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Comment by c-slice | Hacker News Reader

Why the exact same shape as the iPhone 5S? I feel like a significant reason people buy new iPhones is the idea that people will notice you have the newest model. With SE, it will just appear like you have an out of date iPhone 5. Why not round the edges like the iPhone 6?

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I will replace my iPhone 5 with one of these.

I'm happy to hear that the dimensions are the same, since I have some existing accessories that would probably not work if the size were a bit different.

> I will replace my iPhone 5 with one of these.

I probably will too (currently on an iPhone 5) given that my current strategy is to replace my phone every 2 years by buying a refurbished model with 12 month warranty for ~£150 from eBay. I usually get ~£50 or so for each old phone so the physical phone only costs me £4 a month.

4GB data (4G), unlimited texts and unlimited minutes for ~£20 a month here in the UK. Was always amazed at the price of plans in the US, luckily I never had to pay my own bill when I lived there.

I think Apple doesn't want this iPhone to seem new. Otherwise you might get a bunch of people upgrading to the entry-level model instead of the more expensive iPhone 6s.

I definitely see your point, but when thinking about my grandparents / parents who are 60 years of age and older, I think a lot of ppl in that demographic really don't want a "big" phone and mostly use it for phone calls, text messaging and light web browsing. I see this as a real win for Apple and a way to score a big portion of that demo.

The iPhone 5/5S was arguably their best industrial design (I prefer the look and feel of the 4, but the glass back posed a practical problem, as did the external antenna). It's very popular. I'm considering getting this to replace my 5S, because I really don't like the 6/6S design and size very much.

Presumably it's substantially cheaper to reuse their existing production processes.

Wut... Because the iPhone 5S had great design?

Contrary to the popular meme, not all people buy Apple because they're shallow appearance-obsessed hipsters.

I'd even call this a statement of confidence in the longevity of Apple's own industrial design. There's a clear implication that Apple's design doesn't date easily.

Looks good, but horrible in the hand. Cargo culting Braun basically. They need to revive the iPhone 3 form factor.

> I feel like a significant reason people buy new iPhones is the idea that people will notice you have the newest model

Ha. No. The significant reason people buy new iPhones is because their cellular contract is up for renewal and they will get one for for free/cheap.

Ha. No. Not in many countries outside the US. Here in Belgium most people don't even have a contract, and almost all contracts don't come with a device.

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