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I like the SE at the current size, I got an XR from work which I literally hate; it's big, heavy and not very user friendly. Let us for the sake of god keep one small screen phone.
 
In short: The iPhone SE 4 will adopt the WORST iPhone design of the past century and probably pick up a ~20% price increase along the way. Good luck with that. I’d have considered this had they decided to use the iPhone X/XS design
I would buy an SE with the X/XS design, though ditch the heavy, smudgy and useless stainless steel. I could also buy it with the slimmed down iPhone 12 6.1" chassis. I hope it's one of these rather than the XR and 11 paddles.
 
Oh my, that's a nice looking design. If they release that in not completely awful colours, I may have to switch. I don't use a lot of what my phone can do. It's way overpowered for my needs, but the lower end phones are all a bit ugh!
 
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No Touch ID, no dice. What a PITA.

Also, the rounded edges suck. Talk about stupid: Let's take a thin device made of slippery material and round its edges, so it continually wants to flip out of your grip.

There's a reason that the original SE is hailed as possibly the best iPhone ever, and Apple has removed most of the reasons why. Jony Ive was a pompous hack, and his departure has only helped Apple. But their war on usefulness isn't completely over.
 
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I’m putting my money on mid-tier and Pro iPhones 15 getting “2nd Gen Face ID” or at the very least seeing mid tier 15 move to the Dynamic Island notch.

Yes, no doubt all the iPhone 15 models will have the Dynamic Island. The low-cost SE's traditional notch will be a good differentiator.

This way Apple don’t have to spend r&d on new notch or Touch ID button and SE4 can just be a XR and get the 1st Gen notch with Face ID when it drops in Q1 2024 without threatening iPhone 15 sales.

I think so. OP was suggesting SE4 would have no notch at all, which seems impossible unless you have no front facing camera.
 
Also, the rounded edges suck. Talk about stupid: Let's take a thin device made of slippery material and round its edges, so it continually wants to flip out of your grip.

Rounded edges... just like every other iPhone model ever made? And some models of the past were a lot more slippery in the hand than today's ones. Remember the 3GS? It was made of slippery plastic and shaped like a bar of soap!
 
Rounded edges... just like every other iPhone model ever made?
What are you talking about? None of the current (or last-gen) iPhones have rounded edges EXCEPT the SE. The iPhone 4 and 5 didn't; they had flat sides. They went back to the dumb rounded design for the 6 through the 11. Since then they've been back to flat except the new SEs... probably to deter people from buying them.
 
What are you talking about? None of the current (or last-gen) iPhones have rounded edges EXCEPT the SE. The iPhone 4 and 5 didn't; they had flat sides. They went back to the dumb rounded design for the 6 through the 11. Since then they've been back to flat except the new SEs... probably to deter people from buying them.

All iPhone models have rounded corners in the sense that the corners of the screen have curves, they’re not squared off. In fact, the corners became even more rounded in the iPhone 14 Pro (larger corner radius).

But yes, i understand you’re talking about the rounded edges, not the corners.

There is no physical reason that a sharp edge will make the phone stick better in your hand compared to a rounded edge. If anything, a rounded edge will increase the total surface area that is in contact with your hand, increasing friction and making it less likely to slip.

The perception of some iPhone models being more “Slippery” probably has more to do with the back case material used (plastic, matte glass, glossy glass) than anything else.
 
There is no physical reason that a sharp edge will make the phone stick better in your hand compared to a rounded edge

Absurd and false statement. The tangent to a curve is infinitely small. Yes you can mash your flesh against the object to partially wrap around it, but a flat surface will make more contact with less force.

Try standing the current iPhone SE on its edge. Then try standing the original SE on its edge. Which is more stable?

 
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Absurd and false statement. The tangent to a curve is infinitely small.

Nonsense. First of all, your hand is also curved. It will fit better around a curved surface then it will around a sharp corner. Why do you think the handles on brooms, tools, luggage, doors, etc have curved surfaces and not sharp ones?!

Secondly, the tangent to a right angle is also infinitely small.

Try standing the current iPhone SE on its edge. Then try standing the original SE on its edge. Which is more stable?

No argument there. The square edge design does have some advantages. But comfort and "slipperiness" is not one of them.
 
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Nonsense. First of all, your hand is also curved. It will fit better around a curved surface then it will around a sharp corner. Why do you think the handles on brooms, tools, luggage, doors, etc have curved surfaces and not sharp ones?!
Wow, just keep digging a deeper hole. You answered your own question: sharpness. But have you been injured by the edge of a square-edged iPhone? No. But if you were sweeping a floor with repetitive motions with a broom handle in your grasp, square edges would quickly abrade and cause a blister. Are you sweeping with your phone?

And your fingers are curved OUTWARD, AKA convex. They're not CONCAVE. Therefore, the tangent is even more infinitesimal (if that were possible). And that is why a phone with rounded edges tends to flip sideways in your grasp. It's also why reviews celebrated the return of flat sides.

And finally: When an iPhone comes out with a side that comes to a 90-degree point, your absurd "tangent to a right-angle" red herring will become relevant. But until then, the reality is a tangent to a parallel flat plane.
 
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Absurd and false statement. The tangent to a curve is infinitely small. Yes you can mash your flesh against the object to partially wrap around it, but a flat surface will make more contact with less force.

Try standing the current iPhone SE on its edge. Then try standing the original SE on its edge. Which is more stable?


I've read some risible explanations of various things online in the last few weeks, regarding all sorts of mainstream and not so mainstream science, but this takes the absolute biscuit for pseudoscientific "defence" of a claim.
Moreover I'm gobsmacked at the sheer unbridled confidence with which the poster opens their statement.

Just... wow!!!

What is it youngsters say, ah yes...
"I can't even".

Pulling out words like tangent and infinitesimal here are not helping your case since you failed to mention global surface conformity, total contact area, resultant average contact pressure and static friction limits.

In any case the physical qualities of the material from which the device is made... for example matte vs glossy will change the handling of the phone far more than its shape.

Glossy materials will stick to a dry or slightly damp palm far better than matte materials will. So the handling of a phone will depend on how you hold it rather than its shape.

Oh, and nobody stands an iPhone on its edge in their hand.
 
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Am I the only one who finds it laughable that some people go through so much trouble to concoct scientific justifications for their personal preferences?

I don't care two hoots about tangents, contact areas, average contact pressures, friction limits, and the like. All I know is, I like the curved edges of the current SE, and I absolutely hate the flat ones of the 12 and later. That's all that matters to me. I don't feel the need to justify my preference through scientific babble. If they make the next SE square, then I won't buy it, simply because I won't like it. Period. Why? Doesn't matter. I just won't, and that's the end of it. No amount of technical reasoning to the contrary will change my mind and make me like something that I otherwise don't.
 
Am I the only one who finds it laughable that some people go through so much trouble to concoct scientific justifications for their personal preferences?

I don't care two hoots about tangents, contact areas, average contact pressures, friction limits, and the like. All I know is, I like the curved edges of the current SE, and I absolutely hate the flat ones of the 12 and later. That's all that matters to me. I don't feel the need to justify my preference through scientific babble. If they make the next SE square, then I won't buy it, simply because I won't like it. Period. Why? Doesn't matter. I just won't, and that's the end of it. No amount of technical reasoning to the contrary will change my mind and make me like something that I otherwise don't.

Exactly. I was merely pointing out that providing a picture with a tangent on it was basically b------t especially since it was clear he didn't know what he (most likely a he) was talking about yet did so with such brazen confidence.

I sent my 14 pro back after Apple's 1 month trial period because it was as slabby af and super uncomfortable to hold. moreover, the back was matte glass which was slippery to boot...

I even bought a case for it but because of the squared edges it was thicc.

and the thickness meant it was harder to wrap my fingers around it and in the month of using it I nearly dropped the f’kkr half a dozen times. Something I hardly ever suffer with my iPhone 11PM in TPU case.

All in all, very dissatisfied with it, hence sending it back after a month.

But apparently due to tangential forces, I’m clearly just holding it wrong.
 
If you want curved edges, get a case that has curved edges. There are lots of them out there. If you want flat edges, likewise.

Personally, I prefer square edges. I find them easier to grip and less likely to slip out of my hand. They're also more space efficient. It's not like there is anything inside of rounded edges. They're making the device's overall profile larger without any packaging benefits.
 
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There is no physical reason that a sharp edge will make the phone stick better in your hand compared to a rounded edge. If anything, a rounded edge will increase the total surface area that is in contact with your hand, increasing friction and making it less likely to slip.

Try an experiment the next time you're in the shower or by a sink.

Cut a bar of soap into a rectangular block. Shave another one down into a smooth, rounded shape.

Wet your hands and both bars of soap. Put one bar in each hand and squeeze. Which one takes more muscular effort to keep control of? Which one pops out of your hand first?
 
Try an experiment the next time you're in the shower or by a sink.

Cut a bar of soap into a rectangular block. Shave another one down into a smooth, rounded shape.

Wet your hands and both bars of soap. Put one bar in each hand and squeeze. Which one takes more muscular effort to keep control of? Which one pops out of your hand first?
OH NOES! Don't bring your "science" in here, or the iPologists will lash out and fill their diapers again!
 
It will be far too big. The iPhone SE is for folks like me, who surprise surprise, use it as a phone not a social interaction tool (tool also describes the idiots, who walk into you on the street, while checking their twit score. As someone who has just "upgraded" to an iPad Air 5, getting rid of the home button was the height of stupidity.
 
It will be far too big. The iPhone SE is for folks like me, who surprise surprise, use it as a phone not a social interaction tool (tool also describes the idiots, who walk into you on the street, while checking their twit score. As someone who has just "upgraded" to an iPad Air 5, getting rid of the home button was the height of stupidity.
Agreed, the SE is the new mini, due to mini cancellation.
 
I have an iPad Pro 11", the current model, and after using it for several months, I'm very much inclined to try to pick up the current SE. FaceID is amongst the worst technologies Apple has deployed in the ~30-odd years I've been using their gear. System 7.1.2 might be the only thing less reliable that I can recall.

My primary use for biometric identification is making purchases in a physical retail store. I wear an N95 mask to avoid Covid. I wear sunglasses. How exactly is this supposed to work? On a TouchID iPhone, I just pull the phone from my pocket, my thumb is already on the home button where it naturally falls, and hold it to the reader - job done.

FaceID on my iPad is less reliable on my bare face in my home than TouchID.

In contrast, TouchID is literally the most sublimely perfect technology Apple has deployed in the ~30-odd years I've been using their gear. By a large margin, too - it is literally the Platonic ideal of a technology. It works, it works reliably, it works unobtrusively, and it makes every situation in which it's used happen more efficiently than any alternative. I haven't used cash more than about 6 times in the last 5+ years, and most of those were more than 3 years ago.

I'll definitely go back to paywave on a physical card, before I use FaceID on a phone for retail.
 
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Amen to all that. I still use my original SE, and I'm an iOS software developer. I will never use Face ID because it's a cumbersome PITA. I'll enter a security code first.

Apple degrades and embarrasses itself by folding to whiny fanboy bìtches crying about "bezels," but those same losers give Apple a free pass on making mobile devices that can't withstand being used for their primary purpose... so they must be buried in a bulky, tacky case. BUT OH NOES NOT A BEZEL!!!!! :(
 
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