iPhone Design to Change 'Significantly' This Year

[johnsawyercjs]

[The AVP is] so great they aren’t even making them anymore!

As the Pope said to Peter Griffin: "They're a'cookin somethin up!"

 

[johnsawyercjs]

If Apple were smart they would have a taper from the top to the bottom to keep the phone flat

Then the phone wouldn't be flat, it would be sloped. But almost flat. It might also be just top-heavy enough to feel weird in the hand as the greater mass at its top end keeps getting pulled down by gravity a little more than the bottom end. The camera components are almost twice as heavy, per unit of volume, as the lithium-ion battery. Different widths at each end might also feel unstable or just odd in the hands when held in landscape mode. All these reasons and more are probably why wedge-shaped smartphone models have been vanishingly few over the years.

Maybe all that's needed is to mold a matching bump or just a thin raised ridge across the bottom rear edge of the housing, or just a couple bumps, as supporting feet, into the housing at its bottom two rear corners. A few smartphone cases have some version of that.

But really, all you need to do is go to any hardware store and buy some cheap rubber adhesive bumpers.

 

[AndiG]

Why, I don’t understand this. Every design choice has to be driven by a change. Why the change in the back camera?? Are we finally getting a zoom lens maybe? Otherwise it’s just a change for the sake of change and will be pointless.

Maybe it prepares customers for an upcoming change. What Apple really wants is the camera array of the Pixel, bur that is not what marketing wants. At the moment the only way to differentiate between Apple phones and Android phones is the camera array.

A thinner Apple doesn‘t sage Apple, if the phone doesn‘t shine at AI.

 

[Bill Anon]

My prediction is that it'll have square corners. Rounded corners is soooooo passé

 

[Nibo10]

I honestly hope they get rid of the camera button. Its the most useless button put on a phone that has ever been created in my opinion. It's just so unnecessary.

Personally I think the placement is its downfall. They should have decided on an orientation and place it on the right for that. As it is now, trying to satisfy both vertical and horizontal, it ends up being a little bit off for both and thus, unusable.

 

[BuffaloTF]

The best thing they could do is sync up the iphone model number with the ios version.

The best thing they could do with the model number naming is copy Samsung and make it the year it came out… really, that’s so brilliantly simple. They got that right in a big way. iPhone 25. Do it.

 

[Nibo10]

Firstly, why do I need to explain personal preferences to you?

Wearing business suits, I do not like the bulk or the weight that comes with carrying my iPhone in my inner pocket.

Fine, that you are happy with current iPhones with multiple lenses, but what does your preferences have to do with my preferences? Guess what, I want choices, too.

Regarding the 'studies' you mentioned, what relevance do they have here?

I can just as easily state that, since your so-called 'studies' have shown that the vast majority of phone users do NOT take "a photo every other second", the focus on lenses and camera capabilities is highly overrated.

Just reading the first sentence, I’d knew I’d end up clapping by the end of this.

 

[ShadowGuardian87]

Rearranging the camera placement isn’t a significant design change.

It's more of a change than the things other people and tech reviews rave about like slightly thinner bezels or slightly smaller dynamic island.

 

[Expos of 1969]

The best thing they could do with the model number naming is copy Samsung and make it the year it came out… really, that’s so brilliantly simple. They got that right in a big way. iPhone 25. Do it.

I agree but I think Apple likes the "confusion" approach. Easier for sales staff to talk a customer into buying something more expensive etc.

 

[turbineseaplane]

The 4 is a design classic, the progenitor through which all modern handsets can trace their lineage. But the larger sensors on

Size is relative. If someone uses a Max iPhone for a few weeks then the regular model starts to look really tiny. The 6.1” models are just about the sweet spot for dimensions but there is still too much out of reach.

"The 6.1” models are just about the sweet spot for dimensions but there is still too much out of reach."

You're describing a size that is not the "sweet spot"

The phone is physically too large

That is why you have a hard time using it and reaching all areas of the screen.

Software can help mitigate that issue, but the actual problem is the physical size of the device relative to human hands

 

[Neil J. Squillante]

"The 6.1” models are just about the sweet spot for dimensions but there is still too much out of reach."

You're describing a size that is not the "sweet spot"

The phone is physically too large

That is why you have a hard time using it and reaching all areas of the screen.

Software can help mitigate that issue, but the actual problem is the physical size of the device relative to human hands

Yes. To further flesh out my earlier post:

iPhone E: 6.1 Inch Display
iPhone Base Series: 6.1 / 6.7 Inches (or 5.8 / 6.3 / 6.9)
iPhone Pro Series: 6.3 / 6.9 Inches
iPhone Air Series: 5.8 / 6.7 Inches

 

[turbineseaplane]

Yes. To further flesh out my earlier post:

iPhone E: 6.1 Inch Display
iPhone Base Series: 6.1 / 6.7 Inches
iPhone Pro Series: 6.3 / 6.9 Inches
iPhone Air Series: 5.8 / 6.7 Inches

Only think I'd change

iPhone E: 5.4 / 6.1

 

[Dark_Omen]

"The 6.1” models are just about the sweet spot for dimensions but there is still too much out of reach."

You're describing a size that is not the "sweet spot"

The phone is physically too large

That is why you have a hard time using it and reaching all areas of the screen.

Software can help mitigate that issue, but the actual problem is the physical size of the device relative to human hands

You’d rather go back to the days where the battery would last 4 hours on a charge? No thanks. I’ll take all day battery life and then some on a bigger phone.

 

[cosmichobo]

What "serious design change" could Apple possible present to us, that wouldn't be a rehash of something we've already seen over the past almost 20 years?

It's a smart phone.

The biggest shock that Apple could offer would be - Hey guys, we're not bringing out a new phone this year; we'll leave it til next year and do something that will wow you.

 

[Ctrlos]

"The 6.1” models are just about the sweet spot for dimensions but there is still too much out of reach."

You're describing a size that is not the "sweet spot"

The phone is physically too large

That is why you have a hard time using it and reaching all areas of the screen.

Software can help mitigate that issue, but the actual problem is the physical size of the device relative to human hands

All

"The 6.1” models are just about the sweet spot for dimensions but there is still too much out of reach."

You're describing a size that is not the "sweet spot"

The phone is physically too large

That is why you have a hard time using it and reaching all areas of the screen.

Software can help mitigate that issue, but the actual problem is the physical size of the device relative to human hands

Size is still relative though. Shove 4 people into a 1-bed apartment and there will be no space. Get rid of 3 of them after 2 weeks and it will seem massive.

Use a Mini and 6.1” seems huge; use a Max and it seems tiny.

Phones have become physically too large, with ergonomics sacrificed on the alter of media consumption. I use a Max phone because the larger display is more comfortable for my eyes but it’s not for everyone and my thumb barely covers the bottom right quarter.

6.1” though, with some software refinement could become the sweet spot for most users, if they bothered to actually change the OS.

 

[aleni]

In the end, everything will be china.

 

[thefrost]

Personally, I don't like these redesigns. It doesn't sit well with me.