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Should the iPhone 5 display be wider?
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The screen isn't .5" taller. It is .5" longer diagonally, which means it's less than .5" taller.
If they had increased BOTH the height and width while increasing the diagonal length .5", then the height would have changed even less.
As a rough estimate, they could have increased the width by .25" and the height by .375" in order to gain the .5" diagonal length. That would barely change the physical size of the phone while giving people the 4" screen that they wanted.
Instead, we have this abomination.
If they had increased BOTH the height and width while increasing the diagonal length .5", then the height would have changed even less.
As a rough estimate, they could have increased the width by .25" and the height by .375" in order to gain the .5" diagonal length. That would barely change the physical size of the phone while giving people the 4" screen that they wanted.
Instead, we have this abomination.
Yeah it shouldn't be as wide as galaxy S3, but it could've been just a tad wider maybe 0.5cm wider. Now it looks like a remote controller. Apple claims it's perfect for one handed operation, but it's not true. When you hold it one hand, most people won't be able to reach icons at the top of the screen. Most people don't have that long fingers.
Now that we know what Apple has decided, while unfortunate, it's too late & the topic is no longer relevant. As many know, Apple does what Apple wants for purposes of maximum profits, no matter what customers may want.
Prior to recent times Apple would strike a good balance, offering what the customers wanted, as well as insuring their margins were robust. But now they create what's best for them.
Then they turn it over to their spin machine, known as their marketing machine & convince their followers to promote it for them. Just look at the posts here that say it's perfect, those who make up whatever arguments are approriate to counter any comments offered by those who think for themselves & dare express it.
Prior to recent times Apple would strike a good balance, offering what the customers wanted, as well as insuring their margins were robust. But now they create what's best for them.
Then they turn it over to their spin machine, known as their marketing machine & convince their followers to promote it for them. Just look at the posts here that say it's perfect, those who make up whatever arguments are approriate to counter any comments offered by those who think for themselves & dare express it.
Wider and bigger is not always better!
I just bought a Galaxy S3 to try out alongside the Iphone and try and see how it compares. I am loving the big screen when watching vids, surfing the web, etc.
However, I can not use this phone effectively with one hand. I have small hands, and I cannot reach with my thumb to all parts of the screen when holding it with 1 hand, which I can comfortably do with my Iphone 4.
I will say I am enjoying the S3 so far, really wish Apple would do widgets...but I may stick with my Iphone 5 and return the S3 due to the size, Facetime which I use to talk to my daughter who lives with her mom and they have Iphone, and imessage (most of my friends have Iphones - free messaging). Also prefer the look and feel of an iphone.
I just bought a Galaxy S3 to try out alongside the Iphone and try and see how it compares. I am loving the big screen when watching vids, surfing the web, etc.
However, I can not use this phone effectively with one hand. I have small hands, and I cannot reach with my thumb to all parts of the screen when holding it with 1 hand, which I can comfortably do with my Iphone 4.
I will say I am enjoying the S3 so far, really wish Apple would do widgets...but I may stick with my Iphone 5 and return the S3 due to the size, Facetime which I use to talk to my daughter who lives with her mom and they have Iphone, and imessage (most of my friends have Iphones - free messaging). Also prefer the look and feel of an iphone.
If you have small to medium size hands you won't reach top of the iPhone 5 screen either... Sure it's better than S3 when one-handed operation is top priority for you, but still you won't be able to fully operate iPhone 5 in just one hand.
I do agree that it would probably be nice for Apple to offer the option - but I much prefer the current width. The size of my high-profile android devices is a huge turn off for me.
Will you ever get that there's a huge gap between iPhone's 4" and android devices 4,5-5"? Apple should opt for something like 4,2-4,3" and it would've been perfect the same in one handed operation, yet much smaller than S3 or galay note.
They just won't let it go. They continue to whine about the size which will not happen, but they will continue to rant about it. Good grief people, put an end to this. Go to the other smartphone will ya.
They're also the same people in the wacky threads where they track plane flights and wind speeds.
The fact we like Apple in general and we like the design of the new iPhone doesn't mean nobody can complain about anything and must be orgasmic about everything iPhone-related! For chist sake, quit being so fanboyish...
The way it is make it fit into a shirt pocket ... So just fine for my usage. Don't want a backpack just for my phone. 
I made a poll regarding Hand Size but nobody is commenting so it keeps getting buried. But it is interesting results.
Poll: One Handed Use: How Big are your Hands
Anyway, its funny how people can except Apple telling us "you're holding it wrong" but reject it when someone else says it.
These 4-4.3" Android screens may be bigger than we're used to, but that doesnt make them unusable. You'll simply adjust to a 4.3" screen the same way an iPhone 5 user will adjust to a taller screen. You hold it different. Its not that big a deal and IF Apple decided to go with an even bigger screen it would still be usable because the thinness would compensate for the larger size. So Im still not convinced that 16:9 offers more (any?) benefits over simply maintaining the same aspect ratio but making it slightly bigger.
Poll: One Handed Use: How Big are your Hands
Anyway, its funny how people can except Apple telling us "you're holding it wrong" but reject it when someone else says it.
These 4-4.3" Android screens may be bigger than we're used to, but that doesnt make them unusable. You'll simply adjust to a 4.3" screen the same way an iPhone 5 user will adjust to a taller screen. You hold it different. Its not that big a deal and IF Apple decided to go with an even bigger screen it would still be usable because the thinness would compensate for the larger size. So Im still not convinced that 16:9 offers more (any?) benefits over simply maintaining the same aspect ratio but making it slightly bigger.
Exactly! How is that different from other bigger screens if you can't reach every portion of it?
No, if we "just let it go" then Apple will not understand that this is what people want. This is not hard to understand, is it?
If so many people didn't say that they want a bigger screen, then we would still have the 3.5" screen.
And even Apple itself demonstrated against it's own claim that it can't be fully operated using one hand. Here's the picture from Apple website. It's the picture of the new iPod touch 5 which has eactly the same screen as iPhone 5, and it clearly shows 4" screen can't be fully and comfortably controlled using one average size hand:
Here's an iPhone 5 in one hand, picture taken from Apple.com. It's just impossible to reach top of the screen without some hand/finger gymnastics or two-handed operation.
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Im with you on the argument for a larger screen, but I dont feel threads like this will change anyones mind either out here or at Apple.
You can look at message boards all over the world and, prior to the new rumors, you will not find a single thread were users were unanimously clammoring for "A bigger iPhone with a 16:9 aspect ratio" because the claim has always been Anything beyond "3.5inches isu nusable and will break the iPhone. Yet now their tune has changed and suddenly the size they never thought of is "The New Perfect".
The iPhone simply isn't made for people like you or anyone who has strong personal opinions on what their dream phone is. It is built for people like this:
This is the iPhone target audience. People who don't base opinions off of extended personal use, but rather base their "Facts" off marketing videos, the inability to believe a screen size exists between 4" and 4.7" and the idea that "This is what Apple made and Apple knows whats best for me".
Im not slamming people who think so narrow and believe only one size could function properly, but I do feel that you are wasting your time trying to convince anyone to change their perspective. They made up their mind about Apple products long before this one ever existed.
People will simply adjust their hand positioning on a 4.0" 16:9 iPhone the same way people adjust positioning to hold a 4.3" phone.
It really is surprising how few people realize that adjusting your hand is an unadvertised feature of the human body and there are many sizes that wouldve worked for the iphone than what Apple offered.
Just a touch wider to 720p would be nice, around 4.2 inches. Im happy with the new display overall tho.
I think between 4" and 4.5" is the sweet spot for most smart phones, samsung are getting a bit carried away now with 5" screens for the s4. The s5 will be bigger than the note at this rate.
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Its called a joke, im sure wiki has a page explaining them.
I think between 4" and 4.5" is the sweet spot for most smart phones, samsung are getting a bit carried away now with 5" screens for the s4. The s5 will be bigger than the note at this rate.
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Its called a joke, im sure wiki has a page explaining them.
Trust me when I tell you, when Apple goes to extreme lengths to scan hundreds of different ear canals to make a better headphone, they go to even more of an extreme in determining which size phone will be best for the majority of human hands.
Keeping the width it is now is perfect. The height increase is exactly what was needed.
This is design.
No, THIS is ignorance. It's very clear that the taller screen is just as unreachable, if not MORE, than making the screen a bit wider.