No perfect iPhone size

Some people bought the iPhone 6 and then went back to the 5S. Some people bought the iPhone 6 Plus and then tried the 6. Some worked their way up to the 6 Plus after adapting to the 6. Some never upgraded to the 6 or 6 Plus because both are too big.

Marco’s post is a good formal summary of a few write-ups I’ve read this week:

“Having used an iPhone 6 full-time from its launch until these 6 Plus experiments over the last few weeks, I can confidently say that neither phone is extremely well-designed. Both have nontrivial and completely avoidable flaws. But the 6 Plus has bigger advantages over the other phones, while the 6 seems to sit in a mediocre middle ground.”

The lesson from all these switches couldn’t be more clear: there’s no longer one perfect iPhone for everyone. What works great for one person might be terrible for someone else. I personally love the 5C design — the size of the screen, the way the plastic feels in my hand, flipping or spinning it on my fingers without worry that it’ll slip, using it without a case, adding a little color to my life — but many people never even tried it because it contains underpowered hardware compared to the latest models.

Apple would be crazy to discontinue any size. I’m more convinced than ever that we’ll see a 4-inch 6C alongside a new 6S and 6S Plus later this year. They won’t have identical specs, and that’s okay. I’ll happily pick the 4-inch model even if its camera is a year behind the cutting edge. The iPhone market is so ginormous now that I know there are millions of people who feel the same way.

Manton Reece @manton