Comment by rswail
4 hours ago
I'm a 12/13 mini on my second refurbished 13 and a new battery. This is the first iPhone I've considered. Even so, the price is... impressive.
I want a screen that my thumb can reach from top to bottom without stretching or doing weird half-screen swipes to get at.
Also weird that they've gone back to touch ID instead of face ID to open/unlock.
But I'll definitely be looking at it.
My 12 was refurbished like... 5 times already - I break various parts of it, and I have a spare 13 that was refurbished 2 times. Even though I can allow myself newer phone, nothing comes close to these models in portability, yet speed.
Same here: 13 Mini (bought new at launch) with renewed battery.
I took my passport in my hand yesterday to see how it feels. Yikes, it feels even harder to control the whole screen with your thumb.
This is likely a technical limitation rather than a preference; with the requirement to be so thin, there is probably not enough room for the necessary depth scanning hardware required for Face ID.
The reason they gave was that with TouchID it can be unlocked consistently both when folded or unfolded.
For FaceID they would need to include that hardware twice, also under the display in the inner screen.
It's quite a lot wider and thicker than a mini, and imho looks quite ugly when folded, I don't see the appeal as a single-handed device.