Even as Apple has released larger phones over the past several years, a subset of iPhone buyers are still holding out hope that one day Apple will again release an iPhone with a 5-inch screen. According to a new report, the day isn’t going to come anytime soon.
In a Live Q&A session for Bloomberg, well-known Apple leaker Mark Gurman answered a question about whether Apple is planning on releasing a new smaller iPhone, and he made it pretty clear that it’s not:
“We’ll see what the market tells Apple. Right now, they’re not working on a smaller iPhone. They really shifted away, they’re trying to make that roughly 6-inch display the base size, and they’re just trying to go bigger and bigger and bigger.”
It’s not just the obvious changes from mini to Plus phones. Over the years, Apple has continued to boost the size of its larger ones. For example, the iPhone 11 Pro Max was 6.5 inches while the iPhone 16 Pro Max is 6.9 inches, and the iPhone 11 Pro was 5.8 inches while the iPhone 16 Pro is 6.3 inches. Similarly, the 6.1-inch iPhone 16e replaced the 4.7-inch iPhone SE earlier this year.
Some Apple fans are still clamoring for a smaller phone, including Macworld’s own Macalope, but Gurman’s remarks make it clear that Apple has no plans for anything smaller than the current smallest iPhone, which is 6.1 inches: “The bigger you go, the smaller the 6-inch phones feel.”
Author: Michael Simon, Executive Editor, Macworld
Michael Simon has been covering Apple for more than 20 years. He started covering rumors with Spymac when the iPod was the iWalk, and has owned nearly every iPhone Apple has ever made. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, son, and far too many gadgets.