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Most of the top comments here are people expressing their preferences regarding screen sizes. Some are very happy with the larger screens, some are disappointed

Most of the top comments here are people expressing their preferences regarding screen sizes. Some are very happy with the larger screens, some are disappointed in them. To me, this suggests that there is not a "winner" for what the "best" screen size is. It seems that this is a personal matter and many users have different preferences for their own reasons. It is clear that for some number of people bigger is not better. What confuses me is the fact that Apple did not find it worthwhile to continue providing a smaller form factor. They (quite correctly) identified the demand for larger screens, but have they failed to observe the demand for the smaller ones? Or are the people who prefer smaller displays enough of a minority that they are worth ignoring in favor of simplifying the product line?

crazygringo 12y ago
> What confuses me is the fact that Apple did not find it worthwhile to continue providing a smaller form factor. I couldn't agree more. I'm still using the 4S because I want something that comfortably fits in my side jeans pocket. The 6? Forget it. When my 4S breaks... I'll probably just buy another one, used. I find it almost impossible to believe that the segment of consumers who want a phone that fits comfortably in a side jeans pocket -- since this is where a huge proportion of guys keep it -- is too small to cater to. (Yes, I've tried a 6, and it technically fits, but it is not comfortable.) If things keep up the way they do, I'm hoping Apple is finally forced to come out with an "iPhone Mini". I really hope they do.
- DigitalJack 12y ago
  I printed out mockups for the 6 and 6+ to get a feel for them before they came out. Tested them with pockets etc... I'm fat so they actually do fit in my pants pocket (the plus by a hair). My pants usually press against my leg when I am sitting, and I am almost certain this pressure would, over time and repetition, bend the phone. Possibly not the 6, but I'm sure it would with the plus. I do like the larger screen though. Colbert had a joke where he was going to have a large pocket sewn into his suit jacket to carry his ipad around, and I actually considered having a phone pocket added to my jeans. But I think I'll stick with my 5 for a while longer and if needed upgrade to the 5s at some point.
  - qq66 12y ago
    Colbert might have been joking, but I've seen clothing tags advertise "Interior pocket fits iPad Mini."
- forrestthewoods 12y ago
  Keeping support for small devices isn't free. I expect the 4S sized screen to be completely deprecated in a few years. It's fine if you want your phone to be just a phone and poor web browser. It's less fine if you want it to be a pocket computer that performs a wider variety of tasks. Not saying it can't be done, just that it has a not insignificant cost.
  - crazygringo 12y ago
    But that's exactly it -- I want my phone to be a phone and use phone-appropriate apps, like Evernote or Spotify or Shazam or Hipchat or Yelp or Moves or FitnessFast or the camera app or the weather app and so on... And be a web browser of last resort, when I need to look something up quick while on the street. I've got, you know, a laptop at work and a laptop at home that work a lot better for web browsing.
    - forrestthewoods 12y ago
      Sorry, that's not the future for most people. Even apps like Evernote and Spotify and what not are really, really hard to cram into a teeny tiny screen. It's not a great experience. Then if you consider internationally how many people use their phone as their primary, if not exclusive, computer and yeah. That's just how it adds up. App developers no longer have to worry about 320x480 resolutions. They effectively don't worry about small from 3:2 aspect ratio displays. Soon they won't have to deal with it at all. For the vast majority of users this is a good thing. For a slim minority it's a bad thing. =[
ynniv 12y ago
My hypothesis is that they will bring back the smaller size once the larger sizes have been legitimized. If they had simply introduced different sizes, the community might see the new (pixel) sizes as "alternative". Developers might be annoyed at having to support something other than the one-true-size-that-Jobs-left-us. Instead they dropped that one true size and made it clear that an iPhone now comes in multiple, larger sizes. These will now forever be canonical sizes, even when Apple continues the smaller size.
austenallred 12y ago
Rumors have it that in 2015 they will introduce an upgraded version of the 4 inch phone (the same size as the 5s) http://www.tomsguide.com/us/apple-iphone-6-mini,news-20072.html http://www.tomsguide.com/us/apple-iphone-6-mini,news-20072.h... http://venturebeat.com/2015/01/02/chatter-getting-louder-about-a-4-inch-iphone-6-mini-this-year/ http://venturebeat.com/2015/01/02/chatter-getting-louder-abo... That would make sense to me. I have a 6, but I have pretty small hands. I like the bigger screen size now, but it took some getting used to.
DominikR 12y ago
I can't imagine that they just failed to observer the demand for smaller form factors. For one they surely have pretty accurate data on what most customers really want and they are still selling the 5S. If they see that demand for the 5S is higher than expected or that too many customers are unhappy with the larger devices they will accept this reality and release an updated iPhone 6S that is smaller.

crazygringo 12y ago

> What confuses me is the fact that Apple did not find it worthwhile to continue providing a smaller form factor. I couldn't agree more. I'm still using the 4S because I want something that comfortably fits in my side jeans pocket. The 6? Forget it. When my 4S breaks... I'll probably just buy another one, used. I find it almost impossible to believe that the segment of consumers who want a phone that fits comfortably in a side jeans pocket -- since this is where a huge proportion of guys keep it -- is too small to cater to. (Yes, I've tried a 6, and it technically fits, but it is not comfortable.) If things keep up the way they do, I'm hoping Apple is finally forced to come out with an "iPhone Mini". I really hope they do.

DigitalJack 12y ago
I printed out mockups for the 6 and 6+ to get a feel for them before they came out. Tested them with pockets etc... I'm fat so they actually do fit in my pants pocket (the plus by a hair). My pants usually press against my leg when I am sitting, and I am almost certain this pressure would, over time and repetition, bend the phone. Possibly not the 6, but I'm sure it would with the plus. I do like the larger screen though. Colbert had a joke where he was going to have a large pocket sewn into his suit jacket to carry his ipad around, and I actually considered having a phone pocket added to my jeans. But I think I'll stick with my 5 for a while longer and if needed upgrade to the 5s at some point.
- qq66 12y ago
  Colbert might have been joking, but I've seen clothing tags advertise "Interior pocket fits iPad Mini."
forrestthewoods 12y ago
Keeping support for small devices isn't free. I expect the 4S sized screen to be completely deprecated in a few years. It's fine if you want your phone to be just a phone and poor web browser. It's less fine if you want it to be a pocket computer that performs a wider variety of tasks. Not saying it can't be done, just that it has a not insignificant cost.
- crazygringo 12y ago
  But that's exactly it -- I want my phone to be a phone and use phone-appropriate apps, like Evernote or Spotify or Shazam or Hipchat or Yelp or Moves or FitnessFast or the camera app or the weather app and so on... And be a web browser of last resort, when I need to look something up quick while on the street. I've got, you know, a laptop at work and a laptop at home that work a lot better for web browsing.
  - forrestthewoods 12y ago
    Sorry, that's not the future for most people. Even apps like Evernote and Spotify and what not are really, really hard to cram into a teeny tiny screen. It's not a great experience. Then if you consider internationally how many people use their phone as their primary, if not exclusive, computer and yeah. That's just how it adds up. App developers no longer have to worry about 320x480 resolutions. They effectively don't worry about small from 3:2 aspect ratio displays. Soon they won't have to deal with it at all. For the vast majority of users this is a good thing. For a slim minority it's a bad thing. =[

ynniv 12y ago

My hypothesis is that they will bring back the smaller size once the larger sizes have been legitimized. If they had simply introduced different sizes, the community might see the new (pixel) sizes as "alternative". Developers might be annoyed at having to support something other than the one-true-size-that-Jobs-left-us. Instead they dropped that one true size and made it clear that an iPhone now comes in multiple, larger sizes. These will now forever be canonical sizes, even when Apple continues the smaller size.

austenallred 12y ago

Rumors have it that in 2015 they will introduce an upgraded version of the 4 inch phone (the same size as the 5s) http://www.tomsguide.com/us/apple-iphone-6-mini,news-20072.html http://www.tomsguide.com/us/apple-iphone-6-mini,news-20072.h... http://venturebeat.com/2015/01/02/chatter-getting-louder-about-a-4-inch-iphone-6-mini-this-year/ http://venturebeat.com/2015/01/02/chatter-getting-louder-abo... That would make sense to me. I have a 6, but I have pretty small hands. I like the bigger screen size now, but it took some getting used to.

DominikR 12y ago

I can't imagine that they just failed to observer the demand for smaller form factors. For one they surely have pretty accurate data on what most customers really want and they are still selling the 5S. If they see that demand for the 5S is higher than expected or that too many customers are unhappy with the larger devices they will accept this reality and release an updated iPhone 6S that is smaller.