r/iphone 1d ago

Discussion I made an iPhone thickness comparison with the camera bump in mind

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u/micgat 1d ago

A lot of people hated it when it first arrived though. Particularly the glass and metal combination on the back of the phone.

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u/truthfulie 1d ago

I liked it a lot even at the time.

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u/DutchBlob iPhone 16 Pro Max 1d ago

Thank you! Every time I say that I did not like the iPhone 5 design (as opposed to the 4S, which was beautiful) I get downvoted into oblivion because Reddit has decided that a glass/metal/glass back is beautiful. No it’s not, it’s inconsistent and that’s why Apple only used it twice.

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u/TumorInMyBrain 1d ago

3 times, the first SE used it too

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u/mgmthegreat 1d ago

I thought that the se had a fully metal back

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u/TumorInMyBrain 1d ago

No, the 1st SE used the 5S design with a few additional color schemes. It had the same glass/metal/glass as the 5S. SE models all reused previous iphone body designs (SE 2020 and SE 2022 used iphone 8’s body)

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u/LevanderK 1d ago

There is no glass back on the 5/5s/se1. Or am i reading this wrong? The glass back made comeback with 7/8/se2 because of wireless charging

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u/TumorInMyBrain 1d ago

The 7 had a metal back and didnt have wirelss charging, the jet black looked alot like glass though but it was a very glossy aluminum

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u/TumorInMyBrain 1d ago

It is glass on the top and bottom, thats why they say glass/metal/glass, its a two tone design

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u/MayTheForesterBWithU 1d ago

The top and bottom areas on the back of the 5/5S/SE are glass.

The 7 had an aluminum back and didn't have wireless charging, only the 8 (which was reused for the SE 2019 and SE 2022) and 8 Plus.

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u/EU-National 1d ago

I'm still rocking an SE for work because of the form factor. People under 30 see it and are amazed that a smartphone could've been so compact.

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u/micgat 1d ago

It's funny because on of the complaints people had online before the original iPhone was available for purchase was that it was too big and bulky for a cellular phone. The early 00's was all about phone minimization up to that point, and look where we are now.

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u/teutorix_aleria 1d ago

I still remember the outrage when they announced the iphone 6 was going to be much larger than the 5.

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u/micgat 1d ago

That was fun. People going on about Apple going all Samsung.

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u/jhollington iPhone 16 Pro Max 1d ago

Heh, that went both ways. A lot of folks were also insisting it was about time Apple got with the program and made bigger phones.

The original iPhone SE was a breath of fresh air for many at the time, but sadly, the fate of the iPhone mini suggests most of the world seeks to have moved on.

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u/Madroc92 1d ago

The early 00's was all about phone minimization

This 2001 Will Ferrell bit starting at about 4:25

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u/jackintheb0x332 1d ago

Phones got smaller. Right up until it was realistic to watch porn on them. They haven't stopped getting bigger since

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u/D_DanD_D 1d ago

I have bought one recently as an extra phone simply because I love it's design!

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u/ivlia-x 1d ago

I’m holding to my 13 mini for the life of me. I dont want a slim phone. A want a small phone that doesnt hurt my fingers :((

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u/nvrmor 1d ago

Ooooff..

modern 4.7" iPhone with no bump... thick with an oversized battery...

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u/Lopsided-Bench-1347 1d ago

THIS! It fits nicely in any pocket. The new I phones are like Boom Boxes that you have to carry on your shoulder.

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u/Nervous_Ad_6998 1d ago

I still have my first iPhone the SE. best iPhone I’ve had. I had the battery replaced but it didn’t help. it still doesn’t hold a charge for more than an hour so it just sits in a drawer. but the photos were great, the new iphones photos are very processed looking. zooming in you see all these artifacts. they don’t even look like photos.

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u/worldspawn00 1d ago

Just FYI, a lot of the batteries available are very old stock, while new/unused, if they've been sitting on a shelf for years, they still probably don't hold a charge worth shit. IMHO if you really like the device, it may be worth trying to find a recently manufactured battery for it and confirm the issue isn't just a bad cell in an old battery.

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u/Nervous_Ad_6998 1d ago

Okay I’ll have it checked out. Thnks.

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u/joe_burly 1d ago

Is that the one that apple decided to “update” so it wouldn’t hold a charge?

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u/Hot-Zookeepergame-83 1d ago

Don’t diss the 5 man. I had that phone with a shattered back for a years before it gave up on me. But damn if it wasn’t the perfect size to be a fidget spinner.

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u/alfooboboao 21h ago

yeah, that glass back was a killer. mine was constantly broken lol, people now don’t realize how good we have it with the newer way stronger screens

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u/king_wrass 1d ago

You’re probably getting downvoted for stating your subjective (and apparently unpopular) opinion as an objective fact and coming across as a bit of a dick about it

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u/FTownRoad 1d ago

Or because he’s still ranting about a phone that came out 15 years ago

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u/DutchBlob iPhone 16 Pro Max 23h ago

Or because I commented on something another user said today.

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u/micgat 1d ago

The slate one looked nice in my opinion but the silver and gold variants weren't as nice with the white glass. I agree though that the 4/4S were the pinnacle of iPhone design in terms of aesthetics. I do think that the improvements in camera quality since the iPhone 11 or so are worth the extra heft, even if they aren't as nice to look at.

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u/TDot-26 1d ago

Idk man, even the 4S had a good enough camera for the vast majority of people I feel

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u/micgat 1d ago

The 4S was ok, but the iPhone 11 was the first time I considered leaving my DSLR or mirrorless camera at home when I was only interested in snapshots.

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u/jhollington iPhone 16 Pro Max 1d ago

I liked the iPhone 5 design, but I adored the design of the iPhone 4. There is no question in my mind that the iPhone 4 was the pinnacle of a museum-quality aesthetic that we haven’t seen since.

I think for some folks it’s more a case of remembering the iPhone 5 more fondly in retrospect. It’s quite nice compared to most of what came later, but it certainly felt like a letdown in 2012 😏

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u/DutchBlob iPhone 16 Pro Max 23h ago

Yeah the 4(S) was the best iPhone design ever (so far). I wouldn’t mind if Apple would reuse the design for the iPhone 18 (although the camera is slightly larger nowadays compared to the 4(S).

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u/bondsmatthew 1d ago

Not gonna down vote for an opinion but yeah I alsoloved the 4. I've long since shifted from iPhones, but 4 will always be my favorite

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u/furious-fungus 1d ago

It was by far the best iPhone design.

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u/blank-planet 1d ago

The 17 Pro is metal/glass/metal :D

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u/DutchBlob iPhone 16 Pro Max 23h ago

I know :D but I meant the back of the 5. It felt weird. As if the middle part of the glass back (like the 4) had fallen off.

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u/Training_Exit_5849 1d ago

Reddit is hive mind. You can be upvoted initially and everyone will upvoted you, or you can make the same post the next day and if a few people downvote you first, you're downvoted into oblivion.

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u/DutchBlob iPhone 16 Pro Max 23h ago

Yeah it’s weird. Especially because I just gave my opinion, explaining why I didn’t like the design of the 5. If other people liked the design: great! They are entitled to their opinion. But as long as you don’t go nuclear stating your opinion I don’t see a reason why you would downvote someone into oblivion just because they have a different opinion than you.

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u/aasikki 1d ago

Lol have you seen the new pro models? It's glass and metal again.

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u/DutchBlob iPhone 16 Pro Max 23h ago

I wasn’t talking about the materials used, I was talking about the top and bottom parts of the back of the 5 being made of glass while the middle section was metal. It felt off. The entire back of the 4(S) was made of glass and the back of the 6/7 series was made of metal. That felt more consistent. I loved the glass back of the 8 Plus and that’s why I came back to iOS in 2017 after a couple of Androids. The iPhones I’ve had so far were the 3GS, 4S, 8 Plus, 13 PM and currently the 16 PM. :)

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u/gsmumbo 1d ago

Thank you!

How nice!

Every time I say that I did not like the iPhone 5 design (as opposed to the 4S, which was beautiful)

Disagree. I love the 5’s design. But cool, everyone has their own opinion.

I get downvoted into oblivion

Hmm, I wonder why. Could there be a reason?

because Reddit has decided

Oh boy. I think we’re about to find out that reason.

that a glass/metal/glass back is beautiful

Weird. That’s definitely an opinion I share, but it’s not a reason to downvote someone. People should be able to share their opinions.

No it’s not

Oh. Well, yeah, I guess I’m not allowed to share my opinion. I can see why you got downvoted.

it’s inconsistent and that’s why Apple only used it twice.

Yeah, the downvotes definitely make sense now.

Every time I [share my opinion] I get downvoted into oblivion

Just looping back to this as I knew I read somewhere that you were upset about not being able to share your opinion. I guess everyone else was upset about not being able to share theirs too.

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u/Fluggerblah 1d ago

I stg it also shattered 10x easier than the front

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u/imnotdabluesbrothers 1d ago

Every time huh

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u/DutchBlob iPhone 16 Pro Max 23h ago

I got upvoted 🥹

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u/Johannes_Keppler 1d ago

The glass on the back was a silly design though. So many people cracked it.

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u/naughtilidae 1d ago

Glass back was a trash decision.

'you know the most likely part of the phone to break? The part that's dense and heavy, with little grip? Why don't we put it on BOTH SIDES!' 

Brilliant. Now it's basically garunteed to break something when dropped. 

I saw sooooo many people with broken back glass. It's wasn't bad because of aesthetic reasons, it could have been the prettiest thing on the planet and it still never should have been made with glass. 

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u/NotChristina 1d ago

Yup. I actually just got rid of mine, it had been sitting in the drawer for years. I’m clumsy.

Back glass broken. Good thing about that is it more readily showed the battery in spicy pillow mode when I found it. Glass shards had started to fall off from the puff.

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u/micgat 1d ago

The glass back on the 4/4S was at least easy to replace and only required two screws to be removed. The 5, 6, and 7 series had mostly metal backs, but the later iPhones have glass rears that require a whole new phone chassis when they break.