iPhone Mini

[DarkerLighter]

I miss old cellphones.

Don't get me wrong, I love my iPhone 5. I love the functionality, apps, and the quality and finish of the product. But the 5 is even taller than the 4.

Cellphones in the 90s used to be huge brick things, and over the following decade were condensed into smaller and neater packages that could actually fit inside your pocket. With the advent of video technology on phones, they've grown in size to a standard 6 x 11 inches.

But there are still some of us who are waiting for the day when Apple will release a phone catered to an audience who don't need all the bells and whistles of a bulky smartphone - a simple, well-designed, concise little gadget that can easily fit inside your pocket as cellphones once did a few years ago. A clever utilisation of the touchscreen interface to cram lots of functionality into a tiny space.

I'm talking about the iPhone Mini.

I can't believe Apple haven't cottoned on to this yet. There's a whole market for people who prefer smaller rather than bigger. And guess what - they've already made it! The new iPod Nano is exactly the right size - just take that device, add app support and turn it into a phone. Simples! Nothing fancy, just a small, functional phone that's perfect for on the go. The screen is even big enough for video.

So many people have shot me down with this idea. I just don't understand - surely there must be more people out there who want the same thing?

 

[billycuth]

you can't fit a 4s or a 5 or a 5s in your pocket???

We're not talking about the note 3 here...

Overall I agree though. I prefer my phone to be more compact than a phablet. That's why I like having the ipad as a complement...

 

[woodynorman]

How does the iPhone 5 not fit in your pockets?? I dont get it. I carry mine in my pocket but hardly notice it's there.

Also, why have a smartphone, with internet access, with a tiny little screen? Surfing MR is bad enough with the 4" screen, I cant imagine going smaller.

 

[Mrbobb]

surely there must be more people out there who want the same thing?

Get me a million signatures, THEN we will talk.

You are sticking to the phablet people aren't you? Funny!

When they give me a holography projection, and I can talk to Siri like the Starship Enterprise, then yes am ready for a smaller smartphone.

 

[timeconsumer]

How does the iPhone 5 not fit in your pockets?? I dont get it. I carry mine in my pocket but hardly notice it's there

Great question, I most likely wear smaller jeans (28x30 US size) than you do OP, but the 5 fits into my pocket with any trouble... Like woodynorman I don't realize it's there.

 

[iBreatheApple]

Is there really a market for a "mini" phone, though?

 

[RichardC300]

When I look at my old BlackBerry 9700, I'm like wow! This is tiny! I use to love that thing and thought it was the perfect size.

 

[mush10]

There's a whole market for people who prefer smaller rather than bigger.........................

She just says that to make you feel better.

Really though the iPhone 5 size may ultimately be the "mini."

 

[LizKat]

When I look at my old BlackBerry 9700, I'm like wow! This is tiny! I use to love that thing and thought it was the perfect size.

One of my early cellphones was some default model Verizon had. Thing was around the size of a really big walnut. Honestly it was great having something that you could just flip open, speed dial someone or punch in the number you wanted to call. Once in awhile I consider ditching smartphones and just getting a "cellphone" again.

But you know then Apple comes out with something like the 5C and I come to my senses. otoh I don't like the trend to larger screens.

 

[animatedude]

iPhone mini will happen sooner or later....can't wait for this. at least carrying iPhone and iPad by then will make more sense.

 

[Kurso]

I think there is a path to this without sacrificing the overall capability of the phone.

Imagine the same form factor as the iPhone 4 but with a screen as tall as the iPhone 5. You would have to eliminate the home home (get to that in a second) and move the speaker and front facing camera up a bit. But the length of the screen fits. In fact you could make it slightly taller to get to 1280 tall.

Now, make the screen edge to edge in terms of the width. I'm sure that will get us to 720. This would give people a slightly bigger screen (and a standards resolution) without a physically larger platform.

The concept of the the physical home button would have to die. It would have to become a virtual button.

The FP sensor would move to the back. Probably right about where the Apple logo is on the iPhone 4, which is pretty close to the natural resting point of the index finger.

The biggest problem would be battery. Energy density is batteries is not getting much better in the near term. There is some promising research going on but forthe most part to get more energy storage you simply build a physically bigger battery at this point.

I like the physical size of the iPhone 4 but want a slightly larger screen than the iPhone 5. It is possible.

 

[PracticalMac]

I like the physical size of the iPhone 4 but want a slightly larger screen than the iPhone 5. It is possible.

Take an iPhone 4 apart, and then consider what you said.

I do agree the 5 screen can be made to fit in a 4, but only just.
Bigger, becomes really challenging, even without a home button.

 

[Kurso]

Take an iPhone 4 apart, and then consider what you said.

I do agree the 5 screen can be made to fit in a 4, but only just.
Bigger, becomes really challenging, even without a home button.

Yep, I've seen the inside of the 4. It is doable.

 

[jav6454]

Which is why the 3.5" should have never gone away. 4" is idiotic.

 

[MF878]

Screw the 5S and 5C logic (sorry, 5s* and 5c*), here is iPhone and iPhone "mini". They don't necessarily need to look like this, but the concept of reducing the hell out of those bezels is very crucial.

You will note the mini is 4-inch, and the new flagship appears to be around 4.7/4.8-inch. Surely this would make everyone happy? You can choose to stay at the current 4-inch, and you get a much smaller phone as a result, or you can choose to up the screen size without a huge increase in the overall size of the phone. As soon as the display technology allows this, they must do it. Hopefully, that'll be the next gen, and we never have to see another stupid "c" (maybe they'll also choose to drop the numbering by then too).

This concept has probably already been seen by many of you, but every time I see people talking about iPhone screen size, I always think of it.

 

[R.Stoychev]

I think that the " C " iphones will stay around for some time, for me the 4" screen is perfect, I think that apple will make a bigger screen for the 6 gen, they could easily make 4,7" screen like that on the HTC one

 

[animatedude]

in 2 years the 3.5'' (which is the best size in my opinion) will be "mini" so they can release that as mini once they release the bigger ones but i can see an iPhone mini with 3'' too..

 

[sonicrobby]

Image

Screw the 5S and 5C logic (sorry, 5s* and 5c*), here is iPhone and iPhone "mini". They don't necessarily need to look like this, but the concept of reducing the hell out of those bezels is very crucial.

You will note the mini is 4-inch, and the new flagship appears to be around 4.7/4.8-inch. Surely this would make everyone happy? You can choose to stay at the current 4-inch, and you get a much smaller phone as a result, or you can choose to up the screen size without a huge increase in the overall size of the phone. As soon as the display technology allows this, they must do it. Hopefully, that'll be the next gen, and we never have to see another stupid "c" (maybe they'll also choose to drop the numbering by then too).

This concept has probably already been seen by many of you, but every time I see people talking about iPhone screen size, I always think of it.

I LOVE the size and concept of the one on the right! its perfect :0

 

[Warcake]

I miss old cellphones.

Don't get me wrong, I love my iPhone 5. I love the functionality, apps, and the quality and finish of the product. But the 5 is even taller than the 4.

Cellphones in the 90s used to be huge brick things, and over the following decade were condensed into smaller and neater packages that could actually fit inside your pocket. With the advent of video technology on phones, they've grown in size to a standard 6 x 11 inches.

But there are still some of us who are waiting for the day when Apple will release a phone catered to an audience who don't need all the bells and whistles of a bulky smartphone - a simple, well-designed, concise little gadget that can easily fit inside your pocket as cellphones once did a few years ago. A clever utilisation of the touchscreen interface to cram lots of functionality into a tiny space.

I'm talking about the iPhone Mini.

I can't believe Apple haven't cottoned on to this yet. There's a whole market for people who prefer smaller rather than bigger. And guess what - they've already made it! The new iPod Nano is exactly the right size - just take that device, add app support and turn it into a phone. Simples! Nothing fancy, just a small, functional phone that's perfect for on the go. The screen is even big enough for video.

So many people have shot me down with this idea. I just don't understand - surely there must be more people out there who want the same thing?

How the hell does an iphone not fit easily in your pocket? Also, the only reason your idea hasn't been done by apple is because its a terrible idea and its bound to fail. Just cuz you have an idea, doesn't mean it's good. Lots of people have terrible ideas, and this is one of them. If you don't understand this, then you're fkd in the head.

 

[ElectronGuru]

I like the idea. The biggest challenge would be a new App Store screen format for app builders to support. But assuming increased sales from the new format, developers probably wouldn't mind going after them.

Another option would be a reverse flip phone, with screens on the outside. You could use either screen by itself or unfold the halves to create a single 3.5" composite screen. To work, the design would need to be thin enough that the folded unit is not twice the thickness of the current unit.

Either way, having two sizes would free apple from the constraints of trying to keep everyone happy with a single size option.

 

[Indecisi0n]

Image

Screw the 5S and 5C logic (sorry, 5s* and 5c*), here is iPhone and iPhone "mini". They don't necessarily need to look like this, but the concept of reducing the hell out of those bezels is very crucial.

You will note the mini is 4-inch, and the new flagship appears to be around 4.7/4.8-inch. Surely this would make everyone happy? You can choose to stay at the current 4-inch, and you get a much smaller phone as a result, or you can choose to up the screen size without a huge increase in the overall size of the phone. As soon as the display technology allows this, they must do it. Hopefully, that'll be the next gen, and we never have to see another stupid "c" (maybe they'll also choose to drop the numbering by then too).

This concept has probably already been seen by many of you, but every time I see people talking about iPhone screen size, I always think of it.

I been saying that since the 4! Reduce the bezel!! This would give us more screen keeping the phone the same size. That in my opinion would make the iphone perfect when it comes to size/phone screen size ratio.

 

[jclardy]

So the main problem with something smaller than 3.5" is that you are going to need a new screen size for developers. Scaling is not really an option because of touch target size - Apple reccomends 44x44 points as the smallest button size and many apps are built off of this - if you take a current iPhone app and scale it down (to say, a 2.7" display) the buttons will be too small to touch accurately with a finger.

So it would need all new apps designed for the smaller format. Which would be fine, given the phone is cheap enough many developers would want to get in on the "gold rush" of designing the small format apps.

And to those suggesting going back to 3.5" - it isn't going to happen. I was hesitant on the 5 at first but after using you just can't go back. With the keyboard open you can actually see content on the screen versus the half inch window that you get on most apps (Between navigation bar and keyboard toolbar.) And the physical size difference is negligible as well.

 

[oaktree]

Cellphones in the 90s used to be huge brick things, and over the following decade were condensed into smaller and neater packages that could actually fit inside your pocket. With the advent of video technology on phones, they've grown in size to a standard 6 x 11 inches.

This is precisely why I don't want a larger screen. I think the 4 is the perfect size, and the 5 is the perfect weight. I do admit to having to get used the the largeness of the 4, having come from a dumb phone that was smaller, but I soon got over that.

I'm concerned that Apple will develop a large screen phone, and if they don't also have a 4" screen option, they will lose me as a customer. The other three members of my family say the same thing.

For those who did not live through the big honkin' cell phones of the 90s, you may not appreciate the slim style of the 5 and 5s.