zlacker

There are two big issues with SFF, really:

- people tend to correlate size and price, and by default the correlation is direct (for some things it's inverse), so at similar capabilities (and thus prices) consumers will tend to go with the larger version

- for a smartphone specifically, there's a direct relationship between battery size and device size, and battery life is a really valuable convenience

The iPhone 13 mini has a 2400 mAh battery, the 13 has 3200. 33% more battery capacity is a lot, and at 2400mAh I don't think the mini doesn't survive an entire day of relatively heavy use without a charge.

>>maskli+(OP)
> for a smartphone specifically, there's a direct relationship between battery size and device size, and battery life is a really valuable convenience

As the largest consumer of energy is the display of a smartphone, you don't need the same battery size to get the same runtime in a smaller phone. Also by increasing the depth of the smartphone by just 1-2 millimeters you can offset the smaller area available for the battery.

>>Duneda+l1
> As the largest consumer of energy is the display of a smartphone, you don't need the same battery size to get the same runtime in a smaller phone.

The battery capacity grows much faster than the display energy consumption, and it's not even a fight: at otherwise equivalent hardware, the larger phone has always had better battery life than the smaller one in every iPhone generation.

The minis both suffered significant criticism due to battery life issues, compared to their larger sibling.

> Also by increasing the depth of the smartphone by just 1-2 millimeters you can offset the smaller area available for the battery.

You can do the same on both smaller and larger form factors so that's not an advantage of the SFF phones.

And much to my dismay Apple remains very much not a fan of that: after having increased the phone depth to long-forgotten heights of 8.3mm (a chonk not seen since the 4S's 9.3), it's been reduced back down to 7.65 in the 13 (up a hair from the 12's 7.4). I fear an eventual return to the dark days of the 6S/7 and their 7.1mm you could shave with (but couldn't pick your phone off of the table for lack of ability to grip the thing without using your fingernails to pry it off).

>>maskli+(OP)
> The iPhone 13 mini has a 2400 mAh battery, the 13 has 3200. 33% more battery capacity is a lot, and at 2400mAh I don't think the mini doesn't survive an entire day of relatively heavy use without a charge.

So make it 3mm thicker?

>>kuschk+S6
Every iPhone person I know has complained about the 13 Pro being significantly thicker and heavier than the previous models. Literally, things like "it feels like a brick in my hand." Making phones thicker/heavier is an HN meme that is completely out of touch with what normies want. Consider that for most people, the phone is their primary device, and one they hold in their hand for ~6h a day.

>>kuschk+S6
This would probably be a dealbreaker for a lot of people. Unihertz makes small android phones that are on the thicker side, and I've been hesitant to buy one because of their girth (despite there not being any alternative small android phones on the market).

>>d3nj4l+Ma
one of the reasons newer iphones "feel like a brick" is that they transitioned to heavier materials (stainless steel instead of aluminum) and because the corners are now squared. rounding corners often has the effect of making things seem thinner as well as usually making things more pleasant to hold. I agree with you that these users probably don't want a thicker iphone, but I would bet if you focused on perceived bulkiness in the industrial design, you could sneek in a slightly larger battery and still give the impression of a less bulky device.

>>d3nj4l+Ma
Your anecdote vs my anecdote here, but I have never, not even one time, heard someone complain about the thickness or weight of an iPhone. I highly doubt the average user would even notice let alone care if you made the device a bit thicker.

>>giaour+xb
There’s “thicker” and there’s “thick”.

The iphone 13 is 7.65mm. The Unihertz Jelly is 16.5.

Apple hasn’t made a phone thicker than 10mm since the 3GS, and that was 12.3 (up from the original 2G’s 11.6 because of the rounded plastic back vs flat aluminum).

>>maskli+O3
> The battery capacity grows much faster than the display energy consumption, and it's not even a fight: at otherwise equivalent hardware, the larger phone has always had better battery life than the smaller one in every iPhone generation.

As an example, the Z5 Compact had a 2700mah battery in basically something ~1mm thicker than a 13 mini, which has a ~2400mah battery. The Z5 Compact is also a 7 year old phone, which didn't have wireless charging.

>>tomthe+Sd
Which iPhone did they have?

>>Mobius+wd
> one of the reasons newer iphones "feel like a brick" is that they transitioned to heavier materials (stainless steel instead of aluminum)

What do you mean by newer iPhones? They use stainless steel since 2017 in the models X, XS (Max), 11 Pro (Max), 12 Pro (Max) and 13 Pro (Max), so it's nothing new.