Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Ming-Chi Kuo Casts Doubt on iPhone SE 2, Expects Few Changes Should New Model Launch
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I've never been one to upgrade earlier than necessary, but my SE has gotten a lot more beaten up than previous phones have for some reason. If Apple dropped a new 4" phone on us in the next few months I'd probably spring for it.
I would instantly buy it. That or a 4.7” X design the size of and SE chassis.
I think the reason an iPhone SE-sized version of the CS won’t be madenis because Apple would rather make it a budget device and use an LCD like the XR. The problem is that on a small screen, the XR’s bezels would look ridiculously huge.
Another issue is the resolution. I think that for the sake of simplicity in terms of app design, Apple would want to stick with the canvas size eatablished for the XS or XR/XS Max. Making a smaller phone with smaller screen either means Apple goes for a new size for developers to incorporate, or the iPhone SE has the highest density screen in Apple’s lineup.
Anyway, it’s not as simple as making a 4.7” iPhone SE-X, or saying, “Make a phone the size of an SE, but stretch the screen to the corners.
Another issue is the resolution. I think that for the sake of simplicity in terms of app design, Apple would want to stick with the canvas size eatablished for the XS or XR/XS Max. Making a smaller phone with smaller screen either means Apple goes for a new size for developers to incorporate, or the iPhone SE has the highest density screen in Apple’s lineup.
Anyway, it’s not as simple as making a 4.7” iPhone SE-X, or saying, “Make a phone the size of an SE, but stretch the screen to the corners.
iOS has auto scaling ever since the iPhone 6 Plus, so as long as the aspect ratio is the same as the X, XS, XS Max, etc, there would be nothing for a developer to do. Also, as an anecdote, in the past three releases of the iPad Pro, they changed the aspect ratio of the smaller offering all 3 times (9.7 to 10.5 to 11.0 inches).
Actually the 9.7 and 10.5 both have the same aspect ratio (4:3) though the resolution did change. It’s the 11.0 inch model that had the change in aspect ratio, to 10:7.
Other than this one model, all other iPads, including the original, are 4:3.
Sort of like the iPad mini has the highest PPI of any iPad?
Yes, correction accepted graciously - my bad!
However, your input illustrates why it would be as simple as that. The iPad mini, iPad, and 10.5” iPad Pro all share an aspect ratio with different resolutions or PPI. Why would there have to be a new aspect ratio for this proposed phone? A 4.7” 19.5x9 screen would perfectly fit the dimensions of the iPhone SE chassis almost down to the millimeter with the same bezel thickness as the current XR. In addition, the only change here would be adding pixels the long way. The short side, physically and in terms of pixels, would be the same as the SE. If the resolution was 1351x640, then it would even have exactly the same PPI as the XR. Call it the XR mini, for goodness sake!
Now I know it will probably not happen, but it would probably help Apple boost declining sales by having more options. It wouldn’t be an SE 2, but rather an XR mini! I mean you already have the stupid name, XS Max, why not? Price it the same as the XR even - I’d buy that in a heartbeat, wouldn’t even think about it twice.
Although come to think of it, they probably would have to offer it slightly cheaper, as their pricing strategy has always been defined by screen size, even with exact spec parity, so it’d have to be $50 cheaper or something.
Last edited:
Hi,
Sorry, I’m not talking only about screen scaling, or aspect ratio. I’m talking about this.
https://www.paintcodeapp.com/news/ultimate-guide-to-iphone-resolutions
I’m not sure what you were referring to by “auto-scaling”, but there’s something for the developer to do because Apple could make it simpler for developers to lay out their apps by sticking to one of the existing Display Point canvases. For example, it would be easier if the new iPhone SE2 simply uses the 812x375 points of the XS, but rendered at 2X (rather than the X and XS at 3X). That would mean a pixel resolution of 1624x750. Assuming an SE2 would have a display with 326 PPI (another display factor that Apple has stuck with for simplicity), that means an iPhone SE2 would have a 5.5” screen size, and would physically be the same width as an iPhone 6/6s/7/8. Is that small enough for SE fans? If not, Apple probably needs to create new display points for the SE and have developers adjust their apps for those points.
Again, it’s not simply a matter of taking the current SE and stretching the screen towards the top and bottom edge of the phone.
Last edited:
Understood. I truly get your point, and hear what you are saying. Developers still shouldn’t have to do anything though, if they have developed their UI according to Apple’s Adaptivity & Layout Guidelines. Since the aspect ratio wouldn’t be new, iOS’s auto layout and size class in UIkit will make the layout adjustments needed. A good example of this is where devs didn’t have to do anything at all for the XR and Xs Max to work right out of the box, even though they shared a brand new “point” resolution. Point resolutions are more relevant to developers in the context of individual UI elements, not as much layout. For example, Apple’s guideline that touch elements should be a minimum of 44pts x 44pts.
It is an interesting discussion though maybe not one for this thread, because if you look at the iOS device range there are now a couple of examples of outliers. The iPad mini for example, is the only iPad to adopt the higher 326ppi that iPhones had until the X came out. It has “phone” sized touch elements because it has the exact same point resolution as a regular iPad, and they most likely arrived at the screen size for the device by backing into it.
There was a lot of speculation when the 10.5” iPad Pro was coming out, that this screen size corresponded almost exactly to a 326ppi display at 4092x2048, the same resolution as the 12.9” iPad Pro, and that it would be to the iPad Pro what the mini was to the regular iPad. (That’s what I had really hoped for) Instead the 10.5” kept the 264ppi of all the other iPads and the @x2 rendering which just made UI elements slightly larger and increased space for content elements like pictures and text. IIRC devs didn’t have any work to do there either to correct black bars or formatting issues. There was something with the status bar being slightly enlarged on apps like Facebook though, that integrated it into their full screen app skin.
Bottom line though is that I still am of the strong opinion that devs would have to do nothing to support a 4.7” 19.5x9 display sporting a point resolution of 320x676 @326ppi rendering @x2. That is just my layman’s opinion though. Would be nice to have a dev chime in...