Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Col4bin

macrumors 68000
Oct 2, 2011
1,887
1,572
El Segundo
How is removing the home button good from a user perspective? The only upside is a smaller bezel, and that doesn't really help the user experience much.

While I'm sure the home button will be removed, it's functionality will be replaced by another means (Force Touch enabled on-screen button perhaps?) Not sure but Apple will find a way. They always do.
 

Serban

Suspended
Jan 8, 2013
5,159
928
Home button=mechanical , its like HDD vs SSD, it can't fall
no home button with perfect software =1 item that can't fall
 

Michael Goff

Suspended
Jul 5, 2012
13,329
7,421
While I'm sure the home button will be removed, it's functionality will be replaced by another means (Force Touch enabled on-screen button perhaps?) Not sure but Apple will find a way. They always do.

Maybe I'm just less imaginative than some people here. I just see the home button and it screams 'good idea'. Maybe they will find something, though, and I'll be proven wrong.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Benjamin Frost

Billberryjuice

macrumors 6502
Jun 2, 2014
270
192
UK
Surely, if you had a case, you'd be happy to drop it, because it would protect your iPhone. You wouldn't need a rugged iPhone, as the case would protect it.

Seems to me you mean the opposite of what you say. If you didn't have a rugged iPhone, you'd be happy to drop the case, as it would protect it.

...fairly sure he meant "drop the case" as in "stop using the case" if he had a rugged iPhone, not "allow to fall to the floor". Also I don't think many people are too happy to drop their phones even with a case on (barring perhaps those crazy "military grade" ones).
 

till213

Suspended
Jul 1, 2011
423
89
you can also probably squeeze in a crazy sensor into that camera.

Small lesson in physics for you: sensors profit from a larger AREA which is reached by either increasing width or height - but NOT thickness!

In case you didn't know...
 

hleewell

macrumors 6502a
Oct 22, 2009
544
62
The new iPhone, thicker, but still thin, still sexy

C'mon, quiet you whiners & crybabies
 

Roadstar

macrumors 68000
Sep 24, 2006
1,718
2,185
Vantaa, Finland
...fairly sure he meant "drop the case" as in "stop using the case" if he had a rugged iPhone, not "allow to fall to the floor". Also I don't think many people are too happy to drop their phones even with a case on (barring perhaps those crazy "military grade" ones).

That's exactly what I meant. Now that I read my post again, I see I should've chosen different wording as there's too much potential for confusion.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Benjamin Frost

Tech198

Cancelled
Mar 21, 2011
15,915
2,151
So there's ya problem..

How can you integrate all this stuff and still shave off a few mm ? They did it before but the phone was still kind of bulky-ish..

Now, however, it's more like ground zero approaching... time for everything to be tightly integrated
 

Keane16

macrumors 6502a
Dec 8, 2007
810
671
iPhone5S. In Silver, (big mistake - should have bought the Space Gray).

I had one, great phone. The only thing I miss about it is the one-handed ability. Pretty much everything else that matters to me is worse on the 5s compared to my 6. Battery life, TouchID, camera, web browsing, gaming, overall performance, charge time etc. etc.

Personally I'm not a huge fan of the backs on either - the glass panels on the 5 and 5s or the lines on the 6. I'm hoping for a nice clean backed 7 (like the 4/4S and 3G/3GS). But it's a meh point to me - as long as it is built well I'm mostly happy, I care more about what they do than how they look.
 

Roller

macrumors 68030
Jun 25, 2003
2,852
1,967
A little thicker is good.

The Home button is the first thing to fail on all of our iOS devices that have had problems. Getting rid of it would be no loss. Fortunately there is an alternative software version:

Settings App
General
Accessibility
Assistive Touch - ON

This creates a home button on the screen which can be moved around and positioned where you like. Saves throwing away an iPodTouch or iPhone that is otherwise useful but just has a dead Home button.

I agree that a slight increase in thickness would be OK, especially if it allowed for a higher-capacity battery. I also think that a virtual home button could work as long as it could be made as functional as the current home button is for Touch ID with the screen on.

However, I don't see how it would allow quick, one-finger waking and authentication when the iPhone is asleep. With the physical home button, you know precisely where to press. But with a virtual button, you wouldn't be able to see the target with the screen off. So there would have to be some way to enlarge the virtual button area when the screen isn't on.

I suppose that Apple could make it a two step operation: press the side button to wake the display, then touch the virtual button to authenticate, but that wouldn't be as convenient.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Billberryjuice

TC03

macrumors 65816
Aug 17, 2008
1,272
356
I agree that a slight increase in thickness would be OK, especially if it allowed for a higher-capacity battery. I also think that a virtual home button could work as long as it could be made as functional as the current home button is for Touch ID with the screen on.

However, I don't see how it would allow quick, one-finger waking and authentication when the iPhone is asleep. With the physical home button, you know precisely where to press. But with a virtual button, you wouldn't be able to see the target with the screen off. So there would have to be some way to enlarge the virtual button area when the screen isn't on.

I suppose that Apple could make it a two step operation: press the side button to wake the display, then touch the virtual button to authenticate, but that wouldn't be as convenient.
What if the whole screen was a finger print sensor? It wouldn't matter where you tap screen.
 

Rogifan

macrumors Penryn
Nov 14, 2011
24,084
31,014
Maybe I'm just less imaginative than some people here. I just see the home button and it screams 'good idea'. Maybe they will find something, though, and I'll be proven wrong.
Some people want a bigger screened phone without the overall phone getting bigger. It will never happen with iPhone until Apple can figure out what to do with the home button. They're never going to release a phone with asymmetrical bezels.
 

Benjamin Frost

Suspended
May 9, 2015
2,405
5,001
London, England
Listen Folks, lets see some data:
iPhone 5s: 7.6 mm thick
iPhone 6: 6.9 mm
iPhone 6s: 7.1 mm, +0.2 mm because of Force Touch
iPhone 6' camera bump: 0.7 mm

What if the iPhone 6s added 0.7 mm to the 6' thickness?
we would get a 7.6 mm thick iPhone 6s with no camera protrusion, force touch, and a ~15% larger battery (2081 mAh) at the same thickness of the iPhone 5s, that you all know it's not a thick phone. that would be pretty great.
What do you think?

Too heavy.

The iPhone 6 is already heavier than the iPhone 5. Making it thicker still with its current gigantic bezels will make it a brick.
 

phillipduran

macrumors 65816
Apr 30, 2008
1,055
607
Ha! I'm going to lose it if I hear Jony explaining why thicker is better. It's got to happen. :D
 

Eduardo Forneck

macrumors regular
Jul 23, 2014
116
38
Too heavy.

The iPhone 6 is already heavier than the iPhone 5. Making it thicker still with its current gigantic bezels will make it a brick.

i don't think so, it would weigh about 135-140 g, less/same as an iphone 4.
And givin' the huge benefits (more batt. life, no camera prot.) i think it worth.
 

nj-morris

macrumors 68000
Nov 30, 2014
1,783
692
UK
I'm not an expert on cameras, but is there any reason at all for the huge air gap behind the lens on every iPhone/iPad camera?it just bothers me how they could just squish it down and make the back flat.
 

christian_k

macrumors 6502
May 31, 2005
333
12
Germany
I'm not an expert on cameras, but is there any reason at all for the huge air gap behind the lens on every iPhone/iPad camera?it just bothers me how they could just squish it down and make the back flat.

The distance between the sensor and the lens needs to be the focal length to get a sharp picture if you focus on something that is far away from the camera. If you get closer to your subject the lens needs to be even a little further away from the sensor. So the lens needs some room to move.

A typical 1/3'' type phone sensor has a diagonal of ~ 6 mm. To get a typical wide angle shot the focal distance of the lens needs to be around 2/3 of the sensor diagonal, in this case roughly 4mm. So you need at least 4mm space between sensor and lens to focus at infinity (+ some 0.2mm for close up capability).

The only way to get around this problem would be a lower focal length for the lens. This would result in an even wider field of view on the same sensor size. To get the same field of view they would have to reduce sensor size. Smaller produce lower image quality (more noise, less dynamic range etc.)

Christian
 

The_Badger

macrumors newbie
Jul 8, 2015
18
3
Plant



A purported schematic for the so-called "iPhone 6s" obtained by Engadget Japan (via BGR) reveals that the next-generation smartphone could have a thickness of 7.1mm, a slight increase or equal to the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, which measure 6.9mm and 7.1mm respectively. The schematic also suggests that the "iPhone 6s" will still have a home button, while all other buttons and ports remain unchanged.

iPhone-6s-Schematic-Engadget-Japan-800x602.jpg

The slight 0.2mm increase in thickness could be the result of Apple adding pressure-sensing Force Touch technology to the next iPhone, enabling the smartphone's display to distinguish between a light tap and firmer press and complete different actions accordingly. The "iPhone 6s" is also rumored to adopt 7000 Series aluminum, which could possibly contribute to marginally different dimensions.

The schematic is consistent with leaked photos of the "iPhone 6s" rear shell, which confirm that the handset will have only minor design changes. In particular, the Lightning connector, speakers, microphones, headphone jack, volume rocker, mute button, sleep/wake button, SIM card slot, antenna lines and cutout for the rear-facing camera and LED flash are all identical to the iPhone 6.

The lack of exterior design changes on the "iPhone 6s" is unsurprising given that "S" model iPhones have historically looked almost identical to the iPhone released one year prior. The iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4S and iPhone 5S, for example, each had virtually the same design as the iPhone 3G, iPhone 4 and iPhone 5 respectively. Instead, the focus of the "iPhone 6s" will likely be on internal improvements.

Leaked photos of the "iPhone 6s" logic board reveal that the smartphone will likely feature Qualcomm's MDM9635M chip, capable of theoretical LTE download speeds up to 300 Mbps, double the max speed of 150 Mbps in the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. The next iPhone is also rumored to feature an A9 processor with 2GB of RAM, an updated NFC chip for Apple Pay and an improved 12-megapixel rear-facing camera.

Article Link: Purported Schematic Suggests 'iPhone 6s' Could Be Slightly Thicker, Retain Home Button
 

The_Badger

macrumors newbie
Jul 8, 2015
18
3
Plant
Iphone 6S Plus:

Does any know if a 32 GB or 64 GB can be requested prior to shipping this phone rather than a 16 GB Spec for the Release...Storage Cap and Performance is Key for me...
 

christian_k

macrumors 6502
May 31, 2005
333
12
Germany
The distance between the sensor and the lens needs to be the focal length to get a sharp picture if you focus on something that is far away from the camera. If you get closer to your subject the lens needs to be even a little further away from the sensor. So the lens needs some room to move.

A typical 1/3'' type phone sensor has a diagonal of ~ 6 mm. To get a typical wide angle shot the focal distance of the lens needs to be around 2/3 of the sensor diagonal, in this case roughly 4mm. So you need at least 4mm space between sensor and lens to focus at infinity (+ some 0.2mm for close up capability).

The only way to get around this problem would be a lower focal length for the lens. This would result in an even wider field of view on the same sensor size. To get the same field of view they would have to reduce sensor size. Smaller produce lower image quality (more noise, less dynamic range etc.)

(An additional lens element that enlarges the picture of a shorter focal length lens is an option in theory. This is used in telephoto lenses for SLRs to reduce length. But it reduces light and picture quality and it also needs space. Probably not for a phone camera...)

Christian
 
Last edited:
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.