It’s onerous to be too upset by the iPhone SE. It’s cute, has nice specs for the worth, and now has 5G. It, together with the iPhone 13 Mini, fills that small telephone area of interest for individuals with tiny fingers. But as a giant telephone convert, I’m cheesed that the SE solely is available in one dimension.

A less expensive smartphone with a giant display screen isn’t a novel thought. There are loads of them on the market — however not for those who’re on iOS. Right now, if iPhone customers need a bigger-than-standard show, they’ve to show their wallets inside out for the iPhone 13 Pro Max. If you get the most cost effective configuration potential, you’re dropping $1,099.

When it got here time to improve my telephone final yr, I hemmed and hawed between the 6.1-inch iPhone 12 and the 6.7-inch 12 Pro Max. I used to be on the iPhone XS Max and acquired used to its snug 6.5-inch display screen. I didn’t want all of the bells and whistles that include the Pro fashions. I’d have cherished to avoid wasting a few hundred buckaroos. But I additionally didn’t wish to downgrade to a smaller display screen. I’d gone huge, and there was completely no going again. Am I salty that it value me additional? Extremely.

I first joined Team Big Phone with the XS Max. My iPhone 7 had died, and like many individuals, I used to be afraid of the rise of the phablet. I fearful whether or not it’d slot in my pockets and if I’d be capable of use it one-handed. That modified the second I booted up my shiny new telephone.

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

I’ve been cursed with each extreme astigmatism and nearsightedness. The final time I acquired my prescription up to date, my eye physician hung her head and stated, “Well, sometimes you have to settle for good enough.” I continuously use my telephone’s digicam to zoom in on indicators I can’t learn. Switching to a giant telephone made it a lot simpler to do all the pieces trendy life required of me. Enlarging the font dimension on my telephone not regarded comical. Not solely that, nevertheless it was additionally simpler for me to shoot off emails, watch YouTube movies, destroy my mind on Twitter, and browse books. I went from giving myself complications and wrinkles from squinting to the bliss of not having to try this. The indisputable fact that I acquired higher battery life was simply icing on the cake.

I haven’t missed utilizing my telephone one-handed. Partly as a result of I’ve large fingers, but in addition as a result of two-handed telephone use is superior any time you’re not hanging onto a subway strap. During the work-from-home period, that’s just about on a regular basis. The 12 Pro Max matches simply into my again jean pocket. Plus, the style business’s insidious scheme to make girls’s pockets ridiculously tiny has ensured I’m all the time carrying a handbag anyway.

Unlike a few of my colleagues right here at The Verge, I don’t want the most effective OLED show or the fanciest cameras on my telephone. (I solely take footage of my pets anyway.) All I would like is a giant honking display screen that doesn’t seem like full rubbish and good battery life. I’m not thrilled that I’ve to pay a premium to get that.

A significant motive why the iPhone SE is so fashionable is that it’s low-cost (even with the $30 hike in worth for 5G). If you had a 6.5 or perhaps a 6.7-inch iPhone SE that value $500-$600, I assure you that’d promote like hotcakes. You solely need to look so far as the iPhone XR’s stellar sales to know there’s an urge for food for a bigger finances iPhone. True, I may’ve simply opted for the iPhone 11, however I don’t need a standard-sized telephone. I would like the greatest display screen I can get.

And there isn’t an excellent motive why Apple hasn’t accomplished this. With the SE, it repurposed the iPhone 8’s bones. It’s inside Apple’s energy to do the identical with, say, the XS Max or the 11 Pro Max. I doubt it’s as a result of Apple’s cautious of fragmenting its lineup additional. It had no drawback introducing 4 iPhone 12 and that iPhone 13 fashions to select from. Why not take an opportunity by making two SEs?

Sure, I may change to Android. But I’m weak and I’ve seen how my associates deal with inexperienced bubbles. No, thanks. Small telephone lovers have a alternative between the Mini and the SE. I might additionally prefer to have a less expensive various to the Pro Max.