7 posts were split to a new topic: Cleaning the iPhone charging port
Funny…this discussion is on-trend with some recent news stories!
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/style/claw-grip-women-holding-things.html
“Known as ‘the claw grip’ online, women are making videos about how many objects they can hold without a purse or functional pockets. What is the larger message?”
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With all the smart (somewhat intrusive) features that change the items on a phone or computer screen without user interaction maybe there could be a smart phone that automatically adjusts, say, the font size for the user, depending on where they are actually looking. In this way a smaller screen could be adequate for people with reduced vision. If in-car cameras can track where a driver is looking maybe a phone could use the same technology
Oh, maybe I should have patented the idea before posting here! 
I loved the MBP 17"… is still working on my parents home. I have a MBP 16" with a 4K 32" monitor. Yes, for serious work a big screen is a must. Handling several large spreadsheets in a small monitor is a nightmare. But for a phone, mainly to make and receive calls, listen to music, listen to audio messages, occasionally send and receive texts or even take pictures, a smaller screen is optimal. A smaller phone weights less, is easier to carry with you everywhere, anytime, and it is low profile. That is why I have my iPhone 13 Mini and do not plan to upgrade to the 17 
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I have a 12 mini and anything larger is just annoying for a device that is not central to my life. It may have become a necessity, but that does not mean I have any use for a bigger screen. Screen Time logged me as using my phone about 15 minutes across the day.
On the other hand, I have 24" and 27" displays off my Mac, and a 13" iPad Pro, things that are much more important to me than a phone.
As others have said here, for calls, checking messages, snapping the electricity meter, paying for parking or accessing my bank, a small phone is just perfect.
I could be up for an iPhone Air mini!
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In the late 1980’s, I worked with a technology known as foveation. We used gaze trackers (a small headset-like device) because I don’t think image processing was up to the task of tracking gaze from a camera image. The original idea was to reduce bandwidth required to send video by only sending the full resolution where the user was actually looking. One variation was a way to make text more readable on a small screen by magnifying the text under the gaze.
One interesting side effect is that it made the screen unviewable to anyone not wearing the gaze tracker. That caught the attention of the military-industrial complex and the project got sucked into the intelligence world. I don’t think it ever made it into any mass-market products.
Apple’s Vision Pro uses this so that only what you stare at is in full resolution. Things off to the side are blurry until you look at them.
I really only notice it when using a Mac screen mirrored inside the device. Then I am aware that text on the edges of my vision is slightly out of focus, but when I go to look at it, it sharpens. 
I think this is the crux of the situation. Everyone who has posted about why they like smaller phones is generally not using them as computers.
I also don’t use my iPhone if I have access to a bigger-screen device (iPad, Mac, etc.), just like I’d rather read a text on my phone than on my watch. But in a pinch or certain situations when I need to do something critical on my phone and I don’t have access to other devices, the bigger screen is a near-necessity.
For me the usefulness of the bigger screen is greater than the benefits of a smaller size phone, but I can definitely understand that isn’t the case for everyone.
As Apple gets bigger and tries to serve the greatest common denominator, it does make sense they’d focus on the bigger screens that 99% of the population wants.
I also wonder if there aren’t cost savings for Apple in making just two or three screen sizes. At the volumes they produce, having to have a separate production line of a tiny screen might be more expensive than just adding those into the bigger screen line.
It could also be telling that many of the commenters in this thread show little loyalty to Apple, implying they’d buy a cheap feature or flip phone that’s the right size if Apple doesn’t make the size they want. So the “small size” crowd might be vocal, but if they aren’t loyal to Apple and don’t need to run apps or do anything fancy on their phones, why should Apple make a phone just for them?
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That same argument could be made for Apple to kill off both the Mac Pro and Mac Studio. On Mac, Apple has always found it in themselves to cater to more specialized use. But apparently they don’t want to do that for iPhone.
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Both of those had other advantages as well: (1) massive profit margins, and (2) (hat tip to John Siracusa) the supercar halo image.
(And let’s not forget how long Apple neglected the Mac Pro – and how new a thing the Mac Studio is)
I think a lot of such users would have an “I haven’t been ‘disloyal’ to Apple; Apple has been disloyal to me” attitude, especially the users who are long-time TidBITS readers.
I’m not directing this comment at you, @xdev, and I realize it can be tedious to read persistent posts complaining about Apple’s choices. Still, it is interesting to me that many people who post in Apple forums seem so ready to discredit and invalidate the interests and preferences of others who push back against whatever the Apple party line of the day may be. It sometimes borders on intolerance of dissent.
In many cases, the people complaining and pushing back are Apple’s most loyal customers. They push back because they truly care about Apple products and the use cases for them. Apple may be risking more than it appears by alienating them.
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No one has yet talked about aiding the user grasp of context. Trying to visualize or define a month’s activities on iPhone is extremely difficult when event planning often depends on other events or event location from a web site. So my approach is to enter an event on iPhone as dictated. Verification of proper fit to other events and people is done on a 24 or 27 " screen on my Mac mini. So, pick your tools to fit your business cases.
Our iPhone progression: base iPhone 4; iPhone 7 (me) and 7 Plus (her); iPhone 12 Pro Max. Sharing pictures has become a major part of our social activities. I personally have edited at least one photo on iPhone in the last few years – writing and editing are big screen and keyboard activities for me. The TidBITS TALK editor on big desktop screen works for me but is difficult to impossible on iPhone.
Getting back to iPhone size – She has pockets in many outfits along with ‘purses’ like Eddie Bauer pouches with zippered pockets for iPhone along with wallet, makeup, and whatever used for travel. I use a Piano pattern Chala pouch which just zips in my 12 Pro Max in a Red2Fire case. A front pocket holds Pen/Stylus and AirPods Pro2 case.
The 12 Pro Max also works fine in a suit coat or pocketed shirt but the zipped pouch or deep pants pockets are less likely to have ‘fallout’.
In my use, larger size in a grippy case keeps my iPhone in hand.
The new slim iPhone would probably not survive me. Health features, cameras, and screen will influence my choice.
[Please assume the trademark marks as appropriate above.]
In order of priority I use my mobile:
- as a phone
- a diary
- for messages
- checking emails
- travel directions
- everything else is bonus, albeit little used, as my Studio is my main computer and iPad for incidental computing
Accordingly I want a small, light, reasonable robust object which easily fits into most trouser pockets and has easy integration with Apple’s Contacts, Calendar, iMessage and Maps. The iPhone SE meets those needs.
Maybe Apple could split it’s product line 
into iPhone for users like me and iPuter/iCamera for those who use it as their main computing device.
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My wife moved up to an iPhone 15 last year and she complains the size of it has given her arthritis, but that doesn’t stop her from using it. She gave me her old SE, which I find hard to use because of its size. My eyes don’t like small type on small screens, so I work on a desktop lap with a 27-inch screen.
I am loyal to Apple. But not to the point where I’ll spend more money for something I won’t like or need (providing there is another phone that can serve the purpose)
My 13 Mini cost more than my Mac Mini and the computer lasts longer for me.
I was forced into a 5G plan by Verizon and I don’t even get 5G at my house despite it being available.
That’s a lot of extra money I can do other things with!
I was very happy with my Motorola flip phone in the day.
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The only reason I got an iPhone was that my wife had upgraded hers and the crummy 4G flip phone AT&T gave me when they shut down their 3D broke, and using her old SE was cheaper than buying a new phone. After about a year of using the iPhone I don’t think I would buy another smartphone because I only use the phone for taking photos, receiving security codes, and the occasional call when I’m out. I find the SE very cumbersome when answering calls; I have to extract it from my pants pocket, put on my reading glasses to read the calling number, and hit the right spot to answer.
Of all the countless Apple devices I have used since the launch of the 128k Mac, the iPhone is easily my least favourite, because I find the ergonomics so poor. For me, it would be difficult to find a shape less compatible with the human hand. My long-departed Sony CMD-Z1 phone was lovely in the hand, fun to use, and never needed the constant labour that a smartphone demands.
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Because it is a phone. The other features are often convenient for quick use. For long use, I go to my iPad mini.
I don’t want a movie camera, a game player, or a vending machine in my pocket… just a phone. And why can’t I have a mini-jack?
My other phone is even more of “just a phone”, the LightPhone 2. I can make it a hotspot, connect my iPad mini to it and do all the things I need when I’m not pocket constrained.
And why can’t I pair my watch to my iPad mini?
Entirely this. I don’t carry a bag, and the 16 Pro is just barely still able to fit in my pocket reasonably. I was happy with the smaller phones. I tried the 8+, and regretted it for as long as I owned it (and I upgraded to an SE just to get rid of it). I’m happy with the features of the Pro, but there’s no way I’d ever buy a Pro Max.
I’ll be interested in looking at the foldable once it’s released (and once they’ve had a generation or two to work out the inevitable bugs, but I have an iPad Mini specifically for reading books (and accessing sites when I don’t have my MBP with me). I haven’t had a full sized iPad since the Mini was first released, and I’ll be quite angry if Apple ever decide to stop making that form factor. The Mini entirely replaces a Kindle or other reader, with the added bonus of the Apple ecosystem (iOS apps, iCloud Keychain, etc.). The only advantages of a Kindle are the battery life and the ability to read in bright sunlight, but it’s rare that I need to deal with either of those (and when I go to the beach, I generally take real paper books).
The old Bell System corded phone of the 1960s was designed very carefully for the adult human hand to wrap around the bar between the speaker and the microphone, so it was ideal for long conversations which the phone companies charged for outside the local area. People calling long distance could run up huge phone bills, and would have their phone service cut off when they couldn’t pay the bills, so the phone companies worked hard to give good voice service. Once cell phones became common and the charge per minute dropped, the phone companies stopped designing comfortable phones because they no longer profited from long phone calls.