Rumor: Apple considering return to 4-inch form factor in 2015 with 'iPhone 6s mini'

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 244
    Nope. Never going to happen.
  • Reply 22 of 244
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Saldog View Post

     

    Ok, so Apple is going to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in a new design that has the same features as an existing design but is a little smaller? Makes no sense to me.


     

    "Ok, so Apple is going to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in a new design that has the same features as an existing design but is a little larger? Makes no sense to me."

     

    *cough* 

    Yeah, this could have been said 12 months ago.

  • Reply 23 of 244
    clemynxclemynx Posts: 1,552member
    I doubt it will be a 6S Mini. Just make a 4 inch 6C, I would definitely buy it. Too bad if it's not in metal though.
  • Reply 24 of 244
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sog35 View Post

     

     

    No. Because that LARGE model is SELLING for PREMIUM PRICES.

     

    A smaller model will NOT be able to sell for even $199 with contract




    Says who? Says you? I remember 7 months ago when a 4" phone, on the bleeding edge of the technical curve, was selling for $199 with contract. 

     

    Larger does not mean more expensive, regardless of whatever perception you want to believe. But does it even have to sell for what the 4.7" is selling for? No, and therefore that perception can be upheld in the consumers mind, too, increasing the value of the phone for the price.

  • Reply 25 of 244
    pazuzupazuzu Posts: 1,728member
    Perfect - Steve would be happy not to be following in Samsung's footprints but innovating existing products to higher levels of excellence.
  • Reply 26 of 244
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    Apple wouldn't be reintroducing anything as they currently sell 4" phones. I agree with others that Apple will keep around the 5C form factor for their entry level handset. Maybe they'll update it with new colors (black would be nice). This year Apple basically said bigger = premium. So if someone is hoping for a premium 4" phone I think you're out of luck. Unless Apple decides to change its mind again and they go back to screen size being the only differentiator. These days with Apple you never know what they're going to do. Sometimes I think they don't know either.
  • Reply 27 of 244
    jakebjakeb Posts: 562member
    Gotta love those price targets. Pretty confident it will make it to $113 since it's about 10 cents away.
  • Reply 28 of 244
    Originally Posted by jungmark View Post

    It'll just be an upgraded 5C if anything. Move along.

     

    Except no matter how many times people say this, it has never happened, ever.

  • Reply 29 of 244

    Phones are far more mass-market than computers. So there are probably sizable markets for all the various form factors. This isn't Apple "returning" to the 4" form factor; it's Apple bringing the various advanced features like Touch ID and better cameras to that size phone. Hopefully newer and smaller batteries will be able to deliver acceptable battery lives.

     

    I love my 6+ and consider its size ideal for me. But I can understand that many others might prefer other sizes.

  • Reply 30 of 244
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by sog35 View Post

     

     

    No. Because that LARGE model is SELLING for PREMIUM PRICES.

     

    A smaller model will NOT be able to sell for even $199 with contract


     

    What if that smaller phone phone had the same cam, chipset & features of the plus and instead of the big ass screen it had a better battery life? i would GLADLY pay $199 for that  

  • Reply 31 of 244
    If they make it Titanium that would fulfill this hiker's dream. Not only are the 6 and 6 Plus too big, there are also too heavy.
  • Reply 32 of 244
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    sdw2001 wrote: »
    EXACTLY what I'm saying.  They are not going to introduce a "new" 4" model.  They will just update and rename what they have.  
    saldog wrote: »
    Ok, so Apple is going to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in a new design that has the same features as an existing design but is a little smaller? Makes no sense to me.
    But this is EXACTLY what they did with the 5C. They re-enginered the 5 to replace it as the mid-tier offering. What is being suggested here is no different than that. The 6 will be re-engineered and offered as a 6 mini. And it's not such a major redesign, just shrinking the same design down (a size into which everything fit only last year). The 5S will be transplanted into the 5C case so every iPhone will have Touch ID. When the 7 comes out the 6 mini will become the new free phone and all iPhones will have ?Pay, just in time for complete market saturation of contactless POSTS.

    There is a cost to maintaining all of those different designs. The more components all of the phones have in common, the less they cost. This way, the least expensive phone will be only a year out of step with the current phones, ensuring a steady supply of parts already paid for at a lower price point with the previous year's models.
  • Reply 33 of 244
    Quote:



    Originally Posted by sog35 View Post

     

     

    you and a few thousand.

     

    4 inch premium phones are now a niche product. Deal with it.  Apple will not waste millions on retooling an entire line to make a 4 inch phone that only a few want.

     

    So you want the phone to be smaller, lighter, and thinner.   Yet have better battery life? I mean really. Do you actually hear what you type?


     

    Sorry, but no, it is not a niche market just because Apple does not produce a phone for it.

     

    We know you love your larger phone, but just because you equate bigger to better doesn't mean that all but a few thousand do, too. 

  • Reply 34 of 244

    I'm ready to upgrade now, but I don't want the larger size. Give me the modern processor, biometric locking, the improved camera, etc, but in the size of the 5 and I'll buy it. Today.  I'd buy the 5s if it wasn't so close to EOL.

  • Reply 35 of 244
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by DanielSW View Post

     

    Phones are far more mass-market than computers. So there are probably sizable markets for all the various form factors. This isn't Apple "returning" to the 4" form factor; it's Apple bringing the various advanced features like Touch ID and better cameras to that size phone. Hopefully newer and smaller batteries will be able to deliver acceptable battery lives.

     

    I love my 6+ and consider its size ideal for me. But I can understand that many others might prefer other sizes.


     agree 100%.

    the 6+ is a great device. just not practical for everyone. my career & lifestyle dont mesh with having to carry a large (fragile) device.  A smaller form factor makes way more sense for many people. My friend is a landlord & electrical contractor who is hanging on to his 4s because he hates the idea of carrying a bigger phone. he is ready to cave and get a 5S, not because he wants it, but because he is afraid they are only going to make big phones moving forward.  

  • Reply 36 of 244
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by sog35 View Post

     

     

    Tell me how many high end 4 inch Android/Windows phones were sold in the last 6 months?

     

    The ONLY reason why the majority of people bought 4 inch iPhones is because they had no other choice.

     

    I mean seriously whats next? A 3.5 inch phone?  




    The very same thing can be said about 4.7" iPhones. 

     

    Your argument has absolutely no weight without any sort of research and without your "bigger is better" mentality. 

  • Reply 37 of 244
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    rogifan wrote: »
    So if someone is hoping for a premium 4" phone I think you're out of luck.
    I think you're right. It won't be premium, but it will have most of the current feature set of the latest design. I suspect the 6 mini will share the same processor and basic feature sets as the 6S. So if it had been released along side the 6 & 6 Plus, it would have had NFC ?Pay, but perhaps not the latest camera, just like the 6 doesn't have the impressive camera the 6 Plus does. Apple is saving a fair amount between the retina screen sizes, so they just have to trim components to hit their price point. What they don't want to do is limit the pool of devices that can use their revenue generating products like ?Pay and iTunes. It will be better than the 5S to 6 specs, but not identical to the 6S.
  • Reply 38 of 244
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by sog35 View Post

     

     

    you and a few thousand.

     

    4 inch premium phones are now a niche product. Deal with it.  Apple will not waste millions on retooling an entire line to make a 4 inch phone that only a few want.

     

    So you want the phone to be smaller, lighter, and thinner.   Yet have better battery life? I mean really. Do you actually hear what you type?


     

    Do you read at all? I dont care about it being thinner or lighter. I have never picked up my 5S and said "wow, this is heavy" or "damn this is too thick" 

  • Reply 39 of 244
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by sog35 View Post

     

     

    if Apple makes a 6-mini it would use the same design language as the 6.

    So thinner, lighter.  How do you expect them to make it last longer when its even smaller.


    i dont know how to simplify this more: it doesnt have to be as thin as the 6 or 6+.

    the note is slightly thicker than the 6+ and has a way better battery life. MANY people would gladly "sacrifice" dealing with a phone the thickness of the 5 to have better battery life and not have a protruding camera lens. 

  • Reply 40 of 244
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    sog35 wrote: »
    Apple won't waste hundreds of millions designing a METAL phone that will sell for only $99

    Making a plastic design and plastic molds is 100x easier and cheaper than all metal. The 5C was easily to make.
    You have no idea what you're talking about. The design already exists, all they have to do is scale it, which is a simple matter for their precision controlled equipment. They still have to reconfigure all of the components no matter what the case is made out of. This is the reason the 5S can most likely be easily transplanted into the 5C. Milling smaller 6 cases is not a problem as they already have a plant dedicated to doing this for the 5S which will be sitting idle if they transplant the 5S into the 5C as I suspect. So it will actually be cheaper to do this than continue to manufacture, much less redesign, a plastic phone that they are giving away. Add to this the iPod Touch is metal, and there may be some room to merge those designs on the low end phone thus saving duplicating substantial R&D costs. Besides, those low-end phones are only free to consumers, the phone carriers still pay a substantial price tag for them, more than covering the cost.
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