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Comment by jbombadil | Hacker News Reader

I started being silly and just adding wheels and whatnot. Then at some point I decided to try to build exactly the phone I'd like. Turns out it's pretty close to the current iPhones, except:

* Replace the apple logo on the back with the touchId/home button. It can still be shaped like an apple, but please let it read my fingerprint.

* Move the power button to the top.

* Change the lightning port to USB-C (not designed here)

That's... it. It's really not that much, but it would make such an improvement.

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Out of curiosity, why would you move the power button to the top? I remember this was the configuration for the old iPod Touch, but with the power button along the side, it's easier to press the power button with your thumb in one-handed use.

With the power/display button exactly opposite the volume buttons, it is difficult to just press the power/display button without also hitting the volume up button. Then you either change volume by mistake or do a screenshot by mistake. It was better when it was on the top. alternately, just move the volume buttons to the same side as the power/display button.

If I had a dollar for every time I've done that I'd have...

checks screenshots folder

$78 dollars!

This is the most annoying iPhone thing, and it seems weird that they wouldn't have caught it.

You could have the home button that was placed on the back of the phone wake it up. I still enjoy my S9+ because of it's well-positioned fingerprint sensor on the back that wakes the phone and bypasses the lock screen.

I suppose when you're turning the phone off, you can easily shift your grip to hit the top. I still wouldn't think to put the power button there, though.

Power button on top was the old configuration for iPhones, too, for the first 7 generations. It went to the side from iPhone 6 onwards, as the phone got larger.

"the top button was renamed to "side button" and moved to the side of the phone instead of the top to improve its accessibility."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone_6

It's way too easy to press it by accident on the side. You can't use the volume buttons to take phots without twisting your hand into some special shape whilst the power button is on the side. It should return to the top.

What about making the power button recessed like on Sony Xperias? If you're really worried about camera ergonomics, you can even add a dedicated shutter button. The "focus on half press" feature might be overkill for the iPhone camera system though.

This tool has a lot of retro concepts but not a lot which got popular in the non-Apple world. For example, there is no hardware keyboard or foldable or something as simple/basic as a microUSB or USB-C port. With the recent MBPs (ARM-based) what did we get compared to previous MBPs and current competition? A non-broken keyboard (non-butterfly), not a touchbar, very long battery life, magsafe, and more commonly used ports. Most of these were fixing regressions, only the very long battery life is innovative and due to 5 nm ARM processor (not visual appearance on the device).

And much faster SSD performance and a computer that doesn’t sound like a 747 when you open more than 3 Chrome tabs.

But the battery life itself is worth it.

I did the same thing but with two changes:

* Home button doubles as the power button (press and hold)

* Headphone jack at the top

> Headphone jack at the top

You're putting it in your pocket wrong.

Heh, I guess. My last two phones had the jack at the top, so it's instinctively where I put it. I do like being able to rest it on a surface while holding it vertically with an audio cable connected. But charging it at the same time from the other end is a little weird. I guess in an ideal world I'd put both ports at the top, but I don't think that's what you were going for :)

Top is the right place unless the fone flips itself. Or playing audio in a car is a pain.

Even keeping a phone charged in a car is annoying now.

I put my phone into my pocket with the same orientation that it's in my hand, while using it. Hold phone, rotate arm down, stick in pocket. The phone is now upside down in my pocket. If the headphone jack were on the top, you would have to flip your phone first, when putting it in or pulling it out.

but the network antennae are usually located at or near the top of the front of the phone. for this reason I place mine upright, screen facing outwards. headphone socket orientation comes secondary to this

The antenna is trying to reach something in the distance, nearly horizontal. The 5 inches of height gained by placing it upright will be absolutely negligible. This is easily proven with a signal meter.

I disagree. from ground level it could be 15-20% higher, which would make a real difference. facing outwards also means not having to transmit and receive through your leg or butt

I wish you could hold the iPhone upside down, at least when charging. It is so prickly when laying down and having the charging cable jamming into your belly (like when reading a book).

The power button on top only works if your phone is going to be as small as the iPhone 4. Even with the iPhone 5 I found the button slightly too annoying to reach one-handed.

I hate that even Android phones have gone with the under screen fingerprint sensors. If they want to have one under screen, please just add another one behind the phone. It probably costs few pennies extra.

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