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Awww... I was so much hoping for an iPhone that will fit into my pocket. The 1st iPhone SE was the perfect form factor. But no, Apple's phones just had to grow
by fxtentacle 11mo ago
Awww... I was so much hoping for an iPhone that will fit into my pocket. The 1st iPhone SE was the perfect form factor. But no, Apple's phones just had to grow and grow and grow like cancer ...
In my opinion, the fact that Apple is now selling a bag to carry your oversized phone around in, is an admission that they failed to make phones that are convenient to carry.
- chaostheory 11mo agoThe current form factors are what people are buying. Even the Apple design team is surprised. I think even iPhone Air sales aren’t as good as they projected
- ngruhn 11mo agoI share the frustration. But apparently small phones don't sell.
- fxtentacle 11mo agoopens cupboard iPhone 3GS Galaxy S3 Sony XZ1 Compact iPhone SE 2016 iPhone SE 2020 iPhone SE 2022 Unihertz Atom
- eddieroger 11mo agoThere's one data point. I would bet, though, that Apple, Sony and Samsung have plenty more data points of devices that didn't move and thus they stop making smaller devices.
- baal80spam 11mo agoThis is the correct answer. I don't think anyone believes that Apple doesn't manufacture smaller phones out of spite? They are just not popular enough.
- fxtentacle 11mo agoThat must be why all those vacuum robots and smart TVs phone home to China. Because people really love appliances that spy on them. Good thing Samsung patched their fridges to add advertisements and spyware, because that's what their customers (in the US) were really waiting for.
- dingaling 11mo ago"They are just not popular enough." The various Mini models accounted for 3 to 6% of sales, which was still millions of units.
- Cthulhu_ 11mo agoYup, keep in mind the generally Western audience on HN is only a small minority of the total market, which is... hundreds of millions of people for the iphone alone.
- VagabundoP 11mo agoPixel 5 is a nice size. I like smallies too.
- craftkiller 11mo agoPixel 1 was the ideal phone. Not too large. Completely flat back. Screen didn't bulge above the sides so you could drop it without shattering the screen. Google's design has only gone downhill since then. (The pixel 5 looks pretty nice, but it seems to have the bulging glass and the beginnings of camera bumps)
- deleted 11mo ago[deleted]
- pmontra 11mo agoThe Unihertz Atom is probably too small but it really fits the niche its web site targets. I might consider it for my bike.
- pandemic_region 11mo agoStop hogging the mineral resources and recycle them already!
- stockresearcher 11mo agoApple sold 10-15 million of the minis each year, with a marketing budget of approximately zero. The problem is that everyone believed Tim Cook when he claimed that this is a failure.
- nozzlegear 11mo agoHow much did it cost Apple to make those minis? Do we know?
- stockresearcher 11mo agoI surely don’t. But if it wasn’t profitable, then Apple sucks at supply chain management (which is something I don’t believe).
- robotresearcher 11mo agoIt even can be profitable but not worth the opportunity cost: spending the resources on other things could be more profitable.
- criddell 11mo ago> small phones don't sell It's all relative. If Google sold five million iPhones Mini it would be considered a smash hit. But because it's Apple it's considered a flop because of the ridiculous sales numbers of their other models.
- rekoil 11mo agoI wish the iPhone 12/13 mini had been a few mm thicker for a bigger battery, and had been in the Pro class of devices. As it stands they didn't have a good enough battery to last a day, and most people interested in smaller devices had probably just picked up the new SE that was released just half a year earlier.
- fxtentacle 11mo agoI believe the issue is that with Jobs gone, Apple's design team is now apparently unable to continue their job. Instead of developing their own UI paradigm for small screens, they keep copying from Google Pixel both the UI ideas and the screen size. And now that they ran out of useful ideas, they turned everything transparent. Why make the iPhone look more like Apple Vision when people so obviously hate the latter? [1] My prediction is that the age of AI and LLM assistance will make tiny devices the norm. Like those AI pins. Like Siri inside AirPods. Like Meta's AR glasses. But it seems that Apple is losing the race here. They lost their edge when it comes to developing new user interface paradigms. EDIT: [1] Bloomberg claims 10-15% return rate, which would be massive: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2024-02-18/apple-vision-pro-returning-3-500-device-over-comfort-lack-of-apps-and-price-lsrk88mq https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2024-02-18/apple-... (for comparison, Galaxus reports 2% as normal for Smartphones and <5% for Meta's Quest)
- bottlepalm 11mo agoThe most important thing Jobs did (and he mentioned this) is to say No to great ideas. Like this, like iPhone Air, like Apple Vision Pro, etc.. Apple without Jobs is now much like it was before Jobs in the 90s, only this time it has a lot more momentum than it had before. Still though Apple is back to throwing shit at the wall to see what sticks.
- Lu2025 11mo ago> Why make the iPhone look more like Apple Vision when people so obviously hate the latter They are normalizing Apple Vision look so it looks less weird when you switch.
- 11mo ago
- JKCalhoun 11mo agoIn Soviet Russia, pocket fit phone.
- echelon 11mo ago> speaks to the bond between iPhone and its user With this phrasing, does it feel like iPhone owns its user?
- flanbiscuit 11mo agoI was also hoping it was a small phone announcement but it not being part of a keynote didn't give me high hopes. I've been on Android since day 1 but I'm thinking about switching to iPhone. If they ever made foldable (clamshell style, not book style) phone I would buy it immediately. I just want a small phone. Yes I could get an Android foldable that already exists but I like to stick with Pixels and they don't have one yet and I'm kinda of done with Pixels. They are crap quality.
- crazygringo 11mo ago> they failed to make phones that are convenient to carry. I loved the iPhone SE and small phones generally, but at the same time I realize Apple's not failing at anything. They're giving the market the size people actually want. The smaller phones don't sell nearly as well. Most people prefer a bigger phone even if carrying it is less convenient. I've just accepted my phone will be bulky now, so I double down and attach a magnetic wallet to it, and carry it in my hand or jacket pocket or bag rather than my pants pocket like I used to. During meetings it lies on the table rather then in my pants pocket. C'est la vie.
- fxtentacle 11mo ago"iPhone 16e Sales Lag Behind SE Models" Ooops ? https://www.macrumors.com/2025/06/03/iphone-16e-sales-lag-behind-se-models/ https://www.macrumors.com/2025/06/03/iphone-16e-sales-lag-be... Looks like the market did like the SE size.
- masklinn 11mo ago> Unsurprisingly, the primary reason identified for the iPhone 16e 's weaker debut is its higher launch price. Adjusting for inflation, the SE (€479 in 2020) was €588 and the SE2 (€519 in 2022) was €567. The 16e is 699, a 25% increase.
- fxtentacle 11mo agoAnd in Germany, the iPhone 16e 128GB in white currently sells for €537 at "Netto Marken-Discount", a supermarket chain famous for its low price. "Marken-Discount" = "brand name rebates"
- masklinn 11mo agoThat is utterly worthless without knowing what the SE and SE2 were sold for in the same context. The 16e's MSRP in germany is 699.
- i_am_jl 11mo ago
- Cthulhu_ 11mo agoI had a look for covers, and I could only find silicone (?) or plastic sleeves and the 'handbag straps'. I think / suppose a lot of people just have their phone in their hand or on a table all the time, so why make it pocket sized?
- nozzlegear 11mo ago> In my opinion, the fact that Apple is now selling a bag to carry your oversized phone around in, is an admission that they failed to make phones that are convenient to carry. Can any woman with a purse or man with a fanny pack chime in and let us know if they've ever thought about putting their phones in their bags before?
- dpoloncsak 11mo agoIs this supposed to dispute the claim? A man putting his phone in his fanny pack would also signify apple's phones are inconvenient to carry. Apple releasing a 'solution' is them admitting it
- nozzlegear 11mo agoNo, it's supposed to point out that there exists an entire set of people who have been putting their phones in bags for as long as phones have existed. We mostly don't hear from women here on HN thanks to old gender biases in tech. > Apple releasing a 'solution' is them admitting it Apple released a collaboration with a fashion brand.
- mgkimsal 11mo agoi'm not sure i get the point here. at some point, i don't want to be carrying something by holding it in my hand. i might need to use my hand for something else. so I put the item down, or put it in a container that I bring with me (pocket, shoulder bag, etc). Are they 'admitting' that people move around with things and sometimes have more than one purpose for their hands during an outing?
- keyringlight 11mo agoYes, I do this because when I'm using my bike to get into work as it often involves more than one set of clothes and swapping everything between different pockets is annoying so I have a big 'unipocket' fanny pack, my 6.7" phone is still cumbersome in there making digging out other items annoying. And when I'm wearing some pairs of pants and the phone isn't angled just right it will dig into my hip while walking up stairs until it's adjusted. (and that's with a relatively budget android phone, smaller devices are a tiny niche of old less powerful devices that barely have support)
- AlexandrB 11mo agoThe worst part of this is the UI bloat that came along with it. Since there's no longer a need to consider smaller phones, everything got bigger and more padded also worsening the information density on larger phones.
- sixtyj 11mo agoWhen I had to buy an iPhone 13 because support for the 5s ended, my hands hurt from the big phone...
- xattt 11mo agoOne of the subtext reasons is that women’s’ clothing lacks proper pockets for whatever sexist reason, so a pocket you wear on the outside can seem like a great idea.
- kspacewalk2 11mo agoSurely you're not suggesting that modern women's fashion is governed by some vestigial sexism and not actual desires and wants of consumers who are otherwise spoiled for choice when it comes to any other property of their garments, whether functionality, style, colouring, percent coverage of any and all body parts, etc.
- xattt 11mo agoI only learned this as an adult.
- Telaneo 11mo ago/s? https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20250909-how-womens-pockets-became-so-controversial https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20250909-how-womens-pock...
- kspacewalk2 11mo agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revealed_preference https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revealed_preference
- grishka 11mo agoPhones have grown, but people are the same size as ever. It's as if the industry has collectively forgotten what ergonomics is. It's especially frustrating for me as someone who is a comparatively compact person and who still considers the phone a secondary device mostly for use outside.
- stetrain 11mo agoThe industry has given consumers the choice, and they overwhelmingly prefer to spend their money on the larger phones.
- grishka 11mo agoThe choice in the form of the iPhone mini that sold by millions but is somehow still considered a failed product by Apple, yeah. And nothing comparable in the Android world, where all manufacturers pretty much move in lockstep.
- stetrain 11mo agoThe choice has happened over many years. Incrementally consumers were offered the choice of the same size phone or larger, and they kept choosing larger. If the smaller iPhones and Android phones of 10+ years ago had continued to sell well as larger models were introduced alongside them, they'd still be selling phones that size today.
- dpark 11mo agoI wonder what percentage of people who complain about not being able to buy smaller phones actually ever bought the smaller phones when they were available. Are these people carrying 3rd gen iPhone SEs right now? I suspect no. It’s not as if Apple dislikes money. If they believed the market for small phones was large enough, they’d still be selling small phones.
- grishka 11mo ago
- gonational 11mo agoLiterally this. I'm typing this on an iPhone SE 2022 (the last one with a home button). I'm done with iPhone as soon as I am no longer able to use this model. I don't like the new, oversized pieces of junk, and I also like the home button as opposed to the new Face ID/swipe up workflow. For people that have good visual acuity, the smaller screen is ideal; it's such high resolution that you can fit a lot of things in a small area. For people that turn the font size up to 600, the bigger screen is obviously ideal, but nobody really wants to have to hold something that is bigger if they don't need it for the screen size. That's the market I fit in and Apple has abandoned at market, along with all common sense (re: liquid glass, the recent Apple/Google Gemini deal, etc.).
- kmoser 11mo ago> In my opinion, the fact that Apple is now selling a bag to carry your oversized phone around in, is an admission that they failed to make phones that are convenient to carry. Marketing 101: Create a customer. Even if phones were small enough that there was no need for such a product, Apple's marketing team would convince you that you needed this product for [reasons].
- jama211 11mo agoIt’s no such admission anyway, it’s just a random fashion accessory. Everyone takes everything apple does too seriously lol.
- aczerepinski 11mo agoSame. I got so excited by the thought of a new iPhone that would fit in my pocket, but clicked on the link to see… phone socks?
- pmontra 11mo ago> I was so much hoping for an iPhone that will fit into my pocket Yes, and I was about to write "so some Android manufacturer will copy Apple and deliver a phone of the size that was common 10 years ago." Almost all of them are too large and they weight too much. 200 grams, why?
- stetrain 11mo ago> In my opinion, the fact that Apple is now selling a bag to carry your oversized phone around in, is an admission that they failed to make phones that are convenient to carry. I think it's an admission that consumers prefer phones that are large enough that they have become inconvenient to carry in a pocket. Some people have never had pockets big enough to comfortably fit even a smaller smartphone and have been carrying them in bags this whole time.
- AndrewKemendo 11mo agoIt’s a fancy colostomy bag for all your digital shit
- dpark 11mo agoThis is solving an entirely different problem than you imagine. This is solving the problem of “no one can tell I use an iPhone when it’s in my purse/pocket”. This is a conspicuous bag that loudly announces “I’m carrying an iPhone”. That’s what it’s for. Also, can you actually not fit a phone in your pocket? I can fit the biggest iPhone in my pocket just fine in all of my pants. Conversely my wife cannot, but that’s because women’s pockets are vestigial. She couldn’t fit the 3GS in most of her pockets either.
- port11 11mo agoThe price is incredible. Many phones on the market are cheaper than this accessory. Maybe the true market need is “people don't know how much disposable income I'm willing to throw at nonsense”.
- dpark 11mo agoOf course. Conspicuous consumption requires a high price. No one is impressed by the $15 cross-body bag you buy from Amazon.
- jama211 11mo agoIt’s just fashion mate. There are handbag brands that start at $4,000 on the cheap end.
- naIak 11mo agoReminds me of the threads here regarding fake diamonds. How they don’t understand why people would buy a real diamond when a fake one is so much cheaper. Or how proud they are of having a fake diamond that cost them a nickel. I swear there are lots of people here who are legit autistic.
- port11 11mo agoI'm not sure I follow but I'd never but a real, likely ‘blood’ diamond. I'd happily pay for the lab ones because it's cool man-made science. AFAIK I'm not on the spectrum. I've bought plenty of nonsense, but this is some fabric to hold your phone. Come on…
- pseudalopex 11mo agoWhy sell someone a small phone when you could sell them a large phone and a watch?
- jajuuka 11mo agoThis isn't a pragmatic item though. It's a fashion item. Similar to when Apple made the real gold Apple Watch. It's not a statement on the broader market, it's Apple associating its brand name with high fashion and prestige. They've done this for many years.
- lynndotpy 11mo agoYep. If someone is looking for a more functional item similar to this, Fjallraven sells a "Greenland Pocket" which I used to solve the "too much phone" problem. (And, unsurprisingly, costs many times less while doing much more.) (I'm not associated with Fjallraven, I just enjoy this bag and think it makes the functionality of the Apple Pocket look even more ludicrous in comparison.)
- qudat 11mo agoI was hoping for a zfold
- frereubu 11mo agoThis is not any kind of admission about phone sizes. This is an "exclusive" tie-in with a high fashion brand, nothing more.
- evilmonkey19 11mo agoI remember there was the iphone12 mini but it failed as people didn't want it. It was quite good honestly.
- graypegg 11mo agoApple can pry my iPhone 13 Mini from my cold, dead, normal-sized hands.
- pantalaimon 11mo agoI'm surprised trouser pocket sizes have not adapted to the larger phones.
- charcircuit 11mo agoiPhones have always fit in my pockets. Even in different types of pants and different brands. This is already the case and I don't understand how the iPhone isn't already pocket sized.
- Mawr 11mo agoI'm surprised hand sizes haven't either. Er, Apple is, apparently.
- bambax 11mo agoI too was expecting a small iPhone. But this giant sock is hilarious. What are they thinking.
- oldsklgdfth 11mo agoReading this on a first gen SE. Still works great. Since it can’t get the lastest OS many apps don’t install, effectively making it the type of dumb phone I always wanted.
- duxup 11mo ago>that they failed to make phones that are convenient to carry. It would appear people simply don't want them based on mini 13 and other sales.
- phantasmish 11mo agoI want a tiny phone. But I have kids, and am less willing to compromise on camera quality than I am size. I’d pay the same price for a smaller phone if the camera specs (and ideally battery life—go ahead and make it a little thicker, they’re too thin anyway) were the same as the larger phones, but they’re not. I bet those kinds of differences are what do it for a lot of folks. They’re like me and would prefer smaller, all else being equal—but all else is typically not equal, even compared to standard iPhones and not the ultra-high-end ones.
- duxup 11mo agoMe too, I loved my mini 13. But overall people didn't.
- coffeebeqn 11mo agoI also thought it was like Gameboy Pocket - another small form iPhone. Yeah not too excited about whatever this sling is. I already have pockets
- WD-42 11mo agoI too thought we were finally getting a reasonable sized phone again. Instead it’s an overpriced Apple branded jock strap.
- deleted 11mo ago[deleted]
- 1vuio0pswjnm7 11mo ago"But no, Apple's phones just had to grow and grow like cancer ..." Larger screens are better for advertising Maybe there are more eyeballs on mobile than on larger form factors Mobile OS are, with few exceptions, exclusively corporate-controlled. The corporations controlling the OS are enagaged in advertising services Might make sense for them to try to increase mobile use for more tasks. Perhaps increasing screen size will help I still have an old iPhone 4. Is it still possible to jailbreak and install some old software for experimentation. I'm not interested in using it to access Apple servers. All computers I own access the web through a TLS forward proxy. I see no advertising
- nQQKTz7dm27oZ 11mo ago[dead]
- dz0ny 11mo agoYep We need iPhone mini. Every year the phone is bigger which is worse. Android is the same.
- calebm 11mo agoSame... back in my day, people worked to reduce the size of mobile phones. Call me old fashioned, but I still prefer small phones, which is why I still have an iPhone 12 mini.
- DanHulton 11mo agoAbsolutely this. I was so excited for a second that they were re-branding and re-launching the mini. My 13 is getting long in the teeth, and won't be supported for OS updates in a few more years. Instead it's an ugly, phone-only purse. Bleh.
- lunias 11mo agoI've been yelling into the void for smaller phones for ~15 years now. I get that I'm not the audience... I use a PC all day. I only use my phone for text communication, talking with my parents, maps, weather, and maybe a bit of web surfing while I'm waiting in line somewhere. I see a lot of similarities between big cars and big phones: i.e. They're not really well suited to their most-common applications and there is also not much of another choice. The average person seems to just gobble it up without much thought though. Very strange from my perspective.