I wonder what data is motivating Apple with regard to phone sizes. I assume trends towards video and image consumption are really pushing for larger screens. Anyone have any insight or knowledge?
Another factor is the things that drive a person to spend $500+ on a phone are probably quite far removed from what they actually want from a phone from day to day. A big huge all encompassing screen is gonna outperform something that actually fits in your pocket every time.
I develop iOS apps and love my iPhone SE. It's a bit difficult to develop for that screen size, but it's only a little bit of additional effort and I wouldn't give up my phone for that. Plus, even if iPhone SE went away there are new devices with that form factor (for example, the new iPod Touch) that will be supported for quite some time.
So by developing apps compatible with the SE, it’s also helping the visually impaired.
~ Many people using phone as their only connected device (i.e., no computer at home)
~ Increased video and image consumption
~ More and more women buying smartphones (women tend not to be inconvenienced by large screens since they often store their phone in their purse)
So, an Iphone X?
- SE: 4.0" (10.16 cm)
- X: 5.8" (14.73 cm)
(source: https://www.gadgetsnow.com/compare-mobile-phones/Apple-iPhon...)
X's display is 45% larger, but the phone's total size is larger too.
You're off by almost a factor of 2, and furthermore that makes these increases significant in relative terms.
The 5S is 4.87"x2.31", the X is 5.65"x2.79", that's +0.78"/+16% in height and much worse +0.48"/+21% in width.
The phone is more "surface efficient" (phone diagonals goes from 5.4" to 6.3", or a 0.9" (and 16%) increase where the screen increased by 1.8") but it's still significantly bigger.