Four years after launching the original 4-inch iPhone SE, Apple last month unveiled the new iPhone SE – with a 4.7-inch display, marking the end of Apple’s tiny iPhone era.
The iPhone SE, which looks like an iPhone 8 but features the iPhone 11’s powerful A13 chipset, uses a 4.7-inch display.
Apple claims that it’s a “small” phone. And it is the smallest (and cheapest) iPhone currently available in Apple’s lineup. It’s also relatively compact by today’s phone standards… But at 4.7 inches, the 2020 iPhone SE is roughly 20% larger than the original iPhone SE, which had a 4-inch screen.
If you were holding out for something truly tiny, the iPhone SE 2020 doesn’t deliver on that front. Apple’s decision to not build a brand-new 4-inch phone is telling. It signals that the company will probably never bring back the tiny iPhone, no matter how badly people crave it.
Personally, I’m all for it. Because we’re in 2020 and I want a big phone. And because large screens simply deliver a better, more immersive user experience. For me, “portability” takes a backseat compared to those benefits… I used to adore my 4.7-inch iPhone 8, which I clung onto for years. I loved how it was purse-friendly and fairly effortless to use with one hand. But when I upgraded to the 5.8-inch iPhone X in 2018, it’s been almost punishing to go back to anything smaller.
MacDailyNews Take: Yup. In general, the only people who still think they want a 4-inch iPhone are those who do not yet own a 4.7-inch iPhone 6 or 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus. — MacDailyNews Take, December 5, 2014
If there were enough of a market for it and enough profit in it, Apple would have up-to-date 4-inch X-class [Home button-free] iPhones in gold, silver, and space grey on store shelves right now. — MacDailyNews, January 25, 2019