
The New iPhone Is Ugly - tmlee
https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/19/the-new-iphone-is-ugly/
======
duxup
I think most smartphones look the same and have for a while.

Meanwhile the tech related media's obsession with dramatically overstating the
importance of small aesthetic differences like millimeters of bezel strikes me
as lazy and annoying.

As far as smartphones go all I want to know is if it works, how new features
work, and the impossible to find... good app recommendations (I've stopped
looking for those).

~~~
droopyEyelids
Something weird is happening with this.

I understand the author gets paid based on writing articles, so maybe it makes
sense for him to squeeze out 2000 words on the minute differences between cell
phones.

But certain people at my work will talk to each other about the differences in
their cell phones for hours __each day __. Differences that I think 90% of
humanity wouldn 't even notice, let alone have the motivation to mention.

I don't know what's going on with average people's brains where they can pour
so much attention and energy into something as fundamentally boring and
unimportant as the row of black pixels on a phone.

~~~
firasd
It's because -- especially since the iPhone, but even before (cf. Sidekick) --
the phone is a consumer fashion item as much as a tool. So it's the same as
people talking about whether a pattern in a dress is hand-stitched or machine-
stitched etc.

------
dijit
Speaking of ugly; that consent form which forces my language to be region
locked to my geoip'd location (instead of taking my language from my Accept-
Language headers) and offering no way to opt out than I can find is quite
ugly.

~~~
EGreg
Why would you consent to this? Can you opt out?

~~~
rwmj
I'm using uMatrix and don't see it, so that's one way.

------
tolqen
This is an incredibly silly article.

> And amazingly, due to being made of actual metal, the more drops an SE
> survives, the cooler it looks

Is steel not real metal anymore?

~~~
Hamuko
_> Is steel not real metal anymore?_

Cyclists like to debate whether or not steel is real.

~~~
hprotagonist
naturally it is and anyone who disagrees with me just hasn’t yet enjoyed the
laterally stiff yet vertically compliant joys of a real steed. Preferably with
toe clips and downtube shifters.

------
agret
The author bemoans the notch on the iPhone saying we'd all like to be rid of
it and that edge to edge screens are frustrating. He then goes on to complain
that the Samsung has bezels.

~~~
ianai
Probably this would seem less silly as a more objective contrast between the
SE and 11 Pro.

Weird thing is, I actually kind of want to carry both my SE and 11 Pro around.
The SE really is just as much phone real estate as needed for 80% of the time.
The pro camera, glass case, OLED display, and other new features are pretty
cool, though. I mean, my SE would have never gotten that photo of my cat this
morning in the twilight.

------
Hamuko
_> If they removed the notch, literally no one would want the version with the
notch, because it’s so plainly and universally undesirable._

Are we talking about a magical scenario where they have figured out how the
minimise all of the hardware in the notch so that there's virtually no bezel
on top? Or about a scenario where they take away the notch and all of the
hardware in it? Because I'm not exactly sure how the sales pitch for an iPhone
11 without Face ID, proximity sensor, ambient light sensor, speaker or front-
facing camera would go. And if they just deleted the notch by making it a
regular bezel, I don't think that would be a sales hit either. _" The all new
iPhone 11 - now without selfies!"_

A hypothetical either-or scenario where the other scenario has literally no
drawback is a pretty dumb one. And as far as I can tell, that's exactly what
this argument is. It's like saying that no one would buy an iPhone with a 3000
mAh battery if they could get a 6000 mAh in the same packaging. But if you
introduce another variable, like the iPhone being as thick as the Nokia 3310,
or 5% of shipped phones catching on fire, then someone might actually go for
the 3000 mAh.

~~~
smcl
If you keep reading, the author goes on to describe how they think the screens
which stretch to the edges are a bit unnecessary. So it’s not that they want
to remove the notch and have the screen stretch to the top ... but to remove
the notch by having the screen stop just below it (like the SE, and all pre-
Notch iPhones)

~~~
Hamuko
But I don't think there's actually a market for that. The display on the sides
of the notch have things in them that you want to have visible anyways. Why
not have a bit more screen? It's not like the iPhone 11 would be any cheaper
without it.

Some people have used wallpaper trickery to make the notch less visible while
still getting the benefit of the time and status indicators being out of the
main display area.

[http://osxdaily.com/2017/11/06/hide-iphone-x-notch-
wallpaper...](http://osxdaily.com/2017/11/06/hide-iphone-x-notch-wallpaper-
trick/)

~~~
smcl
Again, you should read the article. These are things the raised and discussed
there - the wallpaper trickery particularly

------
K0SM0S
_“That’s probably enough about Apple. They forgot about good design a long
time ago”_

A few years ago it was anathema to say this, even as a designer yourself — how
could you even think of beginning to criticize Apple?! But now people and the
press are coming to terms with reality.

I honestly don't understand how they can fail so badly with the bazillion
dollars at their disposal (MacBook keyboards, phone notches and bumps, mouse
charging port underneath, the power pack for phones... etc., etc., not to
mention software issues). It's mind-numbing and such a disappointment that
they greenlight blatant mistakes and proceed on to selling them for an
embarrassing premium.

Apple made a huge ton of cash since <insert major event>, coasting on their
hard-won reputation's inertia; but there's a reckoning coming if they don't
sort their internal mess. Virtually any major tech is miles and leaps beyond
in almost every respect, except profitability. For how long, though?

------
Ambroos
The looks of recent iPhones/Pixels/Samsungs are what make me even more of a
fan of Sony's smartphone designs than I already am.

The Xperia 1 for example: [https://www.sonymobile.com/global-
en/products/phones/xperia-...](https://www.sonymobile.com/global-
en/products/phones/xperia-1/)

It has a clean, simple look. Three cameras, but they're understated in
positioning. No notch, just a small balanced bezel on the top and bottom. A
side-mounted fingerprint scanner (where your thumb/ring finger/middle finger
naturally rests). A simple, flat display with only very slightly rounded
corners.

Sony has been acing smartphone design for years, by simply doing their own
thing and not jumping head first into every trend. I wish they did better on
marketing and software, because hardware-wise they're killing it. They deserve
to be more popular.

~~~
oneeyedpigeon
The iPhone SE that the author discusses reminds me a bit of classic sony
design, particularly the flat sides and the volume buttons. It's probably my
favourite iPhone from a design perspective. But the Sony phone you link to
just looks like the current round of generic looking smartphones with horrible
curved/rounded edges - not only do those look worse, imo, but they make a
phone much more awkward to hold.

~~~
Ambroos
Funnily enough, Apple did a design thing where they tried 'what would Sony
do', and that design turned into the iPhone 4:
[https://www.theverge.com/2012/7/26/3189309/apple-sony-
iphone...](https://www.theverge.com/2012/7/26/3189309/apple-sony-iphone-
design-inspiration-iphone-4-looked-old)

------
dmos62
I feel like if we wouldn't obsess over aesthetics, the gadget market would be
a better place. Something similar goes for software too, in my opinion.

However, I'm slowly learning that wishful thinking and complaining detracts
from the reality of things, like current needs that people have, and the
subtle trends that lead to this phenomenon: things that you can easily render
yourself blind to if you go around rejecting what you don't like.

That said, I do feel confused and at odds with the state of things in this
time and place. I can't say that I have a firm understanding of the average
consumer who is targeted by these products. I'd like to feel more connected
with the different segments of the market. I suspect that a lot of people feel
this way, but we may not be the most vocal of groups.

~~~
hrunt
Except that obsessing over aesthetics is a key part of the iPhone's history
(and Apple's history overall). The iPhone's history is one filled with
"function follows form" (or, sometimes, does not follow at all), so an article
that points out some of the more glaring aesthetic flaws of the newer iPhones
is more than appropriate for this specific device.

I agree with the author that the iPhone is "ugly." Rather, I think that the
iPhone's aesthetic solutions for its technical challenges are inelegant. In
particular, the notch is so big it may as well function as a thick bezel and
the square camera arrangement and placement seems like it was dictated by a
specific technical solution without any influence from the design team.

In the past, I feel like Apple would have argued that their elegant solutions
were "better" and thus commanded a premium for it. Now they are happy to
compromise their aesthetics for technical capabilities. I cannot think of a
product released during the second coming of Jobs that made that compromise so
obviously. Still, Apple commands the same premium, so that leads people to
obsess over the aesthetics.

------
eyeofbeholder
I think about this how I think about insects: you can call them ugly, but it's
the best form for the job (ecological niche).

So yeah, today's phones aren't what you'd call "conventionally beautiful
industrial design", but I'd rather have an ugly phone than one which
compromises on features.

Here on HN, lots of people complain how Apple sacrifices ports and battery
life on their laptops to make them "prettier", but apparently ugly Apple
phones which don't compromise aren't loved either. You can't win whatever you
do.

~~~
oneeyedpigeon
Isn’t that the very problem with the iPhone, though? Apple has sacrificed a
'better design' (no camera bump, better battery life) for one that is a
fraction of a millimetre thinner.

~~~
eyeofbeholder
If you want a flush back and more battery life you can buy a battery case.

But you can't do the opposite, if you like thinness and don't care that much
about battery, you can't thin a bulky phone.

~~~
oneeyedpigeon
True, but if the iPhone is already “ugly”, strapping a big case onto the back
is going to require some superlatives... Note that I’m talking about literally
the camera bump, just a few millimetres (the extra battery life would be
nominal), rather than doubling the thickness.

------
samdung
Sometimes form just has to follow function and there's nothing any industrial
designer can do about it. Look at the Red cameras that revolutionised digital
cinema. Many would claim they are ugly.

~~~
vinay427
What functionality benefits does the camera layout on the new iPhone have over
the layout on the Pixel 4? The author of the article seems to have found none,
which was one of their main points as far as I could tell.

~~~
wrboyce
I believe it is something to do with having the centre point on all three
lenses very close so switching between them is a smooth transition.

------
madenine
That's just like your opinion, man

------
twoodfin
I’ve never liked the iPhone 6-style curved edges. Fortunately the rumor mill
suggests next year’s models will adopt a style similar to the 4/5/SE series,
like the current iPads Pro.

~~~
adamsiem
I had not made that connection yet. Yes, the iPad Pro is back to the iPhone SE
edges. Looking forward to that possibility in the next generation.

Also - whatever happened to all the iPhone SE 2 leakage from last year?

Still loving the simplicity of my SE.

------
6c696e7578
Most phones are terrible. Why does a user expect anything other? Just use a
computer and leave the personal tracking device at home.

------
buboard
you mean the new Philips shaver?

[https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/09/20/12/18714154-7485701-...](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/09/20/12/18714154-7485701-Another_put_an_electric_razor_head_on_to_his_older_mobile_pictur-m-61_1568978588575.jpg)

------
Liron
[https://youtu.be/nUBtKNzoKZ4](https://youtu.be/nUBtKNzoKZ4)

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jinushaun
It is, but then I put a case on it and it looks like every other phone on the
market from the front.

------
lallysingh
He ain't wrong. These things are specialized beasts now, of both tech and
fashion.

