Apple's Rumored 2018 6.1-Inch Lower-Cost iPhone With LCD Display Could Feature Metal Back

[MedRed]

But Apple will make features exclusive to the larger iPhones, because they want to sell the consumer the most expensive iPhone. That's called marketing. I know it doesn't seem fair, but from a sales point of view, I understand why Apple would do this.

For me personally, I would purchase the larger model iPhone anyways even if it didn't include exclusive features, because I want a larger display.

That absolutely sucks. I was very happy that the X was shrinking the physical dimensions of the phone. For me, I don't want the biggest screen possible. I want a big enough screen. The X solves that without being unwieldy. The Plus didn't fit a lot of places comfortably (back pockets, front pockets, cup holders, etc.) It also isn't easy to use one handed. I could understand Apple wanting to sell the most expensive phone for more profit IF there wasn't an accompanying usability issue as well.

 

[Reason077]

A scaled-down iPhone X would be perfect for me. Current one just seems a bit too big - difficult to reach controls near the top of the top of the screen, etc.

Something that is iPhone 6 sized, or slightly smaller, but with the edge to edge screen would be amazing!

I really love the swipe-home gesture, however! Hopefully they'll implement it on all new devices.

 

[Sasparilla]

Dropping wireless charging would be a pullback (the 8's have it) and it is useful for alot of people - hopefully that doesn't pan out - otherwise I'm all in for the LCD model.

I don't see a lower price including a larger screen, even if the screen's tech is lower. Apple will always put a premium on the larger screens.

Always and never aren't very good words to use when it comes to Apple's features and choices in the future (based on history).

 

[scott911]

I've paid the price ( literally) a few times with apple's type/design preferences being more important to them than functionality and durability.

I completely welcome the use of more durable materials, better water proofing, etc. as an option for me, and especially the kids I buy phones for.

 

[Supermacguy]

I'll keep buying the SE, if they upgrade it again, WITH TOUCH ID and I don't really care about face ID. Plus the benefit of no notch, and square screen corners is a plus for me.

 

[dewski]

Funny, i think its just too darn small. How do you stand using such a puny device, drives me crazy.

Well, Apple is on its way to making iphones increments of 0.1" so everyone can pick what they like.

Once you spend a day with an SE , you forget about the bigger screen.

 

[ChrisCW11]

Why would Apple make a cheaper Full screen iPhone when the X is all the rage today. Doesn't make sense for Apple to bring value to something with their biggest competitive feature.

I don't think Apple will want to lower profit margins on there flagship design of phone for a few years yet.

I also don't think Apple will port iOS to an x86 based CPU at all, definitely not within the next year, and why a new CPU when all Apple has to do is polish up a previous A generation of their own CPU design?

Nothing about this makes much sense. Apple will most likely offer a modified 8-esque style phone without Touch ID home button which will stretch the screen out a bit, but it won't look like the iPhone X design at all and offer this as their "value" phone, meaning only $150 cheaper then the iPhone XI

 

[geta]

If it's true that the smallest phone Apple will offer would be 5.8” and nothing in the range of 4-5" its gonna be a sad day for many people... not everyone wants to carry 6-7" Phablets in their pockets.

PS, Apple used to be the shepherd while Jobs was running the show, but lately they become another sheep in the crowd...

 

[nt5672]

As if one phone with a notch wasn't bad enough. Now we'll have three. Awesome. My G-d they are so stubborn. Who cares if the X had looked like Android counterparts with minimal bezels. I don't walk around and judge people based on what phone they have and couldn't care less what phone they have / whether or not they "stand out." I'd love the LG V30 or Pixel 2 XL with iOS. And sign me up for a 6.1" phone with a LOWER resolution. Again, awesome. Smh.

Apple used to lead in design, now they accept bad design just so they don't look like another company's copy of Apple product.
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In March we may see a new iPhone SE that will have a new form factor resembling the iPhone X, and a larger display, but the physical size similar to the current SE. It will be metal and LCD. It will likely have an A11 Bionic and Face ID. The 6.1 inch may be the iPhone SE Plus. It will also be metal and LCD, and also have the A11. These two phones will be the “budget” phones. The iPhone X2 will be similar to the X, but with enhancements and an A12. There will also be an X2 Plus. So the line up will be two SEs and two X2s. The 8 may be discontinued.

A lot people don't want a budget phone, we want a full featured, full capability small phone in the form factor of or near the SE. Not to hard to understand, but it is just too much work for Apple when they can throw a pile of crap in a large case and fan boys and girls will ogle all over it.

Apple can't care to make a decent size notebook it has to be the smallest, thinnest piece of crap possible, but on phones they want to largest they can fill with fancy features like animojies. Something has gone off the track at Apple.

 

[Scarpad]

Just "Dowgraded" from a 7 plus to an SE last month so I'll keep that phone a couple of years the A9 is a tuff bird especially for an SE, an upgraded model with an A10 would'nt do much more than what i have now, they are more than enough muscle for that phone

 

[mikecorp]

I would stick with Retina LCD, in iphone 5s format.
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Apple used to lead in design, now they accept bad design just so they don't look like another company's copy of Apple product.
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A lot people don't want a budget phone, we want a full featured, full capability small phone in the form factor of or near the SE. Not to hard to understand, but it is just too much work for Apple when they can throw a pile of crap in a large case and fan boys and girls will ogle all over it.

Apple can't care to make a decent size notebook it has to be the smallest, thinnest piece of crap possible, but on phones they want to largest they can fill with fancy features like animojies. Something has gone off the track at Apple.

Agree with you. Last time I wrote similar complaint this I got banned for a 2 days from Macrumors I believe Tim is at fault, Steve was kicking a$$ before and people made the best product, now Tim is ................ and we have a problem. Bad, software, bad products and prices went up for no reason.

 

[curtvaughan]

But will they bring back the headphone jack (says no one)

If they brought the jack back and retained touch ID, this is the model I'd buy to replace my 6S+. I could have iOS, durability, sound interface of my choice, and cloud/message/handoff with my iMac and iPad - and at a reasonable price. As it is, I'll likely just replace the battery in my 6S+ and hang onto it another year. I'll also probably get a new iMac for a nostalgic Apple fix/upgrade.

 

[macdragonfl]

This metal material could be Liquidmetal which unlike aluminum, would be able to wirelessly charge the iphone.

The iPhone X should have had liquid metal as opposed to glass, the cost is high so unlikely to be a base model’s back material. It would seem more probable to have the next X model liquid metal and the base to be glass.

 

[pika2000]

What's up with manufacturers creating endlessly larger phones like they're suffering from small penis envy? Just make my iPhone SE X now!

Because that's what the market actually wants. Note that that "market" is in Asia, as that is where the growth is. People want larger screens in Asia as they enjoy consuming content when they're out and about (eg. during commute in public transport). The success of the Galaxy Note line, and the fact that plus model iPhone is not outselling the non-plus version can't be denied. Luckily, looks like Apple still has a bit of care on smaller phones.

 

[KingslayerG5]

Metal rears - 7
2G
5
5s
6
6s
SE
7

Glass rears - 4
4
4s
8
X

Plastic rears - 3
3G
3Gs
5c

Metal > "Matte" Plastic > Glass

My Top 3 favorite iPhone designs all have metal rears. Doesn't show fingerprints so easily or get sticky over time with the oil in our fingertips.

1. 5s/SE, space gray
2. 2G
3. 7, matte black

I used to love the 4 design but started to hate it once I realized I prefer a naked phone and Sony, Huawei, and Samsung started using glass rears on their phones.

Another $500+ to repair? Hell to the NO.

 

[pika2000]

I'll keep buying the SE, if they upgrade it again, WITH TOUCH ID and I don't really care about face ID. Plus the benefit of no notch, and square screen corners is a plus for me.

Then better enjoy the current SE while it lasts. Apple has stated that the X form factor and FaceID are what they use on their future phones. The 2GB RAM on the SE will help its longevity.

 

[dazz87]

They should drop the price of the 5.8" to $899 and price the 6.5 (or whatever) OLED at $999

Yeah and apple will bring back both touch id and headphone jack and each size will come in 10 different colors for us to select from.

 

[kazmac]

Makes sense since they are still making metal backed phones anyway.

 

[UL2RA]

Do you use it one or two-handed out of interest? I have quite big hands but always use phones one-handed, I felt the 6 was just a little awkward and needed to be "shuffled" quite often so switched to the SE. Seeing the X was bigger in every dimension than the 6, as well as needing pull down gestures from the corners really put me off of it.

I can use it one-handed because of the taller screen. It's about the same size as the Plus screen without the wideness and it works really well. The Plus I can't even hold. But I have long thumbs so maybe that helps.

 

[Harthag]

No need to move to BT headphones, as more headphones hit the market with a Lightning connector. But I'd recommend actually jumping ahead into the wireless headphone market, because living without the tangle of wires is so much better. And as long as you're not buying a $10 set of BT headphones at your local Circle K, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised by the quality of the sound. It's definitely not the horrid experience it was 7 to 10 years ago. Each year there have been improvements to sound quality, energy use, etc.

I've lived with BT headsets and headphones for 4+ years now and would never consider going backwards to wired sets. I've got a set of great over the ear active sound canceling headphones for music listening (and travel) that can go 24 hours between charging, so no worries about charging every day. My headsets for phone calls each can get through about 6 hours of talk time (I have 2 to get through a day without charging), but I'm going to end up getting a set of AirPods to simplify things a bit.

If Apple cared about Bluetooth sound quality they would pay for rights to allow AptX HD and LDAC on iPhones. But they don't care and want people to buy into their W1 proprietary crap. While still supporting only SBC and AAC Bluetooth codecs (I only know of 2 headphones that support AAC). They will likely ditch Qualcomm too, so these things will never be added to iPhones.

 

[Michael Goff]

What good small options are there with the features/specs of the current larger models? It's not really a level playing field is it? I know more people holding on to smaller, older iPhones than buying the newer, larger models - because they simply don't want big phones.

The Plus models outsell the normal sized models of iPhone according to most analysts.

I heard Apple didn’t sell any SEs, because no one wanted a smaller phone

Yeah. Because I said nobody buys smaller phones. Wait, no, I said fewer people do.
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If Apple cared about Bluetooth sound quality they would pay for rights to allow AptX HD and LDAC on iPhones. But they don't care and want people to buy into their W1 proprietary crap. While still supporting only SBC and AAC Bluetooth codecs (I only know of 2 headphones that support AAC). They will likely ditch Qualcomm too, so these things will never be added to iPhones.

W1 has nothing to do with codecs.

 

[KingslayerG5]

The 6.5" iPhone will probably be about the same height as the Note8 with a 6.3" display but without much top and bottom bezel. The 6.1" iPhone will be about the height as the Note7 which has a 5.7" display.

Metal Jesus Rocks so does metal!

Flagships that featured all-glass rears in 2017 -

Apple iPhone 8
Apple iPhone 8 Plus
Apple iPhone X
HTC U11
Huawei Mate 10
Huawei Mate 10 Pro
LG G6
LG V30
Samsung Galaxy S8
Samsung Galaxy S8+
Samsung Galaxy Note8

Not all-glass rears (but partially like the iPhone 5 series) -

Google Pixel 2
Google Pixel 2 XL

Metal rears / matte plastic -

Motorola Moto Z2 Force
OnePlus 5
OnePlus 5T
Sony XZ Premium
Sony Xperia XZ1

Essential Phone is technically ceramic but gets smudges like glass does. Hope to see more metal rears returning as it's becoming a dying breed.

 

[wigby]

Too large? Really?

The problem with the current X size is that the swipe up 'home' button gesture and swipe down for notifications and control center cannot be done by the same thumb holding the phone the same way. I got used to the plus size juggling of the phone but the smaller footprint of X was supposed to bring back simple one handed phone use again. So either Apple has to adjust the gestures so they don't require swipes all the way from the top or make the phone a but smaller.

 

[kstotlani]

If Apple will put the promotion into that 6.1” Lcd 120hz..it will sell well

Pro-motion. My God it took me a while to understand what you said.

 

[JM]

And if that happens the new SE will be my next phone. I prefer using my phone one-handed without having to awkwardly shuffle it around to reach corners, the X being larger than the 6/7/8 is the main reason I didn't "upgrade" to it.
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I think many people want this, the main problem with smaller phones is smaller screens - in all other areas of practicality and usability they're better than large phones (people forget we don't all use them as iPads), the X would have been great as a slightly smaller device than the 7 with a larger screen area, it would have made much more sense as a "best of all worlds" and more forward looking than just going larger again... At some point it becomes just an iPad mini if you go that route.

Exactly why a +6" screen on phone sounds so stupid..... we need a reverse of the super small phone trend that died (super big phone trend needs to die)