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Here's what I wrote two years ago, when the iPhone 5 shipped:

  > There is no argument that some people really do like these big
  > closer-to-5-than-4-inch Android and Windows phones. I was in a
  > Verizon retail store yesterday (long story; don’t ask) and
  > overheard a relatively small woman buying a Galaxy S III. A
  > companion asked if she wasn’t worried that it was too big, and she
  > said no, big was exactly what she wanted, because she doesn’t have
  > a tablet and wanted to do a lot of reading on whatever phone she
  > got. She even said she was thinking about the 5-inch Galaxy Note
  > (which Verizon doesn’t carry). It was like a conversation out of a
  > Samsung commercial. Such people surely think the iPhone 5’s
  > display remains too small. But, trust me, there are going to be
  > many long-time iPhone users complaining that it’s too big after
  > they upgrade.
  >
  > In an ideal world, perhaps Apple would offer two iPhone sizes --
  > like they do with products such as MacBook Pros, MacBook Airs, and
  > iMacs. A smaller one with the classic 3.5-inch display, and a
  > larger (say, 4.5-inch?) one for people who want that.

http://daringfireball.net/2012/09/iphone_5

That holds up pretty well, but I undershot the two sizes by an inch apiece.

Also, I haven't said whether I think a 5.5-inch iPhone is actually any good, because, duh, I haven't even seen one yet, let alone used one.

I was just discussing the screen size rumors with an iPhone 5 user yesterday, and you're spot on with the complaints about it being too big.

On his 3g (or maybe 3gs?) you could hold it one handed and reliably reach the whole screen with your thumb. One the iPhone 5's larger screen that's no longer true.

Apple's certainly aware of this problem, so even if they launch a bigger screened version I can't imagine they'll dropping the form factor of the 5s any time soon. But I'm curious to see how they'll market it.

Limiting iPhones to a single size has always let them control the touchscreen experience, but they'll have a lot of people buying phones with a worse experience because they don't think about the downsides of a larger screen.

Apple's always made it their business to make as many design decisions as possible for their users, and it's worked out well for their OSes and devices. I'm betting some people there aren't happy about giving this one up.

I own a Nexus 5 which is a pretty big phone by American standards. I just spent the last few days in Korea. My phone would be considered small here. Lots of Note sized phones here. I saw kids watching TV and movies on the train or multi-tasking running two apps at the same time. It was pretty impressive and I'm sure the giant batteries in those things is a nice little perk.

Next to them sat the occasional iPhone owner who was doing basic Facebook duty or playing simple games. I'm sure Apple is feeling a lot of pressure in Asia to move to a bigger screen.

Before Korea, last week I was in Japan, and didn't see this large of a percentage of big screen phones, but I saw lots of iPad minis out on the train and elsewhere while phones were safely kept in pocket. I think once people get a taste of a larger screen its hard to go back to the tiny 4" world. Sadly, this exposes the cult of personality Apple enthusiasts often partake of. 4" was perfect because Jobs and some psuedoscience said so. Now its not. I'm getting a little sick of these loudmouth guys who think perfection is achievable. Popular technology has a lot more in common with fashion than engineering. Wish these guys understood this and stopped putting their foot in their mouths, not that this is going to hurt Gruber's ad impressions. Being a dramatic soapbox-like loudmouth seems to be very profitable for bloggers. Why do we always gravitate to the Perez Hilton's of the tech world instead of more informed and moderate voices? Is fandom always irrational and will always reward those who know how to play the lowest common denominator?

I was really hesitant to get one of those large phones, but my last trip to Korea and a visit by some friends here convinced me that like usual, Korea is living in the future w/r to portable electronics.

So I just got a Note and it's possibly one of the most liberating personal electronic devices I've gotten since my first smart phone. The Samsung software sucks as usual, but once you get things set up (taking all of half an hour) it's easily the best mobile device on the market right now.

4" is still the perfect on-the-go smartphone size. Apple has not been wrong about that.

But 4" is too small if it is the only device you have, if you use your device both as your mobile and as a PC or tablet. This has been Apple's blind spot, exacerbated by their focus on higher income customers who can afford multiple devices.

Much of the rest of the world cannot afford multiple expensive devices.

Much of today's youth are mobile only by choice. Since they text rather than make calls, and almost always have headphones with them, the awkwardness of putting a large device to their ear is a non-issue.

So what's your point? For what it's worth, Gruber is on record as not going to buy the 5.5" version, as it's too large (the Talk Show podcasts of recent weeks). He also still believes that the smaller form factor is better, but as Apple doesn't appear to be continuing the 4" line, what's a guy like Gruber, who is all-in on Apple, supposed to do? Not talk about Apple?

Better to say I expect to prefer the 4.7 over the 5.5-inch phone, personally. But I would never say I won't buy a product before I've actually seen it in person.

(I have seen other 5.5-inch phones, though, and none seem like something I'd want to carry in my pocket everywhere.)

Ahhh, sorry John, I didn't want to put words in your mouth, but I wrote that post on my phone, so I went with a shorter version of you without the caveats / conditions that you mentioned. My bad...

I think it's quite natural to base your thinking on your current use case. In the 90s we had a discussion about something involving SMS on IRC, and soon suddenly pretty much all the american people decided it was the most stupid thing they've ever heard of and such a thing could never take off in the US.

These were gadget happy geeks on IRC mind you. There are also the famous Slashdot iPod comments. Once the apple fans have gotten used to the larger screens they will think it was the way Jobs intended.

This can be seen again and again in everything from politics to religion .. to tech (which is not far from either nowadays, right?).

Gruber is a notorious shill. Daringfireball is about the only thing on HN I regularly flag because it's usually such brain free cheer leading drivel. But on occasion the analysis is good even if his introspection and self-awareness isn't.

His function in the technology news media is almost exactly like a political pundit, he sets the talking points and they'll reverberate around the Apple-sphere for years even they've long stopped making any kind of sense.

I didn't flag this one because for what it's worth, it's a decent approach and analysis and technically possible.

What's not said here is of course the denouncement that he's now obliged to make against the larger format phone (after towing the line for so many years that bigger phones are the worst thing since the last mass extinction event) and the writeup about how this entire kind of analysis is necessary because of weaknesses in Apple's approach to handling different screen size and resolutions that only now being solved.

That's an abuse of flagging. I wouldn't be surprised if the moderators have your flags going straight to /dev/null because you're using it to mark earnest content you disagree with.

No it's not. Read the guidelines. Half the garbage he writes is just fanboyism and doesn't even meet the "interesting" criteria. In fact, similar fawning crap by other writers are even autokilled, but because Gruber writes about Apple his stuff lives on.

To be fair, one of the reasons that I went back from the galaxy was because I actually preferred the smaller phone. I have a friend who was happy with his 4S but bought a 5S because he was afraid he wouldn't have the option of a smaller phone.

I'm not saying big screen is for everyone. I'm simply pointing out how stubborn and blind they were.

They were not defending small screen. They were basically saying big screen is useless, stupid, and bad fit for your hand if you are normal human.

Oh well.

it is a bad fit for your hand if you're a normal human

I am over 6 feet and I can't hit the corners of my nexus 5 with a single hand. I've had to rearrange app icons on my home screen to be able to switch between spotify and google maps while driving. For a 5' tall person probably the top inch of the phone -- notably where the status screen comes from -- is inaccessible with one hand.

Personally, I'll never use a smaller phone again. I use a lot less of my tablet since getting my nexus 5; in practice, it's big enough that reading on it doesn't suck.

Please - don't hold your phone while driving. It's incredibly dangerous for you and other people on the road.

If you absolutely have to interact with your phone while also steering a couple of tonnes of metal around, please spend a couple of bucks on a dashboard holder.