Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

So who switched from a 4.7" to the SE?

It's a good size, but if they make it tiny bit thinnner, then it can be wider and still one-handed. I had the Galaxy S4 and that was a one-hander with 5" screen, whereas the Iphone 6/6S isnt a one hander even with only 4.7" screen. Wasted space still.

So I think Apple could manage to get a 4.5 "or 4.7" screen in here as a one-hander if they make it thinner & slightly wider and add that upcoming virtual home button/touchID.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MrGuder
Well, while the size is still a bit of a concern for me, battery is not.

5ad72460b6865c0b113be2028f061b1f.jpg
 
GeekishlyGreek said:
Yeah, it's interesting how many of us feel this way about the perfect size being that of the 5/5S/5C/SE. I'm glad I'm not alone in thinking this, as when the 6/6+/6S/6S+ came out, it was beginning to look like they were abandoning the idea of the smaller 4 inch iPhones, and that would have been a real shame, as I really think they got the 4 inch models perfect. But it's good to keep vocal like this about these little things that mean so much to us, as it was all of us users who piped up about loving this size that got Apple to realize that many of us would make that choice every time, and probably wouldn't even bother upgrading to the latest iPhone each time if it meant we could only have the larger sized ones. Don't get me wrong, I did buy a 6S plus, but in real usage terms, I find that I hardly ever use it except for watching videos in bed, because even though it's still technically carryable to some extent, it still feels alot more burdensome to bring with me whenever I go out, and I don't find the screen of the 4 inch to be at all harder to use. They did such a good job with it that it feels just as smooth and easy to navigate as any of the bigger ones.

That being said, while the carryability factor is really important to me, and that the height and width made a difference to that, while it may sound like smaller is better, I don't want them to go the other extreme and make them smaller or thinner than what they already got perfect on the 5/5C/5S/SE. (just making thinner increments is a huge mistake that many phone companies make, just so that they can boast numerical differences in their marketing, but has little to no advantage in the real world usage side of the equation). I'm not saying this is the same for everyone, but I really feel strongly from my own personal usage experience that I actually quite like (and in so many ways prefer) the thickness of the 5/5S/5C/SE models, as they just felt more robust, and nicer to hold, and I never found that making phones thinner than that made any noticeable difference whatsoever to how comfortably easy they fit in your pocket. The 5/5S/5C/SE form factor will always be a winner in my opinion, and it's this size I will always look for, even if they keep making the bigger ones for those who like them. (nothing wrong with keeping the bigger sizes too, as I appreciate that everyone is different and there are many people who prefer that type. I'm just not one of them, and I'm glad to see that I'm not alone in thinking this!)

So a word of encouragement to Apple for listening to us when you brought out the SE! That was definitely a good choice, and please still keep a model of this size in all future model line-ups, as that's the one I (and it appears many others) will always be buying! Keep up the great work!
Click to expand...
I totally agree, glad to see some positivity about Apple! I'm really glad they kept the 4 inch form factor and are listening to their customers. It's great.
 
  • Like
Reactions: nerdriot
I switched from the 6 to the SE and absolutely have been loving the form factor ever since. I haven't even thought once about the 6, as the SE is just so natural and comfortable.

If I had to go bigger at this point (and I don't), I would probably get an Android phone which at least take better advantage of the size and usually manage to fit in a larger screen in a smaller body. The iPhone 6's design is just ugly with the bezels.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Channan, alxz1194 and Osamede
After spending the whole day with this phone, while the battery is nice it's just way too small. Going back to 4.7 inch maybe even the plus
 
mjschabow said:
Yes but I was really happy about it. Just don't like the size. Back to my Galaxy S7 Edge for now.
Click to expand...
While I think the one-handed usage would certainly be nice, I can easily use my 6 with one hand as well, so the lack of screen size just wouldn't be worth it to me.
 
JerTheGeek said:
While I think the one-handed usage would certainly be nice, I can easily use my 6 with one hand as well, so the lack of screen size just wouldn't be worth it to me.
Click to expand...
I was able to as well (my hands are roughly 8" from wrist to the tip of my middle finger), but I still found myself using two hands to do simple tasks. And as lame as this sounds, I don't have time to juggle around with the phone when I need to do something.

I do have a strange feeling (or maybe just a hope) that Apple will introduce a phone that's the size of the SE with a screen size that's equal to the 6.
 
The size is my favorite part. Miss my Note 5 screen and camera though. Still keeping my SE. Apple needs to add true quick charge to their next gen phones. Being able to boost up from 10 to 80% in something like 20-30 minutes is awesome. Also, I don't have big hands by any stretch of the imagination, but I could almost one hand the Note 5. The bezels is another place Apple is sorely lacking in staying current gen. That Plus could be about a half inch to an inch shorter and a quarter inch thinner if they would fix the bezels.

Again, I miss the larger and beautiful screen of the Note 5 but if I got back to a large phone, it won't be anything running iOS until their shave some height and width. No reason a 4.7" current phone should be larger than a Note 5 or the likes. The S7 my fiance has is 5.1" IIRC and it's the same size as the i6/6s for the most part. I loved my 6, 6S, 6+, and 6S+ while I had them, but honestly, there are better options out there for the size and price. Just sucks that Android is the only other option for the most part. (I love Android, but love diversity and rock both OS's....same with OSX, Linux, and Win10.) But I truly think, against all the nay sayers predictions, the SE is a definite hit and Apple released it at a great time. Just hope they bring a gen 2 with the same size or slightly larger and a 4.3 to 4.5" OLED 1080 screen.
 
I wonder if Apple could have made the regular iphone 6 something like 4.3 inches. 4 inches is just too small. Maybe a little larger could work.

Overall when looking at my S7 Edge screen it's just gorgeous compared to the SE screen. Didn't truly realize what I gave up until I went back to the Edge this afternoon.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jychow and got556
Yep, Samsung screens are top notch. Their screens and cameras are 2nd to none. Which, while I'm not all big on 100000000 pixels, ppi, blah blah blah, but when I'm looking at the screen as it is the main part of the phone, I want it to wow me. Samsung does this. But I still love Apple due to me having tons of Apple products.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Osamede and mjschabow
mrochester said:
I went from a 6S to an SE. The SE is so much nicer to use i can't imagine going back to such a big phone as the 6S now we can get all the power and features in a 4" device.
Click to expand...
Why did you buy a new device within a few months again?
 
JerTheGeek said:
I totally agree, glad to see some positivity about Apple! I'm really glad they kept the 4 inch form factor and are listening to their customers. It's great.
Click to expand...
lol. Yeah, in this day and age there's so much negativity flying around generally everywhere we look! (...doesn't help that the world in general seems to be falling to bits, so I can totally understand how easy it is for any human being to fall into that trap, as it's very easy to forget what positivity even looks or feels like these days). But the truth is, both sides of the coin have always been there, so it's just a matter of which vibes we allow our minds to tune into. But moods and sentiment are infectious, so if we tune into all the negative ones, everyone seems to catch it like some sort of nasty disease. But on the flipside of that same coin, if we save all our mental energy for thinking about what things look like when they're done exactly how you know they truly should be, it clears all the fog, and the physical roadmap for how to actually get there suddenly becomes much more obvious. In the same way a vicious cycle works, when a positive train of thought becomes contagious, the minds it inspires is equally as addictively catching. So given that the human brain can only consciously hold one thought at a time, whichever type of thought you choose automatically has to drop the other, as it has no conscious space for both simultaneously. And when we realize this, it's actually quite liberating, as the obvious question of which type of thoughts we prefer to have, suddenly make more sense.

More pertinent to the original topic at hand though (before I wander off my point completely! lol...) a more physical example of how it applies to what we either love or hate about the iPhone models, human tendency is to talk about the things we don't want it to be, and while it's important to understand what they are, if we only ever talk about that, it only makes it more confusing for the decision makers to figure out what we actually DO want, so its chance of actually happening becomes alot more slim. But I think we all have a fair idea of what we have in mind when we think about what is ideal for each of us, so talking about those things helps to spell out in superb clarity what the physical blueprint of what we want looks like, and its chances of successfully coming into fruition become alot more attainable. I think how many of us spoke up about preferring the 4 inch models and then the iPhone SE coming out is a classic example of that process working in action. So me praising them for doing so was not just lip service, but more an encouraging beacon of "love what you did there, keep following that path, and that's how to earn my money!" ;)
 
Just for the record, Apple doesnt listen to what you say. They dont. They "listen" to what to do.

I dont mean this in a bad way. They are a known practitioner of what is called "design thinking" princples, in which you might ask the customer what they care about but mostly you look to see what matters to them and then make a product to satisfy those unmet needs that you saw in their life.

The real driver of the move to 6/6S size was the struggle for battery life with the 4G phones. Android went through this through. Apple held out for a while but the battery life on the 5/5S was appalling, despite this form factor being a well tested ergonomic classic. With this new hardware they have power management back under control and a device of this size is more viable for flagship use again.

Apple then saw that huge masses of the customer base refused to upgrade to the bigger size 6/6S and many still bought the 5S. What they saw that customers did, is what counted. Otherwise they would ignore any outcry.

If you want to understand Apple that is #1, IMO: their philosophy is to look and observe and find a best average solution, not to listen to outliers. For better or for worse, that is what they do.

Apple still needs to get a bigger screen in this form factor. 4" is at this point less usable than many customers needs. That will come with the virtual touch ID and the subsequent removal of the physical home button, but it will also involve a tweaking of the device to be slightly thinner but wider. You probably end up with 4.3" screen or 4.5" in this form factor.

I still think though that the endgame here is one device in this size but with about a 4.3"/4.5" screen, and a 5" device replacing both the 4.7" and the 5.5" device that are on the market now.
 
Last edited:
Osamede said:
Apple still needs to get a bigger screen in this form factor. 4" is at this point less usable than many customers needs. That will come with the virtual touch ID and the subsequent removal of the physical home button, but it will also involve a tweaking of the device to be slightly thinner but wider. You probably end up with 4.3" screen or 4.5" in this form factor.

I still think though that the endgame here is one device in this size but with about a 4.3"/4.5" screen, and a 5" device replacing both the 4.7" and the 5.5" device that are on the market now.
Click to expand...
Honestly I think that it's better for them to have 3 sizes. There are those who want a big screen and don't care about one handed use and want the biggest iPhone possible, and they get the Plus; and there are those who really want a nice, comfortable, one handed form factor, they get the SE. Then there are those like myself who want a comfortable form factor that can still be easily one handed but still provides a great amount of screen space.
Now, that's not to say Apple shouldn't decrease the bezels on all three sizes, but I would keep all three sizes and just reduce bezels on them, giving a big more screen on each size but retaining the overall benefits of each.
 
  • Like
Reactions: nerdriot
The bezels on the side do have proper usability points to them. Playing games is a nightmare without the big bezels and also if you're watching videos on the go, holding the phone that way is easier while commuting. A lot of use cases support having the bezels. I use both iOS and Android and I really struggle with some Android devices that doesn't have bezels. Such has Samsung Galaxy line. Usability wise iPhone is leading the pack.
 
akash.nu said:
The bezels on the side do have proper usability points to them. Playing games is a nightmare without the big bezels and also if you're watching videos on the go, holding the phone that way is easier while commuting. A lot of use cases support having the bezels. I use both iOS and Android and I really struggle with some Android devices that doesn't have bezels. Such has Samsung Galaxy line. Usability wise iPhone is leading the pack.
Click to expand...
Great point. The bezels aren't that bad tbh
 
Bezels on the side is not what is making this things too big - that's getting off the point. Those could be shaved but really isnt the main issue.

Its the top and bottom. The round home button eats up a lot of height.
 
Those are part of the bezel and yes those are very much needed to have a good grip while playing intense games.
 
Osamede said:
Bezels on the side is not what is making this things too big - that's getting off the point. Those could be shaved but really isnt the main issue.

Its the top and bottom. The round home button eats up a lot of height.
Click to expand...
I'm probably one of the few who actually like the home button. I know that in the future, they'll do away with it (and I'll adapt), but to me the home button is part of the Apple signature in a way.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JerTheGeek and dcpmark
nerdriot said:
I'm probably one of the few who actually like the home button. I know that in the future, they'll do away with it (and I'll adapt), but to me the home button is part of the Apple signature in a way.
Click to expand...

Big fan as well. I went from the Treo hardware button world to the capacitive button world of Android to Apple, and I love the Home button. My jailbroken iP5 had the Home button programmed to do many things, too, depending on the number and speed of the presses. My SE can't do that, but I would miss it if it was gone. There is something so satisfactory about pressing in a button.
 
  • Like
Reactions: nerdriot
dcpmark said:
Big fan as well. I went from the Treo hardware button world to the capacitive button world of Android to Apple, and I love the Home button. My jailbroken iP5 had the Home button programmed to do many things, too, depending on the number and speed of the presses. My SE can't do that, but I would miss it if it was gone. There is something so satisfactory about pressing in a button.
Click to expand...
Agreed. It's very satisfying and it is a classic Apple thing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back