iPhone 12 Sizes Compared with iPhone SE, 7, 8, SE 2, X, 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max [Update]

[ignatius345]

My previous iPhone was an SE (the original SE) and then I moved on to an 8. It's a great piece of hardware but it's never quite felt right in my hand. I'm always juggling it a little or stretching or balancing it. I still have the old SE around as an extra device and every time I pick it up, it feels so much more natural in my hand.

One huge clue that iPhones have gotten too large for the upper part of the screen to be used one-handed: the "reachability" feature that slides the whole display down halfway. Once you need a hack like that to enable users to reach the top of the screen, you've made the screen too large for one-handed use.

Anyway, if the 12 turns out to be smaller, I'll probably make it my next phone.

 

[BF1M]

I want the best tech in the smallest form. Pretty simple.

 

[JosephAW]

Seems to be a trend forming. Reminds me of the Apple Performa days, lots of models to confuse the customers. Time to whittle it down to small, medium and large and that's all.

 

[aajeevlin]

It appears that there is hardly any difference between the new SE and rumored 5.4.” I was exited for the 5.4. I think I will hang onto my new SE and see about upgrading to the new Apple Watch series 6.

I will sell my iPhone 11 Pro in a heartbeat if that means I can get a smaller phone. We use the iPhone SE (1st gen) as our nanny cam, I still love the form factor.

 

[Tech198]

Your comparing an SE to an iPhone 12? That's like comparing a Rolls Royce to a Ferrari.

 

[SkyRom]

One thing Apple and most other manufacturers haven't grasped (or intentionally ignored) is that not everyone who wants a smaller phone needs or wants it to be a budget phone. After all, the original point of most quantum mechanics and electronics research was to *get smaller, not larger*.

I would gladly (ok, not *gladly*, but, you know...) pay flagship prices for the best, most technologically advanced phone Apple could possibly pack into a smaller chassis. So, if this is true about the 5.4", it's a great step in the right direction with two small phones in the same year with some elite internals. The 5/C/S/SE always felt slightly too small to me with the bezels because it really made app design compromise. The 6/7/8/SE2 were fine, but not ideal to go backwards to giant bezels. Maybe Goldilocks is back...

 

[JM]

Battery life of 5.4". What is the battery life? I can't get excited about the size anymore, after a few people have wondered if the battery life will be enough to get through a day without worry.

 

[PickUrPoison]

I want the best tech in the smallest form. Pretty simple.

That would be the 6.1” 12 Pro, from all reports.

 

[tegranjeet]

There’s a pretty big difference between the new SE and the 5.4: the size of the display. When I went from a 4” to a 4.7” screen I lost one handed usability. But whose thumb has a 5.4” range of motion?

The 5.4” iPhone 12” is going to be only slightly more usable one handed than were the 5.5” Plus models, i.e., not at all.

exactly, what we need is an “edge to edge” phone in a modern iPhone 4/4s size

 

[TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️]

Wait!!!!
where’s the 12 Pro Max model???

 

[mannyvel]

I'd do the 12, it'll be a nice upgrade from the SE. But really, I need to fondle hold it in the store first. For research.

 

[PickUrPoison]

One thing Apple and most other manufacturers haven't grasped (or intentionally ignored) is that not everyone who wants a smaller phone needs or wants it to be a budget phone. After all, the original point of most quantum mechanics and electronics research was to *get smaller, not larger*.

I would gladly (ok, not *gladly*, but, you know...) pay flagship prices for the best, most technologically advanced phone Apple could possibly pack into a smaller chassis. So, if this is true about the 5.4", it's a great step in the right direction with two small phones in the same year with some elite internals. The 5/C/S/SE always felt slightly too small to me with the bezels because it really made app design compromise. The 6/7/8/SE2 were fine, but not ideal to go backwards to giant bezels. Maybe Goldilocks is back...

The 5.4” is a non-Pro model. The Pro models are 6.1” and 6.7”.

Apple isn’t making both Pro and non-pro models in all three sizes; that would be six models. Instead, they’ll be making the four models that will sell the best.

 

[CausticSoda]

This is very useful to help fathom the increasingly bizarre and baffling array of iPhones - thank you. What would be even more useful is a second picture comparing the screen sizes of each model. Any chance?

 

[PickUrPoison]

exactly, what we need is an “edge to edge” phone in a modern iPhone 4/4s size

That would be somewhere around a 5” screen, too big for those who thought a 3.5”/4” display was the perfect iPhone.

But for those who like the SE physical size due to pocketability (and not one-handed usage) they’d love it. That would be me, if my eyes hadn’t gotten to the point where I need a larger screen regardless.

 

[Strokee]

Their dummy 6.1" looks barely bigger than the iPhone X, I think the iPhone 11 is bigger than the dummy unit, just MacRumors hasn't bothered to measure the 12 and realize it is smaller than the 11/XR

I agree with this.

The dummy unit iPhone 12 6.1” looks closer in size to the iPhone X than the iPhone SE 2020 does in those pictures...that is not the case when comparing the iPhone 11/XR to the iPhone X/XS/11 Pro. The iPhone 11/XR is substantially larger than the X/XS/11 Pro.

The body of the iPhone 11/XR has always seemed too big for me...too tall, too wide, too thick. I assumed that the overall body size of the iPhone 12 6.1” would fall somewhat in between the 11 Pro and 11, due to the flat edges and smaller bezels (due to OLED panels vs LCD)...similar to the Galaxy S10 size (but a little shorter and a little wider). Looks like my assumptions are correct.

 

[BGPL]

Hard pass on this years "upgrade". This will be like the iPhone 7 to 8 changes... probably gonna get the people still walking around with fingerprint readers.

 

[vipergts2207]

There’s a pretty big difference between the new SE and the 5.4: the size of the display. When I went from a 4” to a 4.7” screen I lost one handed usability. But whose thumb has a 5.4” range of motion?

The 5.4” iPhone 12” is going to be only slightly more usable one handed than were the 5.5” Plus models, i.e., not at all.

That’s not quite the case though. In a vacuum, based on screen size alone they’d basically be equivalent in one-handed usability. Even though the 5.4” screen is a smidge smaller, it’s also taller because of the aspect ratio difference, making it essentially a wash. However the 5.4” screen is also missing approximately half an inch of bezel at the bottom, which in actuality significantly increases one-handed usability over the 5.5”. Based on the pics, I’d expect one-handed usability to be roughly equivalent to the 4.7” phones. Not perfect, but still acceptable.

 

[ikramerica]

Apple is planning on launching the iPhone 12 this fall which is rumored to be coming in 3 different sizes: 5.4", 6.1" and 6.7". The middle size (6.1") matches up with the currently shipping iPhone 11, but the other two sizes will be entirely new.

Over the weekend, there was some excitement about how well the new 5.4" iPhone 12 compares to the original iPhone SE. Those who have been hoping for a smaller iPhone see the 5.4" model as possible successor to the original iPhone SE in terms of one handed use.

Click on image for full-resolution​

We were able to obtain iPhone 12 dummy models that have been circulating in China. The models are based on leaked schematics of the upcoming iPhone 12 and so are believed to represent the sizes of the new devices.

Click on image for full-resolution​

We took photos of the models alongside our existing iPhone models to composite this image which shows the relative sizes of various iPhones. Note: the iPhone 11 Pro is essentially equivalent to the iPhone X in size, and the iPhone XR is the same size as the iPhone 11 and 6.1" iPhone 12.

Article Link: iPhone 12 Sizes Compared with iPhone SE, 7, 8, SE 2, X, 11, 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max

Can you please put a 6/7/8+ in there? Thanks.

 

[DakotaGuy]

One thing Apple and most other manufacturers haven't grasped (or intentionally ignored) is that not everyone who wants a smaller phone needs or wants it to be a budget phone.

Apple completely understands the market and the only way you would see them engineer and build a premium small screened phone is if they were ignoring how the phone market works these days. I don’t doubt there is a small niche market for a fully featured expensive small screened phone, but it’s all about return on investment. Today‘s consumers expect a smaller phone to have a smaller price. A 5.4” phone priced about the same as a larger screened phone would do poorly in the market. Apple is forced to price a smaller phone less and loading it up with the best features at that lower price would negatively effect profitability on that model. Just because you and a handful of other people on this forum wants a phone like that doesn’t mean that’s how the general market works. Apple knows exactly what they are doing and that’s why the 5.4” will be a standard non-pro model. I’m sure it will still be a good phone and will have a price tag that better matches it‘s size and features.

 

[Spardocus]

One thing Apple and most other manufacturers haven't grasped (or intentionally ignored) is that not everyone who wants a smaller phone needs or wants it to be a budget phone. After all, the original point of most quantum mechanics and electronics research was to *get smaller, not larger*.

I would gladly (ok, not *gladly*, but, you know...) pay flagship prices for the best, most technologically advanced phone Apple could possibly pack into a smaller chassis. So, if this is true about the 5.4", it's a great step in the right direction with two small phones in the same year with some elite internals. The 5/C/S/SE always felt slightly too small to me with the bezels because it really made app design compromise. The 6/7/8/SE2 were fine, but not ideal to go backwards to giant bezels. Maybe Goldilocks is back...

I'd imagine if Apple felt like they could deliver Pro specs in 5.4 inch and still offer all day battery they'd do it. This smaller phone is an attempt to get essentially iPhoneX/Xs tech into a smaller package, clearly to fit this market. Perhaps it's not that all these makers haven't grasped it, but that it's just not the best product / not possible.

What it takes to run another camera, and perhaps fit in a rumored LiDAR is just too much of a power drain and/or takes up too much space from battery.

Like... I'd love a phone without a camera bump, as thin as a 5 in the size of a X, with flat edges.

 

[subjonas]

For one-handed use, width is more key than height. I wish there would be a width photo comparison.
Not that it matters much. Anything wider than the original SE is too wide for me.

 

[vipergts2207]

Apple completely understands the market and the only way you would see them engineer and build a premium small screened phone is if they were ignoring how the phone market works these days. I don’t doubt there is a small niche market for a fully featured expensive small screened phone, but it’s all about return on investment. Today‘s consumers expect a smaller phone to have a smaller price. A 5.4” phone priced about the same as a larger screened phone would do poorly in the market. Apple is forced to price a smaller phone less and loading it up with the best features at that lower price would negatively effect profitability on that model. Just because you and a handful of other people on this forum wants a phone like that doesn’t mean that’s how the general market works. Apple knows exactly what they are doing and that’s why the 5.4” will be a standard non-pro model. I’m sure it will still be a good phone and will have a price tag that better matches it‘s size and features.

I’d argue that it’s not necessarily potential lack of demand, but what you can physically fit in the smaller chassis. At the very least it’s part of the equation. You can’t just take all the bells and whistles in a 6.7” model and magically fit them into a 5.4” model. These physical limitations have existed since the iPhone 6/Plus when the Plus had OIS and then the 7 Plus got the second rear camera. Perhaps the reason Apple is upping the smaller Pro to 6.1” is because that’s as small as they can make the chassis while still being able to fit everything they want to include in the high-end flagship phones. In any case, I’m happy that Apple is finally releasing a smaller phone that isn’t a low-end version with an older SoC, a la the 5C or SE.

 

[Professor Rucy]

I bet programmers simply love QCing their apps on all these screen sizes.

 

[surf4peace]

iPhone SE w/ 512GB would be perfect...

 

[Malaja]

wow guys you are amazing