years I saw very few SEs or minis. People there like big phones too. I’m talking from the poorest to the richest.
- dogma1138 2y ago
  None of the Tesla EVs are luxury cars, the S and X might be expensive but comparing them in terms of driver and occupant “luxury” to BMW, Mercedes or Porsche EV offerings at a similar price point is a bit laughable.
jsheard 2y ago
I wouldn't assume that the SE 4 will be as small as the SE 3. The SE line is built on recycled older generation iPhone tooling, and iPhones in general have trended larger, so as the SE line catches up to newer tooling it too will get larger. It already happened once between the SE 1 (iPhone 5S derivative) and SE 2/3 (iPhone 8 derivative). If the SE 4 has an OLED screen then it might be derived from the iPhone X, since that was the first OLED iPhone. That would be a size increase from the SE 3. https://www.phonearena.com/phones/size/Apple-iPhone-SE,Apple-iPhone-SE-2022,Apple-iPhone-X/phones/10001,11828,10414 https://www.phonearena.com/phones/size/Apple-iPhone-SE,Apple...
- pge 2y ago
  the article supports this opinion, suggesting the new SE will be based on the iphone 14 chassis, which is larger than the current SE.
  - jsheard 2y ago
    Ah, that'll show me for not reading the article properly. That would be even bigger than an iPhone X-based chassis. https://www.phonearena.com/phones/size/Apple-iPhone-SE,Apple-iPhone-SE-2022,Apple-iPhone-14/phones/10001,11828,11764 https://www.phonearena.com/phones/size/Apple-iPhone-SE,Apple...
    - beretguy 2y ago
      Yeah, screw that... In that case if I need a new phone I'll be switching to Uniherz Jelly Max https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jellyphone/jelly-max-the-smallest-5g-smartphone https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jellyphone/jelly-max-th...
- beretguy 2y ago
  > I wouldn't assume that the SE 4 will be as small as the SE 3. Wait, no... SE 3 is 4.7 inches big, that's too big. Original SE has 4 inch screen. That's what we are taking about here.
threatofrain 2y ago
I'm sad Apple killed the iPhone Mini, a flagship phone in a small body. But in the end it ended up being so niche.

by w-ll 2y ago

halJordan 2y ago

If i had for nickel for every person that chimed in saying "i just want a little phone" I could run a factory making SE clones and also pay for the lawyers Apple sends after me for at least ten years.

Rinzler89 2y ago
And you'll instant go bankrupt. The crowd claiming they only want small phones is just a loud minority, but a minority nonetheless, that doesn't generate the profits needed to maintain the economies of scale and margins the likes of Apple expects. The mass market has spoken on the preference for large phones, massively outselling the small ones. It's not some conspiracy from Apple to kill small phones, they gave consumers small phones, but you weren't buying enough of them to show "line goes up" in the board room, so here we are. MKBHD did a video on how weak consumer demand killed the small phone market.
- eep_social 2y ago
  I see this post every time the topic comes up. You’ve failed to recognize that apple makes shitty small phones and markets them to match. For example, the iphone 12 mini battery was a dog because despite owning the entire vertical they’ve failed to clamp down on software bloat. Just like every google engineer is running the latest workstation with a 38” monitor, every apple dev is clearly running the latest iphone and doesn’t give a rats whisker for performance on slightly older or less lucrative models.
  - NavinF 2y ago
    > For example, the iphone 12 mini battery was a dog That's kinda the defining feature of a small phone. In contrast, my 15 pro max can last over a week because it has a gigantic battery. FWIW there are other manufacturers out there and some of them make small phones. Hardly anyone buys them
    - Zak 2y ago
      Who makes small phones? I searched on GSMArena for phones that are not larger than the Pixel 4A introduced in 2022 or later. There's exactly one: the iPhone SE. Note people calling for small phones will usually say the Pixel 4A doesn't really count as a small phone. https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=2022&nHeightMax=145&nWidthMax=70&nThicknessMax=9 https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=2022&nHeightM...
      - NavinF 2y ago
        That's fair, but I suspect there's a huge overlap between people who want small phones and people who don't upgrade their phone often. Doesn't make sense to release a new one often. If you go back to 2020, there are 9 options: https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=2020&nHeightMax=145&nWidthMax=70&nThicknessMax=9 https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=2020&nHeightM... That's an average of 2 small phones per year which is about what I'd expect.
        Zak 2y ago
        If you'll indulge me moving the goalposts just a little, everything but the iPhones and the Pixel are extremely low-end devices with 1 or 2 GB RAM and no more than 32 GB storage. They do have SD slots, but many apps can't be installed to SD cards on Android, and modern apps are pretty bloated. I don't think most people would find these phones acceptable. I think there's probably room in the market for one company to make a decent midrange small phone. I don't think there's room for two because of exactly what you say: I'm in that market segment and I'm in no particular hurry to replace my Pixel 4A, at least as long as LineageOS supports it.
- beretguy 2y ago
  > And you'll instant go bankrupt. The crowd claiming they only want small phones is just a loud minority, but a minority nonetheless No.We are not a minority. There are plenty of people who would appreciate a 4 inch smartphone. Here, Uniherz just released a kickstarted for 4.3 inch smartphone. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jellyphone/jelly-max-the-smallest-5g-smartphone https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jellyphone/jelly-max-th... At the moment I'm looking at it ~$378,000 raised from the goal of ~$100,000. Edit: no body is talking about business terms, that means people want I small phone.
  - Rinzler89 2y ago
    >No.We are not a minority. There are plenty of people who would appreciate a 4 inch smartphone. Such claims don't mean anything in business terms. There are plenty of people who would appreciate an iphone that slaps your butt everytime it rings, why isn't Apple making one for them?
  - seba_dos1 2y ago
    I too prefer smaller phones and I'd love my Librem 5 to be closer in size to my Nokia N900, but $378,000 is nothing. This campaign is just a marketing stunt.
  - Zak 2y ago
    They made this phone extremely thick, which I don't think is what most people looking for a small phone were hoping for.
pennybanks 2y ago
really? everyone tells me that theyre fine with their current phone and they can do everything they need to do. compared to years back when everyone was at least saying they were going to buy the new phone when it releases go even further back tho it was i think im going to switch to iphone/samsung go all the way back and be me: sup guys anyone have a ringtone? bluetooth me i just got this new samsung with 400 texts and free weekends. wanna see how fast i can text with T1
- amluto 2y ago
  I bought an iPhone 15 Pro, used it for two days, returned it, and bought the best form factor 5G phone ever made: the iPhone 13 mini. I’m not a market research expert, but I think Apple has largely missed the mark by positioning its smaller phones as budget options. There’s demand for a premium small phone. Maybe even make it a wee bit thicker to improve battery life, but it should be narrow and not too tall.
  - doubled112 2y ago
    I also really enjoy my iPhone 13 Mini. I plan to hang onto it for as long as I can because I don’t see good replacement options all that frequently.
  - Braini 2y ago
    Same. I switched from Android (Sony xperia compact series) to a Mini 13 and while it took a while to get used to iOS its just great. A pity they discontinued it, I intend to keep it as long as in any way possible (i.e. until apps don‘t support the then final iOS anymore)

alephnerd 2y ago

> even Apple seem to think of the SE as "low cost" option Becuase it is an entry level model in developing countries. Think of it like what a Tesla Model 3 is for EVs - it's in this weird middle ground between "luxury" and "functional". The Android equivalent is a Samsung A15 or Huawei Nova, and in developing markets your smartphone is your primary computing device so brand prestige does matter. I am a fan of the iPhone SE btw - I find it to be a good mix of functional and sleek, but the screen is too small to read books so I use a Pro Max. Edit: I can't reply, so That's why I said > this weird middle ground between "luxury" and "functional" It's a mid tier model, but has a strong brand connotation outside the HN and Automotive Bubble as "Bougie". Sure it's not a Porsche, but it's not a Corolla or a Hyundai.

idontwantthis 2y ago
Having lived in a developing country for 5 years I saw very few SEs or minis. People there like big phones too. I’m talking from the poorest to the richest.
dogma1138 2y ago
None of the Tesla EVs are luxury cars, the S and X might be expensive but comparing them in terms of driver and occupant “luxury” to BMW, Mercedes or Porsche EV offerings at a similar price point is a bit laughable.

jsheard 2y ago

I wouldn't assume that the SE 4 will be as small as the SE 3. The SE line is built on recycled older generation iPhone tooling, and iPhones in general have trended larger, so as the SE line catches up to newer tooling it too will get larger. It already happened once between the SE 1 (iPhone 5S derivative) and SE 2/3 (iPhone 8 derivative). If the SE 4 has an OLED screen then it might be derived from the iPhone X, since that was the first OLED iPhone. That would be a size increase from the SE 3. https://www.phonearena.com/phones/size/Apple-iPhone-SE,Apple-iPhone-SE-2022,Apple-iPhone-X/phones/10001,11828,10414 https://www.phonearena.com/phones/size/Apple-iPhone-SE,Apple...

pge 2y ago
the article supports this opinion, suggesting the new SE will be based on the iphone 14 chassis, which is larger than the current SE.
- jsheard 2y ago
  Ah, that'll show me for not reading the article properly. That would be even bigger than an iPhone X-based chassis. https://www.phonearena.com/phones/size/Apple-iPhone-SE,Apple-iPhone-SE-2022,Apple-iPhone-14/phones/10001,11828,11764 https://www.phonearena.com/phones/size/Apple-iPhone-SE,Apple...
  - beretguy 2y ago
    Yeah, screw that... In that case if I need a new phone I'll be switching to Uniherz Jelly Max https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jellyphone/jelly-max-the-smallest-5g-smartphone https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jellyphone/jelly-max-th...
beretguy 2y ago
> I wouldn't assume that the SE 4 will be as small as the SE 3. Wait, no... SE 3 is 4.7 inches big, that's too big. Original SE has 4 inch screen. That's what we are taking about here.

threatofrain 2y ago

I'm sad Apple killed the iPhone Mini, a flagship phone in a small body. But in the end it ended up being so niche.