Supply Chain Sources Claim Rumors of New 4-Inch iPhone Are False

[marty1980]

Duh

Duh...

Apple will continue to have a 4" iPhone in 2015 and it will be the iPhone 5S.

The question is: Will there be a 4" iPhone in 2016...

My suspicion is that the iPhone 6S will continue with the 4.7" and 5.5" screens with the 4" market being addresses with the 5S.

In 2016, Apple will need to address the 4" (smaller handset) market by creating a new lineup of 4" iPhone 7 devices (iPhone mini?).

Manufacturing for a 4" iPhone won't begin until late 2015 to early 2016. So, yeah... Any rumor of a *new* 4" iPhone being manufactured is going to be false - as far as consumer products are concerned.

 

[nilk]

98% of smaller Android phones these days are "mini" versions of flagships... with lesser specs... that or they are low end Android phones period.

Good thing that 2% exists then. Sony Z3 Compact is a notable example of a smaller phone with "flagship" level specs.

 

[teslo]

iOS 7, 8 and Yosemite are bloody awful and nearly every release in the last few years has been "half arsed".

dunno what made me think of it just now cause i've been dismissive of a lot of complaints recently, but i wonder if there was a show of hands in a large sample size, would most ppl having problems with the new OSs be those who upgraded from one major version to a newer one? my personal experience has seen near perfection from apple over the years (except for GPU-gate, which is only 1 out of maybe a dozen apple products since '97 - except for when i upgraded from SL to Lion & ML. i didn't like them, thought they were successively buggier, and thankfully didn't have to deal with it long until i upgraded my mbp - which came preinstalled with Yosemite.

ALL my laptops and desktops from apple have been computers running the original OS that came with it - barring minor updates and sec patches (and the one attempt mentioned above).. i upgraded my iPhone with major iOS releases, but maybe my OS X situation helps on that front...?

so could this be one of the keys to apple customer satisfaction? googling about it returns a lot of irrelevant results for me.

 

[iapplelove]

Screen sizes could turn out to be cyclical. Back in the 90s everyone wanted smaller and smaller phones.

That's only because cellular phones back then were the size of ones home cordless phone.

 

[B4U]

The iPhone 4 design was in development from before release of the first iPhone in 2007. So we have no idea how old the design of the iPhone 6 is.

Next, what was Steve Jobs' parting advice? 'Do what's right.'

What did Steve Jobs say at D8? 'If the market tells us were making the wrong choice, we listen to the market.' 'Were just people trying to run this company.'

Wait, Steve actually listen to the market?

 

[Yebubbleman]

I never said people don't want it. There SOME people who want it... but not enough people for Apple to devote R&D, design & manufacturing costs to it. They did that with the 5C, and that didn't do as well as Apple would have liked.

Also... people said the same thing when the 4" iPhone 5 released. A small portion of people wanted newer versions of 3.5" iPhones. It never happened.

So... that being said... yes... the 4" iPhone is dead. People should accept it and move on.

I don't know that it's fair to say that just because the majority rules and the minority lost that their needs and wants are thereby invalidated. It's not going to prompt Apple to put out a new 4" iPhone, but it's not like they're wrong for wanting what they want.

For instance, I want a sixth generation iPod touch. I want it with an A7 or, more preferably, an A8 processor. I want 802.11ac, I want TouchID, I want ApplePay support, and I want the 4.7" screen of the iPhone 6. I don't think I'm wrong or unjustified for wanting that despite the fact that (a) the majority doesn't care and neither does Apple. I don't think that my needs for such a device are invalidated due to (and despite) the likelihood that an iPod touch with those features, let alone a new one without those features, is not going to be released.

I get the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" mentality, but I think these people are not dumb to feel less than happy about it.

 

[Cmd-Z]

"iPhone mini" FTW!

 

[DJsteveSD]

I want 4", please.

that's NOT what she said (sorry, I couldn't stop my fingers!)

 

[cocky jeremy]

I'd be perfectly fine with a larger iPhone, if it came in the form factor of the 5 series. The 6 series is, eh... HORRIBLE. Enough said.

The 6 is much nicer than the 5. I hated that ugly two tone garbage.. yuck. 4/4S is still the best.

Release the 4" phone. Phablets are stupid.

Sure they are, baby hands.

 

[majkom]

I want 4", please.

me too. and till my ip 5s works or apple releases new top spec 4incher, i wont buy new iphone

 

[jozeppy26]

I feel like the iPhone 6 4.7" isn't THAT much bigger than the iPhone 5S 4" for people to be all like, "F you apple, I hate you and I hate iPhone now." Typing with 1 hand is still just as easy on the iPhone 6 (hell, I do it on the iPhone 6+ and I'm 5'10" with pretty normal to small hands) and even if it's not because you have the hand size of a small child, then download a third party keyboard that has the keyboard condensed on one side for 1 handed typing. Need to reach that icon in the top left or right corner? Double tap the home button and everything shifts down for easy tapping. You can even change the zoom setting of the home screen to make the icons larger so tapping them are easier with 1 hand. Apple has absolutely no need to make a new 4" iPhone anymore. It would be a waste of money to go thru the development process

 

[nilk]

'hmmm... deal with a slightly larger phone (i6) that's unnoticeably different after a week of use, or switch ecosystems entirely because i miss that icon being 2 cm closer than it is now... what to do, what to do...'

Maybe you are attached to the iOS ecosystem, but many people left iOS for Android in the past for a variety of reasons, one of which was for bigger phones. Similarly, there will be people who leave iOS for smaller phones. I'm not saying there will be a lot (since people who want smaller phones are in the minority), but there will be some.

Personally, I'm always on the fence between iOS and Android when I'm choosing my next phone (I own both iOS and Android devices, so I'm familiar enough with both ecosystems). The iPhone has been rock solid stable and flawless for me for years, and I've grown to love the one-handed usability. My iPhone 6 with iOS 8 takes all of that away. It crashes at least once day, has physical defects (*), has a coating on the screen that scratches easily, is harder to use one-handed. When you are on the fence, a major thing like size could push you in one direction or another.

Hopefully other manufacturers copy what Sony has done with the Z3 Compact, and see more flagship-level small Android phones in 2015.

 

[Eduardo Forneck]

Apple should have gone with 4" back in 2010 with the iPhone 4, should have gone with 4,5"-4,7" in 2012 with the iPhone 5 and 5,5" version with the iPhone 6 like now in 2014.

 

[ghostface147]

She'll use two hands but I like single handed operation.


That sounds kinda wrong doesn't it...

Agreed. It is a two handed operation for her. Ugh, it does sound bad. That's my cousin after all....

 

[Poisonivy326]

I am really laughing at at all the people who now say they'd never go back to 4" when last year they swore that big phones were for those fat Android fingers and Apole users needed a small scteen due to delicate/rich fingers.

 

[jozeppy26]

My iPhone 6 with iOS 8 takes all of that away. It crashes at least once day, has physical defects (*), has a coating on the screen that scratches easily, is harder to use one-handed.

How are you scratching your iPhone 6 so easily? lol.
Why does it crash that often for you? Like is it a certain app? That's not normal behavior and definitely not something you should be experiencing on a device with better specs than your old iPhone (are you running the latest iOS 8.1.2?)
Try the zoom feature and double tap home feature to make one-handed typing and access to apps easier.

 

[shoorty0690]

Would make sense.

I would make sense for apple in the 6s model to offer a mini, regular, and plus version. By the looks of it, Apple is doing the same for the iPad.

I, for one, have the 6 plus. I love it. However, I know there are plenty of people that want the option for a smaller screen with all the bells and whistles of the 6 models.

 

[swingerofbirch]

That's only because cellular phones back then were the size of ones home cordless phone.

They got pretty itty-bitty by the end of the 90s. I think Motorola had the StarTac line that got very diminutive.

 

[elmateo487]

Children do have phones. There is no reason Apple shouldnt accomodate them. Limiting my 9 year old daughter to Android due to Apples ridicolous sizes is just mean.

9 year olds with 700 dollar devices. I want to exclude myself from being a part of this society.

 

[thewap]

iphone 4S - compact- very well built - perfect design meets function- un-assuming - last of the Steve Jobs era ---

nuff said

 

[MRrainer]

When I try out the 6S in the store, it's great. I want one.
Somehow.
But at the same time, I do hope that Apple comes out with an "upgraded" 5S in Autumn, that is basically a 6 with a cheaper camera, a slower CPU, no barometer and probably 16GB only (well, I could see them making it 8G only - that would be really bad) but with NFC and TouchID.
I like the portability of my 4S (even though it's quite glitchy due to the glass finish...).

 

[Klae17]

$0. because people are not going to not buy an iphone because there isnt a 4" version.
when iPhone was 4" and there were no 5" iPhones, people stopped buying iPhones because there are alternatives - Android.
in contrast there are no 4" phones left out there, people will be forced to buy a 4.7" iphone.

There's a business concept of "opportunity cost." Apple has already considered that the cost of building the 4" will be more than the opportunity cost, therefore they will not be making it for financial reasons.

 

[allanfries]

Apple has made it very clear that they aren't going backwards and that they are moving forward. I may not like it but I respect it...

I Don't Know. Abandoning a popular screen size isn't really moving forward. I mean any new 4" iPhone you think would have current specs anyway.
I myself will be getting the 6S in a 4.7" when I renew this Dec. Only because I haven't spent a ton of time using one and the larger screen is appealing. But who knows if I can adapt after 6 years of one handed use?

 

[fallenjt]

Every time I manage to get a hold of a 5 or 5s all I can think of is "man, i miss this" as I reach to the top left corner with my thumb without breaking my pinky.

I'd totally be in for reverting to a 4"

I believe with Reachability, iPhone 6 is more reachable than iPhone 5/5S for any corner.

 

[verymalty]

Small, Medium and Large = the holy trinity

Tried a 6 for a while. Didn't like it and returned to a 5s. Much prefer the form factor - I don't worry about my 5s bending in my pockets when I sit down, it's more comfortable to hold and carry, the extra screen real estate of the 6 did very little to enhance the overall experience, and the fact I couldn't use it with one hand was a pain (reachability is a bodge). What I did prefer on the 6 (ignoring its size) was the screen looked better/shinier (higher contrast ratio and dual-domain pixels?), and the improved battery life.