What is the absolute perfect size for the iPhone's screen?

[mrochester]

I thought I'd post some photos to show what I'm talking about

iPhone in palm for one handed use

Left thumb bent for comfortable use of lower left of screen

Left thumb extended for comfortable use of top right of screen

Left thumb stretched as far as it will go (not comfortable!)

This is from a while ago, but left thumb extended as far as possible across a Galaxy Nexus

 

[Calidude]

Image

This picture pretty much proves you'd be fine with a 4 inch iPhone.

 

[mrochester]

This picture pretty much proves you'd be fine with a 4 inch iPhone.

Yep, probably, as long as the device is physically about the same size or not much wider than the current iPhone 4S. That's the tricky part! Like I said earlier, the iPhone 3GS was comfortable for me to use single handed at 62mm wide. So if Apple can cram a 4" screen into a 62mm wide body, I'd probably be fine with that. I can imagine that would take some serious engineering though!

 

[Calidude]

Yep, probably, as long as the device is physically about the same size or not much wider than the current iPhone 4S. That's the tricky part! Like I said earlier, the iPhone 3GS was comfortable for me to use single handed at 62mm wide. So if Apple can cram a 4" screen into a 62mm wide body, I'd probably be fine with that. I can imagine that would take some serious engineering though!

I have a feeling the next iPhone will be a metal backed version of the 3GS but with a 4 inch screen and even thinner than before, so I think you'll be just fine.

 

[iPhysicist]

[...]the next iPhone will be a metal backed version[...]

Uhm, no - and that is the physicist talking.

 

[mrochester]

I have a feeling the next iPhone will be a metal backed version of the 3GS but with a 4 inch screen and even thinner than before, so I think you'll be just fine.

We shall have to wait and see if Apple can work their magic and make such a thing happen .

 

[BiggAW]

If they make the screen bigger, I'm going to have to hold onto the 4S for a long time. But LTE is going to be so tempting.... argh!

 

[adnbek]

The iPhone is designed that way for a reason and why its stayed that size since its release.

I hope Apple develop innovative ways to get sites to work better with its current size. Apps work great on its current screen so I personly don't see the big issue.

Unless people feel inferior to people with larger screens??

LOL, that is a ridiculous statement. It wasn't designed this way for a reason. At the time, it seemed huge because there was nothing else to reference it with. There's no "reason" it had to be 3.5". It just was.

And it stays this way because if Apple increases the size, they're faced with two choices:

-Have a 3rd native resolution for the iPhone, therefore fragmenting it. (Still nowhere near the fragmentation with Android though, har har)

-Scaling the iPhone 4's resolution to a larger screen which would make the icons and text look weird.

If and when iPhone 5 comes out, we'll see what they decided to do. Personally, I would love a larger screen. Keep the phone size nearly the same but eliminate the excess bezel everywhere. 4" would be awesome.

 

[Calidude]

If they make the screen bigger, I'm going to have to hold onto the 4S for a long time. But LTE is going to be so tempting.... argh!

You know you're going to buy it as soon as it comes out. Stop worrying about the screen.

You guys have so much faith in Apple but suddenly you think not even Apple could avoid ruining the iPhone with a 4 inch screen.

 

[mrochester]

You know you're going to buy it as soon as it comes out. Stop worrying about the screen.

You guys have so much faith in Apple but suddenly you think not even Apple could avoid ruining the iPhone with a 4 inch screen.

I'm not entirely sure why you've got such a cocky attitude going on here. There are other reasons besides the screen as to why someone may/may not decide to buy a particular device. You seem to be confusing the issue by suggesting that someone buying a 4" iPhone is an endorsement that the 3.5" model was a 5 year long mistake. That very person might actually be buying a 4" iPhone because of some other feature it offers, but they have decided to put up with the larger dimensions to get that. It's not as black and white as you're trying to make it seem.

 

[Calidude]

I'm not entirely sure why you've got such a cocky attitude going on here. There are other reasons besides the screen as to why someone may/may not decide to buy a particular device. You seem to be confusing the issue by suggesting that someone buying a 4" iPhone is an endorsement that the 3.5" model was a 5 year long mistake. That very person might actually be buying a 4" iPhone because of some other feature it offers, but they have decided to put up with the larger dimensions to get that. It's not as black and white as you're trying to make it seem.

This is a very small minority of people you are describing, and anybody who tries out the 4 inch iPhone will inevitably make it their new standard, even if the 3.5 inch iPhone were still being manufactured alongside its bigger brother through the 6, 7, 8 and so on iterations.

4 inches is the optimal size, not the ideal size.

 

[mrochester]

This is a very small minority of people you are describing, and anybody who tries out the 4 inch iPhone will inevitably make it their new standard, even if the 3.5 inch iPhone were still being manufactured alongside its bigger brother through the 6, 7, 8 and so on iterations.

4 inches is the optimal size, not the ideal size.

I don't think you have the data to say whether it's a small minority or a vast majority.

I think you could only make that claim if the 3.5" iPhone is otherwise functionally identical to a 4" iPhone. That way, people would be choosing on screen size alone, and that would "prove" what the ideal size is for the vast majority of people.

 

[Calidude]

I don't think you have the data to say whether it's a small minority or a vast majority.

I think you could only make that claim if the 3.5" iPhone is otherwise functionally identical to a 4" iPhone. That way, people would be choosing on screen size alone, and that would "prove" what the ideal size is for the vast majority of people.

That's basically what I'm saying. Even if both sizes were made henceforth, people would pretty much all hop on the 4 inch bandwagon because the larger screen is functionally superior, and Apple would have no choice but to discontinue 3.5.

Also, just look at the poll. Nearly everybody wants a bigger phone. The 17% of diehard Apple loyalists who don't want change would become 1 or 2% the month after the 4 inch iPhone comes out.

 

[iPhysicist]

That's basically what I'm saying. Even if both sizes were made henceforth, people would pretty much all hop on the 4 inch bandwagon because the larger screen is functionally superior, and Apple would have no choice but to discontinue 3.5.

Also, just look at the poll. Nearly everybody wants a bigger phone. The 17% of diehard Apple loyalists who don't want change would become 1 or 2% the month after the 4 inch iPhone comes out.

Your mistaken (again). If you weight the poll a 3.8" screen would be the sweet spot (most certainly within the current phones footprint)

An other interpretation is EVEN if 50% want a 4" screen 50% DO NOT want a 4" screen.

And still you are unable to acknowledge that for most people the phones size as a whole is more important than the screen size alone.

 

[0dev]

4.5 inches IMO. I've used Android phones with 4.5 inch screens and I think they're amazing, my iPhone's screen always looks crappy in comparison afterwards.

 

[mrochester]

That's basically what I'm saying. Even if both sizes were made henceforth, people would pretty much all hop on the 4 inch bandwagon because the larger screen is functionally superior, and Apple would have no choice but to discontinue 3.5.

Also, just look at the poll. Nearly everybody wants a bigger phone. The 17% of diehard Apple loyalists who don't want change would become 1 or 2% the month after the 4 inch iPhone comes out.

A poll on a forum called 'MacRumors' isn't indicative of the general population as a whole, so any conclusions you draw from it are essentially meaningless in the grand scheme of things.

You are unlikely to ever know whether consumers think a 4" iPhone is 'functionally superior' to a 3.5" iPhone because there's unlikely to ever be an opportunity where that conclusion can be drawn.

I think you need to tone down the 'Apple loyalist' rubbish because you're just being needlessly insulting to people who may actually prefer the size as it is now. That doesn't make them Apple loyalists, that just means they like the 3.5" screen.

 

[elfy]

If the screen had begun at 4 inches, your wording for this post would be the exact same.

Their customers would say 4 inches is the best size if the iPhone were 4 inches since 2007.

If Apple made the iPhone 4 inches, you'd say how great it feels, simply because Apple made it.

It will be wider and longer, but you won't care that much because Apple made it.

The ONLY reason some iPhone owners want their phone to remain the same size is because they are ardent, unflinching Apple loyalists.

Let's face it. For those that prefer 3.5, that's Steve Jobs talking, not them.

I often wish Apple would make a BIG 4.3 inch screen version of the iPhone and keep the 3.5 inch one for the people who CLAIM that 3.5 is always better. We'd see Apple drop the 3.5 incher after a year out of "lack of interest".

If they really believe that anything bigger than 3.5 inches is too big, and Apple comes out with a 4 inch screen this year and only that size, they would (and should, if they were being genuine freethinkers) simply stop buying the latest iPhone. However, they won't, because they actually worship Apple.

You know you're going to buy it as soon as it comes out. Stop worrying about the screen. You guys have so much faith in Apple but suddenly you think not even Apple could avoid ruining the iPhone with a 4 inch screen.

Nearly everybody wants a bigger phone. The 17% of diehard Apple loyalists who don't want change would become 1 or 2% the month after the 4 inch iPhone comes out.

I think you've made your point. Bit ignorant to think that anyone who's happy with the screen as it is, is only happy because they think Apple can do no wrong. I am happy with it as it is because, get this, I genuinely don't think it needs to be any bigger. I have a brain and, like most other people, am more than capable of independent thought.

And can I ask, what purpose does a poll serve when 17% of the people who cast a vote are disregarded?

 

[Calidude]

And can I ask, what purpose does a poll serve when 17% of the people who cast a vote are disregarded?

I don't decide anything here. I'm just stating my opinion, same as yourself.

----------

A poll on a forum called 'MacRumors' isn't indicative of the general population as a whole, so any conclusions you draw from it are essentially meaningless in the grand scheme of things.

Obviously.

You are unlikely to ever know whether consumers think a 4" iPhone is 'functionally superior' to a 3.5" iPhone because there's unlikely to ever be an opportunity where that conclusion can be drawn.

This Fall will bring us that opportunity I'd wager.

I think you need to tone down the 'Apple loyalist' rubbish because you're just being needlessly insulting to people who may actually prefer the size as it is now. That doesn't make them Apple loyalists, that just means they like the 3.5" screen.

That's fine. I just don't really buy that you guys genuinely feel that way. I may be wrong, but that's just how I feel.

 

[elfy]

I don't decide anything here. I'm just stating my opinion, same as yourself.

Yeah, we know your opinion. You've stated it enough. Since I'm effectively being called a liar, however, I'll leave you to it. Best not to get involved with trolls, I find.

 

[bTaryag]

Not sure how true this is but i've seen it about quite a lot.

I saw that graphic as well. It would be a bummer to have to stretch your fingers to get to the whole screen!

 

[mrochester]

This Fall will bring us that opportunity I'd wager.

I'd hazard a guess that Apple would change more than just the screen size, at which point you would no longer be able to tell whether customers' bought the device because of the screen size, or because of something else. That's the point I was making; there's never going to be an opportunity for you to find out what it is you're apparently trying to find out.

That's fine. I just don't really buy that you guys genuinely feel that way. I may be wrong, but that's just how I feel.

Might I suggest you just keep that to yourself then instead of insulting people for no good reason?

 

[adnbek]

What I find ridiculous is people wanting 4.5 or higher. Why would anyone want to carry a brick around?

And when you hold a phone that huge up your head, you look real stupid too.

 

[BiggAW]

I think you've made your point. Bit ignorant to think that anyone who's happy with the screen as it is, is only happy because they think Apple can do no wrong. I am happy with it as it is because, get this, I genuinely don't think it needs to be any bigger. I have a brain and, like most other people, am more than capable of independent thought.

And can I ask, what purpose does a poll serve when 17% of the people who cast a vote are disregarded?

Great post!!!

 

[Calidude]

What I find ridiculous is people wanting 4.5 or higher. Why would anyone want to carry a brick around?

And when you hold a phone that huge up your head, you look real stupid too.

Yeah I don't get this either. The aspect ratio makes it even more ridiculous.

 

[cynics]

What I find ridiculous is people wanting 4.5 or higher. Why would anyone want to carry a brick around?

And when you hold a phone that huge up your head, you look real stupid too.

"look at the size of that guys phone!"

Nope I can't even force myself to care what someone with that simple of a brain process cares about.