Other Convince me about the 6.7” display size!

[va1984]

iPhone X user here. My current set up includes both an 11” iPad Pro and a 12.9” iPad Pro, and no Mac.
I will upgrade to the iPhone 12 Pro or 12 Pro Max. My natural preference might be toward the smaller 6.1” model, but recently I have been wondering whether I should switch to the larger one, with a view to doing more of my current iPad Pro 11” stuff on the iPhone and eventually selling the iPad Pro 11” altogether to make room for an Apple Silicon iMac or large MacBook Pro (next year).

I already know that there will be a few work-related processes where I will miss the double-iPad, because a large phone is just not a capable enough substitute (unless they announce Apple Pencil support, which would be a game changer for me, but they won’t). But that’s ok — I can live with the larger iPad only until a tempting Apple Silicon Mac is ready.

What I really want to know is: those of you who love the larger iPhone size, why is that? What moments of the day make you really grateful that you went with the bigger one? Sing its praises to convince me — preferably from a non-gamer perspective, as all I ever play is sudoku for 5 minutes of the day during a certain morning routine...
Thanks!

 

[LonestarOne]

I went with the larger size for the iPhone 8. I found it felt much different in my hand. A bit awkward when using it as a phone, but better when using it as a camera. It did not fit easily into my pants pocket, but at the same time, I always knew it was in my pocket. So, I never accidentally left home without it. The larger screen didn’t seem to make much of a difference to me when I was using it, but I really noticed the difference when I went back to the smaller screen.

I would not consider it to be a substitute for the iPad.

 

[AE_stc]

I’m a big guy big hands so I got the xs max purely for ease of use. And coming from a 7 it was well worth it. It’s also an absolute beautiful OLED screen so watching hdr movies in bed at night is terrific. Close to your face in the dark it’s the equivalent of watching a 60” tv

 

[JPack]

What I really want to know is: those of you who love the larger iPhone size, why is that? What moments of the day make you really grateful that you went with the bigger one? Sing its praises to convince me — preferably from a non-gamer perspective, as all I ever play is sudoku for 5 minutes of the day during a certain morning routine...
Thanks!

Anything productivity related is enhanced, whether you're viewing a spreadsheet in MS Teams or editing a Word document with a reasonable sized on-screen keyboard.

The bigger iPhone also has a larger battery capacity. If I need to connect my MacBook to a mobile hotspot, I don't need to worry the iPhone battery will be half dead later.

 

[vespid]

The introduction of the Apple Watch, to me, has cemented the place of plus/max sized iPhones in my life. If it can fit in your pockets, go for it. Having a watch allows me to complete small phone tasks to the degree that I’m not bothered by the size of the max phone.

 

[TechLord]

Better battery, seems to have camera improvements over the 6.1 inch pro.

 

[JUCJ85]

I originally went with a normal 6 back in April of 2015, but had it for 3 days, had issues with being nauseated, and having severe headaches, so I went to the larger 6+, never had any of the issues after that, now I have a XS Max, I enjoy the bigger screen, I'm 36, don't have great eye sight, have to wear glasses, so if I ever needed it in bed, I'd need a bigger screened iPhone or iPad(Have the 2018 12.9 Inch iPad Pro), I'd upgrade to the 6.7 Inch iPhone 12 Pro Max if it had 1TB, but, it isn't happening, so I'll stick to the XS Max, as far as an iPad replacement, doubtful, as for getting a bigger screened iPhone, most people above have said it, bigger battery capacity, and better camera. For my pocket, it fits just fine, I also have a good sized hands, so a bigger phone was needed, so that's something to think about.

 

[Kendo]

I've been a 6, 7, X sized user my whole life and always found the Plus and Max sized phones to be too big. This year however I am going with the Max simply because with the work from home situation, I am barely leaving the house. So I don't really need a smaller phone that I can use one handed like I used to (constantly bouncing from subway to subway, taking the phone outside to change songs, etc.). With the Max I expect to mainly use it as a Netflix machine at night when I go to bed and as a web browser.

 

[JulianL]

I have tiny hands and had always been worried about phones getting bigger. I also always carry my phone in my front trouser pocket and not having the pocket bulging too much or feeling weighed down is important to me.

My previous phone was an iPhone XS and I upgraded to an iPhone 11 Pro (not the Max) on launch day. It developed a fault after about a week so I arranged an in-store exchange and on an “I should at least try it” basis I decided to do an on-the spot return of the 11 Pro and repurchase of an 11 Pro Max so that I got another 14 days to return it and go back to the non-Max size. Well, over a year later I still have my 11 Pro Max, am planning to upgrade to the 6.7” as soon as orders open, and am now wondering why on earth I was ever worried about big phones.

When am I ever thankful for the bigger screen? That’s the question you wanted answered right? Well, my answer is never. I can’t say that any of my apps make me think “wow, I’m so glad I have the bigger screen”. For me that wasn’t the revelation. For me I discovering that I really wasn’t finding any downsides to having the bigger phone was the revelation.

I don’t find my Max overly heavy either in my hands or in my pocket. It actually fits better and is less obtrusive in my pocket than my non-Max phones because the smaller phones tended to tip sideways so they would be sitting almost sidewan’s in my pocket which sometimes caused them to get wedged in a bit and slightly tricky to get out whereas the extra width of my Max phone means that it stays upright. As for usability maybe this is specific to my very small hands but I found that even with my non-Max phones I used them 2-handed a lot of the time to get to stuff at the top of the screen so I figured that if I was using my non-Max phone 2-handed a lot of the time then I really wouldn’t notice a difference with the Max and a year on I was 100% right. And finally for simple stuff such as reading ebooks or taking phone calls I can easily use the Max one handed and if I can then pretty much anyone can.

So, once I discovered that everything I thought would be a downside of the Max really wasn’t, and the increased width even a benefit in terms of how it rests/aligns in my pocket, my opinion now is that with no downsides (except for the increased price) why not have the bigger screen?

Finally, although I said the bigger screen wasn’t a real wow for me, I did see one very big benefit of the Max that I am so glad I am able to take advantage of because of this lack of downsides and that is getting the absolute best battery life that I can get from the iPhone lineup.

I realise that others have had different reactions and gone back to smaller models but for me my experiment with the Max size was a complete success and if anything it now feels slightly small to me. 6.7” screen here I come, assuming Apple don’t actually go backwards on battery life vs the 11 Pro Max in which case I’ll wait to see what the 12s Pro Max or whatever they call the 2021 model looks like.

 

[va1984]

Thank you all for your replies so far. I’m almost convinced...! Apple may have to do the final bit of convincing on Tuesday, though!

I have tiny hands and had always been worried about phones getting bigger.

I appreciated your post a lot! I don’t know what counts as tiny hands but the photo below is my hand covering most of a 12.9” display so for right now I’m not too daunted by the 6.7 display. I guess when I drop it on day one I’ll regret saying this!

 

[JulianL]

Thank you all for your replies so far. I’m almost convinced...! Apple may have to do the final bit of convincing on Tuesday, though!



I appreciated your post a lot! I don’t know what counts as tiny hands but the photo below is my hand covering most of a 12.9” display so for right now I’m not too daunted by the 6.7 display. I guess when I drop it on day one I’ll regret saying this!
View attachment 965074

A very clever and appropriate way to demonstrate hand size given the forum we are on. I like it!

If I stretch my hand as much as I can I can get pretty much exactly the same thumb to pinkie and rest of hand spread on my 11" iPad Pro display as you show on your 12.9" screen so my hands are definitely smaller than yours.

If I was to give one pithy piece of advice it would be that if you don't try the bigger size you will never know and with Apple's 14 day no-questions-asked return policy if your experience ends up differently to mine you can always drop down to the smaller size. I agree though that we all need to wait until after the Tuesday reveal to be 100% sure what the iPhone 12 range actually looks like and whether there are any pleasant and/or unpleasant surprises that the rumours didn't pick up on.

I for one am really looking forward to Tuesday. Only 2 more sleeps to go!

 

[JBGoode]

Talk you into giving up a wonderful 11" iPad pro for a phone size screen?

Nope. I think it's a silly idea that you would regret. There's no comparison.

 

[Nozuka]

i was thinking about switching to the max this year... but if it really comes out a month later, i will likely get the 6.1....

 

[va1984]

Talk you into giving up a wonderful 11" iPad pro for a phone size screen?

Nope. I think it's a silly idea that you would regret. There's no comparison.

Well... in my current situation, my iPad Pro 11” doesn’t get much use for work related things: 99% of that happens on the 12.9”, and only rarely do I use both iPads simultaneously for work (when I do, one is just a zoom machine, since zoom doesn’t allow multitasking on iPadOS yet).
Most of what I do on the 11” is actually entertainment of some sort, so I suspect it could be re-absorbed between iPhone and 12.9”, for the sake of having one less device around.
But we’ll see. These things are extremely personal. In my case I would only sell the iPad 11” after an extended period with the 6.7” phone if I found that I don’t use it much anymore. Anyway, iPads are not unique exemplars, you can always buy another if you regret selling it!

 

[MrGunnyPT]

I really hate my 11 Pro Max, way to give and uncomfortable

 

[1rottenapple]

Thank you all for your replies so far. I’m almost convinced...! Apple may have to do the final bit of convincing on Tuesday, though!



I appreciated your post a lot! I don’t know what counts as tiny hands but the photo below is my hand covering most of a 12.9” display so for right now I’m not too daunted by the 6.7 display. I guess when I drop it on day one I’ll regret saying this!
View attachment 965074

Go to any Asian country and big phones are the norms. You see little kids with 7 in Samsung phones on the subway and men and women with huge phones.

 

[valinda]

I've been a 6, 7, X sized user my whole life and always found the Plus and Max sized phones to be too big. This year however I am going with the Max simply because with the work from home situation, I am barely leaving the house. So I don't really need a smaller phone that I can use one handed like I used to (constantly bouncing from subway to subway, taking the phone outside to change songs, etc.). With the Max I expect to mainly use it as a Netflix machine at night when I go to bed and as a web browser.

Your reasons is why I switched to the smaller phone. lol
I use my big ipad at home.

 

[Mike Slayer]

I tried a bigger phone along time ago before I switched to the iPhone. It was an early Samsung Note. I don't remember which one it was but I do remember it was big. I am a large guy with larger than normal hands. Even then the Note did feel right in my hands and it was worse in my pocket. Now I have a iPhone SE 2nd generation which I like a lot but even then I wish I had a smaller phone. If the iPhone 12 mini is a little smaller than the iPhone SE 2nd generation then I am sold. I will buy a iPhone 12 Mini and save my SE2 as a back up. If you kept and used only a phone I can see going with a bigger screen. I have a 2020 MBP 13", iPad Pro and I don't care for a big phone so when I am out and about I prefer a phone I can take out, use and put up quickly by just sliding it in my pocket while not noticing it's in my pocket. If Apple made a phone smaller than the iPhone 12 mini I would buy that instead.

 

[1rottenapple]

I tried a bigger phone along time ago before I switched to the iPhone. It was an early Samsung Note. I don't remember which one it was but I do remember it was big. I am a large guy with larger than normal hands. Even then the Note did feel right in my hands and it was worse in my pocket. Now I have a iPhone SE 2nd generation which I like a lot but even then I wish I had a smaller phone. If the iPhone 12 mini is a little smaller than the iPhone SE 2nd generation then I am sold. I will buy a iPhone 12 Mini and save my SE2 as a back up. If you kept and used only a phone I can see going with a bigger screen. I have a 2020 MBP 13", iPad Pro and I don't care for a big phone so when I am out and about I prefer a phone I can take out, use and put up quickly by just sliding it in my pocket while not noticing it's in my pocket. If Apple made a phone smaller than the iPhone 12 mini I would buy that instead.

For sure the mini will be smaller in physical size than the se2

 

[upnorth85]

I use the larger 11 Pro Max, my wife uses the smaller 11 Pro. Very often we borrow each other's phone when either person's phone is not around. She hates my larger phone, and I hate her smaller phone. I used to keep the older smaller Pro sized phone for international travel. Now that T-mobile started electronic SIM, I have an empty physical sim slot so just one phone is good enough. I tried it Pre Covid, and it worked great. It is a pity though the Prox Max phones come out a month or so later. Oh well.

 

[Saturn1217]

I don't have an iPhone (yet) but I've been using big phones for a while and 6.7" sounds great to me.

I like big phones because there are tons of times when I have only my phone with me and I want it to be my primary internet device. For example when I am traveling I don't want to feel like I need to have my iPad (which I also own) in my lap too. I just want to be able to comfortably browse on the device that I KNOW I will always have on me. I used to rely on a small phone and a small tablet and switching between the 2 when I realized I wanted to do a longer browsing session got annoying. Better to just have one device that does all the "non-work" internet stuff and then when I really need text input I reach for my laptop and when I really need to read a book or watch a movie I grab the iPad. But the iPad can stay at home and I can just rely on my phone if I want to do either of those activities (books/movies) on the go.

Plus big phones mean big batteries.

Also I'm a woman. I always have a purse with me if I go outside my house. I have to use even relatively small phones with 2 hands, or resort to finger gymnastics. The last phone I was able to use comfortably with one hand was a Galaxy Nexus with a 4.65" screen. So I might as well get a big phone.