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If Apple slimmed down the iPhone 6 & Plus bezels...

D

Dreamliner330

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 1, 2011
641
152
Doesn't this look way better? Even if we gave up a millimeter or two in thickness I would have much preferred this:

Phones are to scale, display size unchanged:
ZBrpgQi.jpg
 
I would agree they look better but it may not have been physically possible to build them like that. Creating that design on your computer and physically fitting all the components in are very different things.

Edit: I actually on partially agree, top bit looks better. Bottom bit with the home button looks silly.
 
And now you know why they didn't do that.

The iPhone's shape is iconic. It is it's branding. It would be like changing the shape of a Coke bottle.

If they did that the phone would look like every other phone out there and not like an iPhone.
 
Yeah, it looks a bit off, not as harmonious. That said, the huge bezels are an issue, if not a problem because when I put a mockup of the 6 Plus in a pant pocket while sitting, the extra bezel length really makes the phone uncomfortable, those bezels are jabbing at your waist. It would be a tradeoff. I don't think it's as much of a problem on the 4.7".
 
andyp350 said:
I would agree they look better but it may not have been physically possible to build them like that. Creating that design on your computer and physically fitting all the components in are very different things.

Edit: I actually on partially agree, top bit looks better. Bottom bit with the home button looks silly.
Click to expand...
It is possible. The Moto X did it last year.
 
Have to say the originals are better. The modified do not look proportionate from a design standpoint -- technical limitations aside.


I also feel like the thinner the bezel the hard it is to hold without inadvertent screen presses on the edge (especially for the bigger phone) i.e. when reaching thumb across to opposite side of the screen the skin connecting your thumb and hand likely touches around the bezel. I could be wrong though
 
If the difference means a thinner narrower phone with more room for bigger battery, bigger antennas with better placement and better heat dispersion I'll take the current design. If they can accomplish all the above with smaller bezels then I would prefer it.
 
I think we will see them smaller when the iPhone 7 is released in 2016. At least that gives Apple two years to fix it. It's doubtful any drastic hardware changes will be made next year; it'd be a software year.
 
If apple wanted to make a statement, they should have narrowed the bezel. I'm positive most of the people ordering the 6+ have no idea how big it is because Apple's advertising makes the 6 look like a 5.

The Moto X was pretty much a perfect sized device.

Look at a comparison to the Moto X (4.7" as well):

4JTk4jA.png
 
The top and bottom bezels make the screen look tall and thin, even though it isn't. I hate that iPhone 5 'tall' look that the iPhone 6 still has going on. The Android phone dimensions look much nicer to these eyes.
 
sunking101 said:
Lol. The bezels are terrible, and dated.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I like the 5 form factor and the 4 even better. Perhaps work on decreasing the bezels. Hell I'd like to see them make the entire front of the phone, a screen and remove the bezels altogether. It's a transportable device that I need to carry 24/7 after all. With the 6 I'm at my limit with dimensions, any bigger, and I'm going to another mfr. They are getting to cumbersome as is. My laptop and desktop are Windoze so I don't worship at the alter but I do think Jobs was right on sizing.
 
I agree that the modified looks better, but only slightly.

Apple also runs the risk of looking exactly like their competitor's device. That modified mockup phone looks almost exactly like a galaxy. If you cover up the home button I would be willing to bet 9/10 of the people on the street wouldn't be able to tell you they are looking at an Apple product.
 
The next two redesigns of the iphone (7 & 8) will each most likely start trimming the device size down. Apple cannot really go any thinner than they are at right now. A big part of their PR is to make something thinner and smaller, so this is where things will be headed in the future.
 
I feel like the slimmer bezels would make it less comfortable to hold in landscape mode too-- especially awkward for touchscreen controlled action games in landscape. Hand would cramp a little quicker I think since you don't have as much surface to rest the pads of your palm used to squeeze/hold the device while playing. I'd have to test it out to be sure though (I have XL hands)
 
Shockwave78 said:
The next two redesigns of the iphone (7 & 8) will each most likely start trimming the device size down. Apple cannot really go any thinner than they are at right now. A big part of their PR is to make something thinner and smaller, so this is where things will be headed in the future.
Click to expand...

They need to do something about the big physical home button. The new non-Samsung Android devices look sleek and modern with their on-screen buttons, plus it allows for massively slimmed down bezels. Even Samsung can achieve a large degree of bezel reduction thanks to their original choice of home button shape. That lozenge-shaped button can be put into a much smaller bezel than Apple's 'iconic' round button. Basically Apple need a design rethink because their phones are not only too big now, but they look dated. Throw in 2012 hardware and iPhones are becoming a bit of a dinosaur, both internally and visually.
 
Considering how invested they now are in fingerprint readers, that is a huge limiting factor. Not to mention how some space on the side of he screens are necessary for landscape gaming ergonomics. I think the current design is perfect. Moreover, it's iconic.
 
I'm glad Apple did it this way but for different reasons. I've been a Samsung Note owner for 2 years now and every time you read a review or a comment about how big the phone was it drove you crazy. People just don't understand the benefit of a large screen. So once the iPhone 5.5" is being enjoyed by millions of people next week I think that we will see the large phone bashing come to an end.
That being said I don't mind the size of big phones. But there are already phones like the LG G3, Note 3 and 4 with screens equal or bigger with a smaller foot print than 6P (you heard 6P here first). If Samsung was to use on screen buttons the size of the Note would be even smaller.
I think Apple inadvertently opened the race to have competitors make the biggest screen in the smallest body.
 
swedefish said:
Considering how invested they now are in fingerprint readers, that is a huge limiting factor. Not to mention how some space on the side of he screens are necessary for landscape gaming ergonomics. I think the current design is perfect. Moreover, it's iconic.
Click to expand...

For iconic, read dated. They got away with the big bezels and hardware home button when the screens were so tiny but now they've released supersized screens the Android variants look both more modern and, crucially, smaller.
The three pointed star on the bonnets of Mercedes cars was iconic. See them now? Nope. History is littered with iconic designs which have fallen by the wayside and I'll promise you this, as soon as Apple ditch the home button and bezels all the apologists will love it.
 
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