
The Popularity of the 4.7″ iPhone - graeme
https://david-smith.org/blog/2019/06/24/the-popularity-of-the-4-dot-7-inch-iphone/
======
Brendinooo
>iOS 13 drops support for the iPhone 5S, 6 and 6+. These iPhones currently
account for 17% of my userbase.

A shame to see. I like my SE and will own one for as long as Apple allows, but
designers are already forgetting to account for the 320 screen width. I see it
with increasing regularity, in apps and on the web. I'd imagine that this will
only accelerate once the SE is the only 4" screen left.

I don't get it! My hands are probably bigger than 95% of all humans, and I
don't think a phone needs to be much bigger than the SE.

~~~
dangus
The 4.7" screen is _not_ the SE. The 4" screen is what's on the SE, 5C, 5S,
and 5, and makes up just 11% of these users.

Yes, 17% of these users are using the 4.7" screen, which is what's in the 6,
6S, 7, and 8.

The iPhone X and XS have a larger screen dimension in inches but the physical
size of the phone is roughly the same thanks to a better screen to body ratio.

When we see 5 and 6 inch phones, but with higher screen to body ratio, some of
us seem to mistake this with a phone that is too large to hold.

So what I'm saying is, no, Apple isn't deprecating the 4.7" screen size. Not
in any way shape or form. The iPhone 6, 6 Plus, and 5S are being dropped for
architectural and performance reasons. The iPod touch just received a refresh
and should indicate that Apple will still support the 4" screen size for at
least some amount of time.

My final piece of advice is to just get a PopSocket, it makes your phone way
easier for single hand usage. There's no need to be stuck using a phone as
tiny as the iPhone SE. Customers do not prefer it, it was not popular,
otherwise we would still see that form factor.

~~~
saagarjha
> Customers do not prefer it, it was not popular, otherwise we would still see
> that form factor.

Customers loved iPhone SE, both because it was cheap and because of its size.

~~~
dangus
Customers who bought it loved it. It's an excellent phone.

But it was not popular in terms of volume. If you need any evidence of this,
just look for Android phones with a screen under 4.5" containing a Qualcomm
825 CPU or better.

Actually, try and find any Android phone sold by any US cellular carrier under
5", never mind 4.5". This is not just an Apple-style opinionated decision, the
whole market has spoken on this.

My honest belief is that people stopped buying small phones when the screen
size trade-off didn't save them any significant money. I also believe that
some portion of people who are vocal about the inevitable, eventual
disappearance of the 4" screen aren't necessarily even using these small
phones, but aren't happy about their disappearance out of some kind of
principal or nostalgia.

I don't know that any of us would agree to use a 15" 1024x768 display again,
even if it was free. I think it's the same concept.

~~~
tazjin
If "the market has spoken", it seems like its words were dictated by the
manufacturers.

As a consumer I don't remember even being given the _option_ of buying any
small phones (besides the now discontinued iPhone SE) for the last handful of
years.

> I also believe that some portion of people who are vocal about the
> inevitable, eventual disappearance of the 4" screen aren't necessarily even
> using these small phones

I'm using my SEs as much as possible, but due to the limitations of iOS it's
not feasible for me to use them as my primary work phone. This means I can
choose between carrying two phones, carrying one that's too large, or
significantly reducing my access to work resources on the go.

~~~
asark
For me it's a feature combo that's missing. Make a new SE, bump the price up
$100, but give it a camera close to as good as the Plus phones, and that's my
next phone, for sure. I _only_ got the 7+ over the 7 for the camera, and if
there'd been an SE-sized phone with the same camera I'd have bought that
instead of either bigger option.

[EDIT] actually I suspect this is a common reason for purchasing larger phones
and the phone makers know this, and are using the large-size-better-camera
pairing to charge me $300-500 more for the better camera, instead of $100.

~~~
Tempest1981
FWIW the 4" iPhone 5s and SE are the last iPhones without a camera bump. Clean
look.

------
dangus
From the initial comments here it seems like some of us are mistaking the 4.7"
iPhone screen size as one found in the iPhone SE.

That is not the case. The 4.7" screen refers to the iPhone 6, 6s, 7, and 8.

The iPhone 5, 5S 5C, and SE have the 4" screen and represents 11% of these
users.

The 4.7" screen most definitely lives on and is essentially the same general
dimensions as the iPhone X and XS, with extra inches attributed to increased
screen to body ratio.

------
robohoe
Prices is a big deal these days. Most iPhones X derivitives are hitting $1000
real fast. For those of us that don’t want to pay $29.99/mo just to rent a
phone for 2 years and would prefer to buy outright that’s cost prohibitive.

Also all the big phones barely fit in pants pockets. For males, maybe, but for
females, forget about it - 50% of the phone sticks out of the back pocket.

5.5” and more phones are too big to be a phone, and too small to be a useable
tablet.

~~~
bagacrap
Women more often have hand bags to carry the phones in. If I carried a purse
I'd probably like a bigger phone too.

~~~
tracyshaun
Why don't you carry a purse? They've been making "man purses" for a while
now... and fanny packs are fashionable again.

~~~
Skunkleton
I carry what could be called a purse (I call it a purse). Its pretty sweet.
Bring on the pizzabox sized phones, I am ready!

------
kasey_junk
I own 2 iPhone SE, that I rotate whenever I break a screen. Yesterday I also
had the battery replaced on both of them. I don't do this for cost reasons, I
do it because I much prefer that size device and Apple won't sell it to me
anymore.

This strategy will work but will eventually require me to stop receiving
os/security updates which is a real problem.

~~~
iscrewyou
I have the iPhone 7. At work, everyday, there comes a point when I can’t
listen to and charge the phone at the same time. And I curse Apple for it
everyday.

I finally got my mom an iPhone 7 and took her iPhone SE. I use the iPhone SE
with a hotspot off the iPhone 7 and listen and charge it at the same time. I
pick up the phone and I admire it every time. Its just the perfect machine.
Almost reminds me of the last non-touchbar MacBook Pro. It’s like beating a
dead horse at this point, but looking at how they went from the SE form factor
to the 7, I always say to myself “what were they thinking?”. Maybe we’ve come
to expect too much from Apple. They have been making life easy for a while but
when they go the other way, I think the criticism is warranted.

~~~
dillonmckay
Go hold a 4S.

Pinnacle of industrial design. Even the bottom speaker holes are symmetrical.

~~~
iscrewyou
Oh I have. I used to sell those. I was anti-iPhone back then but I admired the
design. Sigh. I hope they release something that cool again. Imagine a 4s
expanded to a SE. dreams.

------
Octoth0rpe
I don't doubt that some portion of the iPhone user base really loves the 4.7"
iPhone, but I think the author's premise is based on the assumption that the
device that people use is the device that people love/want. Note that if this
assumption is incorrect, it could be wrong in either direction: there may be a
lot of people who are using 5.5" devices and would prefer a 4.7" device, but
there could easily be more people who own/use a 4.7" device and would prefer a
5.5" device and simply haven't upgraded yet.

------
ksec
We could segment it into

( Note: The iPhone SE is _4 "_, not _4.7 "_ )

4" ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ - 11%

4.7" ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ - 47%

5.8 / 6.1 " ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ - 18%

6.5" ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ - 23%

‏‏‎

But it it important to note this is iPhone distribution for Pedometer++ [1]

‏‏If we look at other source of Data, Such as MixPanel [2] which has a much
wider collection of Data. Their Size Distribution.

4" ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ - 6%

4.7" ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ - 39%

5.8 / 6.1 " ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ - 25%

6.5" ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ ‏‏‎ - 30%

‏‏‎

And unless the App or Mixpanel is extremely popular in Asia ( Excluding Japan
which we are known for preferring iPhone 4.7" Size ), this is excluding vast
amount of people in that region where Sales Data suggest they vastly prefer
iPhone 5.8"\+ Size.

And given the 3+ years lengthy iPhone replacement circle, the data doesn't
really shows or suggest whether the 4.7" user are holding out because they
have no newer 4.7" iPhone to choose from, waiting to make the jump into
5.8/6.1" iPhone, or my guess would be iOS 12 with i6s up are good enough for
vast majority of our daily task, and they are holding it for even longer.

Note: Apple currently has 900M Active iPhone User base, and is trending
towards 1 B sometime in 2020. Even a 10% usage base prefer 4" is an 100M unit
opportunity. Of course that is assuming those users really want a SE Size
phone and not buying it because of its price.

[1]
[https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pedometer/id712286167](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pedometer/id712286167)

[2]
[https://mixpanel.com/trends/#report/iphone_models/from_date:...](https://mixpanel.com/trends/#report/iphone_models/from_date:-1395,report_unit:month,to_date:0)

~~~
raydev
The MixPanel stats reveal the disconnect between the SE fans who always flood
these threads and the rest of the world.

David Smith is a well known dev in tech circles and his audience would skew
more toward "tech nerds". Look at the wider stats and suddenly you see the 4"
audience sliced in half.

~~~
dillonmckay
Also noting the significant increase in ‘big screen’ phones, perhaps the
majority of the people want a better camera?

------
phs318u
As someone who very recently went from an iPhone SE - which I treasured since
it came out (and which I nursed through one battery replacement and two screen
replacements) - to an iPhone XR (triggered by a another digitiser failure), I
can honestly say that I’m loving the performance boost, the massive battery
life, the better camera and the brighter screen. However it’s taking some time
to adjust to the size (150.9mm x 75.7mm x 8.3mm, versus the SE’s 123.8mm x
58.6mm x 7.6mm).

I used to be able to slip my SE comfortably into the front pocket of my pants
or jeans, and it’s size coupled with its rigidity meant I never worried that
sitting or bending would damage it or discomfort me. I could even put it in a
shirt pocket, where it’s relatively light weight (113g vs the XR’s 196gm),
wouldn’t cause undue sag in my shirt.

For me it’s definitely been a trade off. Having gotten mostly used to it
though, (meaning I now carry my phone in my hands much more than I ever did),
I don’t think I would go back unless I could get significantly better specs
than the original SE (performance, batter, brightness, camer) in the smaller
form factor.

EDIT: correction to first para.

------
geuis
I’m still using my trusty 6s. About a month ago I took my phone in to get the
battery replaced. Curious, I asked the Apple rep about a 10s and after some
hemming and getting $200 trade-in for my 6s I made the switch.

I regretted it immediately. I was stuck in the Apple store for over an hour
trying to setup the new phone while it slowly downloaded an update before I
could even finish getting it into a minimal user state, meaning I couldn’t go
home and continue setting up later.

The faceid was interesting at first but really annoying pretty quickly.
TouchID is really useful since I don’t always want to have to look into the
phone.

ApplePay as a convenience is ruined by the lack of a TouchID sensor. With
FaceId you have to look at the phone and then double press a button on the
side of the phone. My brain boggled at how they’ve ruined the entire ApplePay
usage process.

Final straw was the lack of a headphone jack, which has been my primary
holdout reason. Turns out, the dongle is just annoying.

Combined with my immediate experience and second thoughts, I went back into
the store (since I was still stuck there setting up the new one) and got my
old phone back and paid the difference. It was a bit unusual for the Apple
staff but they were super nice and got my 6s back.

At that point I left with both phones since I wanted to try the new one over
night to give it a shot. Next day, I had enough and went back to the store and
returned the 10.

I’m still quite happy with my 6s and honestly may have to consider an Android
phone when this one dies.

I’ve been a loyal Apple customer for over 30 years and have just been
disappointed with them for the choices they’ve been making in the last few
years. At work I returned the 2018 MacBook Pro and got a 2015 one because of
the terrible oversized trackpad and useless Touch Bar.

I hope they change some things soon.

------
elcomet
It is very hard to find small and powerful Android phones nowadays. Post new
phones are at least 5.5" which I consider already too big.

I eventually bought an old Galaxy A5 2017, which is slow, but has a
confortable small screen.

~~~
ojagodzinski
Samsung S10e and others from:
[https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=2018&nHeightM...](https://www.gsmarena.com/results.php3?nYearMin=2018&nHeightMax=150&nWidthMax=72&nThicknessMax=8&fDisplayInchesMin=5.1&chkUSBC=selected&sOSes=2)

~~~
robertoandred
The S10e is the same size as an iPhone X. Not small at all.

------
justinph
4" iPhones are 11%, according to this chart, and those are models that haven't
been updated in three years. That's pretty substantial, too.

~~~
raydev
David Smith's apps have a very particular audience. MixPanel is more reliable
to get a better view of the entire market.

------
Havoc
I suspect that's largely from age of phones and price rather than true screen
size preference. The bigger iPhone are hideously expensive if you're not in a
high CoL 1st world place

------
wuliwong
I upgraded to the latest iphone XS this year after my iphone 7s had a cellular
antenna failure which Apple would not fix even with my apple care plan. After
about 4 months with this new phone I still prefer the older phone. I do not
really notice better clarity or colors in this OLED screen and I miss the home
button. Wouldn't mind that headphone jack back either. :) I also do not like
the location of the "utility menu" now. I have to swipe down from the upper
right-hand corner which is a big stretch for me, I often use 2 hands. This is
an action I have to do often and I am not sure why apple moved it to that
location. In the end, I will stay with this phone as I like the faster
processor and more RAM but the design and execution seems to have been a step
back. I've owned a 5s, 6s, 7s and Xs and I would choose the 4.7" as my
preferred form factor.

------
nateburke
Every time I increase the size of my phone screen, I experience a large step
up in the extent to which I am addicted to my phone.

It might just be the increased responsiveness of a new phone, but I also think
there is a direct relation between personal attachment to a screen-object and
the field-of-vision % occupied by that screen object.

Squinting might give you eye wrinkles, but I think it is an important check on
how much overall screen time you spend in a day.

4S 4 life!

------
larrik
I've had iPhones exclusively since the 3G, buying basically every other year.

My happiness peaked with the 5. The 6 was "fine", the 7 was a downgrade, and I
then I didn't like any of its replacements and finally got an XR, which I
don't like nearly as much as the 7 or 6.

------
vbezhenar
I recently bought iPhone 8 after using 4S for many years. That screen is too
huge! I would switch it to SE if not for better tech inside (better
fingerprint reader is the main selling point for me, but better CPU is nice
too). I'm using iPhone 8 for almost a year now and I can't get accustomed to
it. I loved when I could use phone with one hand. Also my hands are huge, so I
have no idea how could one use it with one hand (without that gimmick with
double-tapping home button).

Now recent iPhone models are just not appealing to me at all. I don't want to
use face recognition and they no longer use fingerprint readers.

Honestly, give me tiny iPhone with 3'5" display, put latest tech inside and
you'll have my $300 immediately.

~~~
santoshalper
Apple has very little interest in your $300. They want to make big, premium,
high-margin devices that sell for $800+.

It's the same reason they will never make a modular, upgradable desktop (no,
the new MacPro does not count), the margins just aren't there. Apple only
competes in spaces where they can make a lot of profit

It's funny because I am usually not interested in those types of products, but
I still admire their commitment to their strategy.

~~~
vanilla_nut
Give me tiny iphone with 3.5" display and I'll give you my $1000. There is
literally no competition in this space and enough people hanging on to SEs and
complaining about pocketability that I'm positive it would still sell well.
When I pull out my SE when hanging out with someone new, the most common
reaction is "wow! I wish my phone was still that small" and a lot of
complaints about big phones.

There is a huge untapped market here. I'm not suggesting it's bigger than the
market for the XS Plus Max 7" behemoth... but it's certainly not negligible.
There is a reason the iPod Nano and the iPod Classic were both popular.

------
iscrewyou
iPhone 6 and 6s still make 21% of the pie chart. I wonder how many of these
people are still holding on to the phone due to the headphone jack and the
charger.

~~~
DanTheManPR
I hold onto my SE and 6s plus for that reason. I do own AirPods, and I like
them... but they don't have quite enough battery life for a whole day worth of
conference calls, audiobooks and podcasts. And they definitely cannot compete
with standard headphones for music. A headphone jack easily accommodates any
headset device I want to use, and I'm not willing to regress back to using an
adapter dongle.

~~~
iscrewyou
Same here. I have a good set of headphone that are not wireless. I use an SE
at work as an iPod touch (hotspot with my 7). I like being able to charge the
phone and still be able to listen to stuff on my headphones. I like my AirPods
at the gym and gym only.

------
vegardx
Since these always-on pedometers are built into newer models it seems to make
the statistics less relevant, you don't need an app to tell you exactly what
Health is able to tell you.

That said, you see a lot of Uber drivers using the iPhone SE, while rocking
some Android phone for other things. I'm guessing it has something to do with
compatibility of the Uber app, or that they're driving for more than just
Uber.

~~~
Veen
Pedometer++ has a nice interface and it lets you set goals etc. You don't need
it to get the raw stats but it's a more pleasant experience than delving
through the health app.

------
alexnewman
I gave up on the SE this year. I bought it when I was new. I switched back to
a pixel 3a, but I hate it. I'll probably switch back to a flip phone. I just
want a headphone jack, decent battery, and a working phone

------
donohoe
I am on my 3rd iPhone SE and I have a 'new' one for when this one dies or
becomes unrepairable.

I've been pretty vocal in my praise for it that my daughter choose it as her
first phone despite the other options.

------
1023bytes
It's not really just about size, not many people want to pay $1000 for a
smartphone, when you can get nearly all the features for half or thrid that
price. I guess analyzing this data for Android would yield better results
about size preference.

------
saagarjha
> People really, really like the 4.7″ iPhone.

I think this is just that Apple’s flagship devices were sold in this size for
more than four years?

------
Finnucane
I'm in the 0% of users still holding on to their iPhone 5. Yeah, I know, I
should get a new phone, but I was really hoping 5G would be sorted before I
did that. And when I do, I'll buy the smallest phone I can get.

~~~
jdhn
5G is the reason I'm hoping my iPhone 6 holds out until next year, which is
when the iPhones with 5G are rumored to be released.

------
pushtheenvelope
i too love my SE.

I used to have a 7, but was always too awkwardly big to hold or to put in my
pocket. SE is the perfect size. It also has the benefit of helping me manage
screen time -- i don't really wanna get sucked into long content on this
screen-size, and can save it to consume later on the laptop (or never, which
is most often just fine).

------
n1000
Well, isn't the reason simply the timelag? The iPhone 6–8 are mid-lifecycle,
the larger ones are relatively new, and the smaller ones rather at the end of
their life cycle? After all iPhones seem to have a 5+ year lifespan [0]. Also
the larger X phones come with a crazy price tag.

[0] [https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12806](https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.12806)

------
mrtron
I would bet that corporate customers are a huge purchaser of the iPhone SE.

I am aware of several huge companies exclusively purchase that device.

------
PhasmaFelis
It's hilarious to think that, barely more than 10 years ago, having the
smallest possible phone was a status symbol.

~~~
zedpm
I imagine it will be again. Once the huge phone cycle wanes (and it may
already be doing so), we'll start seeing smaller phones pitched as a hot new
development. Then again, with Apple beefing up the functionality of their
watch, it may be that watch + AirPods takes the place of the tiny phone.
Shrug.

~~~
dangus
What makes you think the trend will reverse or that this is part of a cycle?

Small phones were popular when all they could do was make calls and even
texting was sort of cumbersome and rare. Of course you'd want that sort of
single use device to be as small as possible.

I fail to see how YouTube, Fornite, and Instagram users (to name a few) will
want a smaller screen.

I also think the market has settled on rather standard _phone body_ sizes that
have not changed significantly since 2014 or so.

~~~
zedpm
>I fail to see how YouTube, Fornite, and Instagram users (to name a few) will
want a smaller screen.

I can't comment on what those users want; I don't use any of those things on
my phone. I'm not claiming that large phones will cease to exist; I'm guessing
that there will be a new trend promoting smaller phones. Some folks will jump
on the bandwagon, some will stick with their phablets. Apple in particular
will probably make a big marketing push that tries to portray small phones as
some kind of cutting-edge innovation.

~~~
dangus
It certainly doesn’t have to be Fortnite in particular, which has over 80
million monthly logins, but if you are on a bus or subway count the number of
people who _aren’t_ reading, playing, or watching content on their phone
during the journey.

As another example, Nintendo completely discontinued the non-XL 3DS models in
the USA.

I think you aren’t wrong, there are enough people somewhere to buy a small
screen smartphone, but apparently that number is small enough to not even open
up a single assembly line for.

------
derefr
I was last looking for a new phone around the time the iPhone X came out, but
I decided on an iPhone 8 instead of an X. The X was not only more expensive,
but also felt _heavy_ and _chunky_ in a way that I hadn't experienced since
the original iPhone. It put me off. I decided that I'd wait until my next
phone upgrade to get on the screen-to-body-ratio bandwagon.

I'm guessing a lot of people are in the same boat. It normally takes at least
four generations before an old model of phone starts feeling slow running
modern versions of apps, so we're not yet at the point where anyone who had to
make that decision (small-screen light cheap phone, or big-screen expensive
heavy phone) has felt the need to upgrade again, and so had the chance to re-
evaluate the landscape.

------
kolbe
The author's app is Pedometer++. My guess is that smaller phones are over
represented in his data because people who value step counters probably also
value less cumbersome phones to run/walk with. I, for one, chose an SE because
I can carry it in my hand comfortably while running.

~~~
333c
Reading through this thread I keep encountering more reasons to hang onto my
SE, such as this (I run with it) and weight as it affects the possibility of
RSI. I really hope there's an SE 2 with the same form factor. I'm optimistic
because of the recent 4" iPod Touch.

------
bdcravens
I suspect this has a lot to do with older phones becoming available on MVNOs
in the <$300 range.

------
asauce
I recently upgraded from an iPhone 6 to an iPhone XR. I love the new phone,
however I still miss the size of the 6. I was able to hold and operate the
phone in one hand. Using two hands for the XR is a pain in the ass, but using
one hand feels like I could drop it at any moment.

I think one factor that caused this phenomenon is the lack of innovative
growth in the mobile device industry. Phone companies need to sell more
units... however there are no industry-shaking improvements to be made.
Therefore they default to upgrading the most obvious ones, namely screen
size/resolution and camera quality. Therefore our phones get bigger for the
sake of advancement.

------
dade_
Hoping for Sony to release the ACE for international markets: Sony Mobile
recently announced the Xperia Ace (SO-02L) for the Japanese market. This is
Sony’s smallest handset released in 2019, with a 5-inch FHD+ display, a water
resistant body, Snapdragon 630 chipset, 4GB RAM and 64GB storage.
[https://www.xperiablog.net/2019/06/20/xperia-ace-is-an-
inter...](https://www.xperiablog.net/2019/06/20/xperia-ace-is-an-
international-release-now-more-likely/)

------
imagetic
I should have stockpiled a few of those refurbished iPhone SEs apple had
restocked just to hold out and be happy as long as possible.

------
ngcc_hk
Love to use a SE as an second (third sim) to my max. Sad to see that form
factor to go. Did get a new iPod of that form factor.

------
ChuckMcM
I'm I reading this right? A person who sells an app called "Pedometer" (which
tracks your steps) sees iPhones that fit easily in your pocket as the most
common size for people who buy the App? If so I'd guess people who measure
their steps correlates strongly with people who don't like to carry extra
carry bags.

------
kozak
I have a Pixel 2 XL, and I like its width, but its length is totally
pointless. I don't get why they don't make phones with less enongated aspect
ratio. 9:16 is ought to be enough for everyone, why would anyone want a
vertical screen that is taller than that.

------
johncalvinyoung
Interesting--and I carry a 4.7" iPhone, and I do like the form factor. But I
suspect it's thrown off a bit by the rise in ASP across the line recently--the
newer phones are quite a bit more expensive, and I know I'm not the only one
who's delayed the upgrade a bit.

------
malshe
There are at least two other variables which will lead to the same pattern -
the weight of the phone and its price. Larger phones are heavier and more
expensive. Thus, saying 4.7" phones are popular is like saying:

1) Lighter phones are more popular

2) Cheaper phones are more popular

~~~
pier25
It's anecdotal, but I've never seen someone care about the weight of a phone
as a decisive factor.

~~~
hhunccfing
Hi, I care significantly about the weight.

I find all the new X series iPhones to be too heavy.

~~~
nabeards
100% agree. I went into an Apple Store for the first time in a long while just
a few weeks ago, and I couldn't believe how heavy the phones have gotten I
have an iPhone 6 now and just don't see a good reason to upgrade. Even if I
can't upgrade to iOS 13, I'll probably wait another year or two.

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centrinoblue
I absolutely love my 5s mostly for the form factor - will be a sad day when it
finally dies

~~~
dgellow
You can still buy an iPhone SE, they have the exact same form factor.

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nazgulnarsil
Rumor has it Apple will put a 5.4 inch screen in a iPhone 8 size body. I hope
it's true because the Android manufacturers will definitely copy them and I'll
be able to get a phone under 68mm wide again.

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gandalfian
Welcome to the Asian century? They like big phones, phablets. We get what they
like...

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forrestthewoods
Is this information biased by app? Are people more likely to strap a smaller
phone to their arm? I’d be curious to know if this device distribution is
similar for different apps.

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gok
> People really, really like the 4.7″ iPhone.

It would be more accurate to say that a lot people _have_ 4.7" iPhones. It's
been on sale for a long time and iPhones last a while.

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akeck
I get this. My Plus let's me do art and work more effectively, but I must be
constantly vigilant of RSI due to its weight.

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readhn
my only reason for upgrade to 6s plus and then 7 plus was better camera -
optical image stabilization on 6s plus and dual camera with portrait mode on
iphone 7 plus.

small iphones (6S and 7) do not have the best cameras.

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geoffmac
this guy has mostly developers as users, developers use smaller phones

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sunkenvicar
iOS 13 supports the 6s and the SE.

Don’t believe everything you read on the internet.

~~~
Wowfunhappy
The article does not claim otherwise.

~~~
sunkenvicar
Haha. I must have been hallucinating.

