I’m Tired of Giant Phones

See how ridiculous those big phones look? Why did Apple abandon their philosophy of phones should be comfortable to use?

My iPhone sticks out of my largest pockets. I don’t have a single pocket that can hold my entire iPhone. Of course, this makes me more vulnerable to pickpockets. It’s also the source of problems like “Bendgate.” Why do we need giant smartphones? For movies? For games? I don’t know about you, but I don’t frequently watch movies on my iPhone, and games? I grew up in the 90’s, do you know how small the Gameboy screen was? Yeah, I can do with a 5.4″ screen. That’s all I’m really asking for. Not some 3.5″ screen like the original iPhone. Not something as small as the Samsung Juke, though I wanted that so badly back in 2008.

No. I’m talking about an iPhone 5 with an edge-to-edge screen. That would have a screen size of around 5.4″ That’s more than large enough for anything you’d want to do with it. In fact, that’s just a little smaller than the Nintendo Switch Lite screen.

There goes your gaming argument.

I’m not the only one. We don’t want these giant monstrosities pouring out of our pockets and taking up as much room as a gaming system in our bags. For the love of god, Apple, make a smaller iPhone.

You Know What? Yes. It’s a Sexism Problem

The same phone in both pockets. Women’s pockets have gotten a bit better, but not enough for a modern iPhone

Listen, guys don’t like to hear this, but, yes, this is a sexism issue.

It is.

This is a problem of not enough women in tech to say, “Seriously, let’s make a phone that fits in my jeans.” Guys, where do you keep your phones? Front pocket? The women in your life can’t even keep their phones in their back pockets. Next time you’re hanging out with a woman, check out the size of her hands. With some exceptions, they’re likely smaller than yours, aren’t they? How do you think she uses her phone? Why do you think all the women you know have Pop Sockets or Phone Loops on their phones?

Yesterday I was on the train and a track came on that I really liked. I tried to turn the volume up without using a second hand and struggled to reach the volume switch. And I have larger hands for a woman! This is absurdity! Even if we say that women working at these companies wouldn’t be able to change the size of smartphones, they’d certainly mount the controls lower on the phone so women could use them. But, frankly, if Apple had any women in power at the technical or design level, we’d have smaller, actually usable, phones, instead of these giant ego-replacements.

Tech companies have a gender disparity issue. They’re considered “female-friendly” when they approach 30% of their workforce being women. 30%, in case you’re not aware, is less than 50%, the amount of the population that is female. And if you break those numbers down even further, it’s far more bleak for women in tech. Most of the tech leadership is men. Few of the engineers are female. Hardware designers are largely men. It’s not as though there are shortages of women in this industry either. Yet companies just pass over them due to bias in hiring and promotions. The women in tech often languish at the individual contributor level, making less than their peers, for many years.

Study after study shows extreme bias in hiring and promotions. But the problem isn’t just in hiring. Because, let’s face it, women have been asking for these small phones ever since the smallest iPhone you could buy was a phablet, and the largest is an actual tablet. The problem is they’re not listening. And, as a woman in tech, I can promise you they don’t listen to their own female employees often enough either.

Keep shouting. Maybe eventually someone will wake up.

But Guys Wants Smaller iPhones Too!

Even if you don’t know you do, you definitely do. Hold an old iPhone 5 in your hand. Feels good doesn’t it? Comfortable, pocket friendly, easy to grip. You can’t even imagine dropping the thing. How could you? It’s not slippery and huge like your iPhone is now. Its shape and size made it hand-friendly. Now imagine the entire thing was a screen. Imagine the Nintendo Switch screen in the palm of your hand. Pretty cool, right?

Let’s face it, if this was an option, you might pick it. Maybe not, but I’m sure a large number of you would. Size obsession is for the insecure. A Ferrari is infinitely cooler than a lifted F-150. Being huge doesn’t make your phone any better, in fact, it makes it harder to use. That’s worse. Much worse.

Pocket-Friendly Power

Concept by Curved.de

So what exactly are we looking for here? Something palm sized, like the iPhone 5. Give it an edge to edge screen, the same cameras as the phablet iPhones, and the same processor too. An iPhone Pro in the body of an iPhone 5 with a glass back. That would be the absolute perfect phone. I am 100% certain more people would want it than the iPhone Pro Max.

The smaller screen could improve battery life, but only by so much. But you know what? Make it as thick as an iPhone 5 too, if that helps. We don’t care. No one ever said, “You know, I sure do love the iPhone 5. Now if only it was half as thick with half the battery life!” No one. That was some other designer’s obsession with his ego. “The thinnest smartphone ever!” Who cares? If it can comfortably fit in a pocket and a hand, it’s the right size.

Design for humans, not for spec sheets.