Why Apple Finally Abandoned Small iPhone Screens Under Tim Cook and Never Looked Back…

For the first five years of the iPhone, one idea remained largely untouched: a smartphone should be compact, comfortable and easy to operate with one hand.

That philosophy helped define Apple’s early devices under co-founder Steve Jobs. From the original iPhone introduced in 2007 to the iPhone 4S, Apple continued using a 3.5-inch display, even as competing Android manufacturers began experimenting with significantly larger screens.

The strategy changed after Tim Cook became Apple’s chief executive in 2011.

The transition did not happen overnight. Apple first made a cautious adjustment, increasing the screen’s height without making the device substantially wider. Two years later, however, it took a far bigger leap by introducing two screen sizes simultaneously.

That decision did more than make the iPhone larger. It changed how Apple designed, marketed and sold its most important product.

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iPhone 5 delivered Apple’s first screen-size increase

The first visible step arrived in September 2012 with the launch of the iPhone 5.

Instead of the familiar 3.5-inch panel, the new device featured a 4-inch Retina display. Apple increased the screen’s height while maintaining a similar width, allowing users to view more content without completely abandoning one-handed operation.

The taller display also adopted a 16:9 aspect ratio, making it better suited for widescreen videos and giving applications additional vertical space.

Apple’s official iPhone 5 announcement specifically emphasised that the screen had been made taller rather than wider. The company argued that users could continue to tap, type and scroll comfortably with one hand.

It was a careful compromise—Apple recognised the demand for additional screen space but was not yet ready to produce a truly large smartphone.

Android rivals were changing customer expectations

By this stage, the broader smartphone market was moving quickly.

Android manufacturers were introducing devices with screens measuring well above four inches. Larger displays were becoming popular for watching videos, playing games, browsing websites and typing longer messages.

Smartphones were no longer being used mainly for calls, texts and occasional internet access. They were becoming portable entertainment systems, cameras, gaming devices and productivity tools.

Apple’s compact design still had loyal supporters, but the company risked leaving a growing section of the premium market to competitors.

For customers who wanted an iPhone but preferred a much larger display, Apple simply had no product to offer.

That changed in 2014.

iPhone 6 Plus became Apple’s real turning point

The launch of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus represented one of the most important strategic changes in the product’s history.

For the first time, Apple released two flagship iPhones with different display sizes during the same launch cycle.

The iPhone 6 featured a 4.7-inch Retina HD display, while the iPhone 6 Plus arrived with a much larger 5.5-inch screen. Compared with the iPhone 5s, Apple said the two models offered 38 per cent and 88 per cent more viewing area, respectively.

Apple described them as the “biggest advancements in iPhone history” in its 2014 launch announcement.

The larger Plus model was especially significant. Apple was no longer attempting to keep every iPhone comfortably within the traditional compact format. It was openly competing in the large-screen category that Android brands had helped popularise.

The gamble paid off immediately.

Apple received more than four million pre-orders within 24 hours, while combined opening-weekend sales of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus exceeded 10 million units, setting a company record at the time.

For Apple, larger screens were no longer an experiment. They had become central to the iPhone’s future.

Multiple sizes created a new business strategy

Offering two display sizes also gave Apple a powerful commercial advantage.

Customers who valued portability could choose the standard model, while those who wanted a larger screen and battery could pay more for the Plus version. Screen size became a way to separate products and create different pricing levels within the same generation.

This approach eventually evolved into Apple’s broader lineup of standard, Plus, Pro and Pro Max models.

The strategy allowed the company to appeal to different users without abandoning its premium positioning. Display size became almost as important as storage capacity, camera hardware and processor performance when customers selected an iPhone.

iPhone X proved a larger screen did not require a huge body

Apple introduced another major design change with the iPhone X in 2017.

The device featured a 5.8-inch OLED Super Retina display, but Apple achieved that size by removing the physical Home button and reducing the bezels around the screen.

Instead of simply making the body wider and taller, Apple expanded the display towards the edges. Gesture navigation replaced the Home button, while Face ID replaced the Touch ID fingerprint sensor.

The result was a phone with a screen larger than the iPhone 8 Plus panel but a more compact overall footprint.

A year later, the company pushed further with the 6.5-inch iPhone XS Max, then the largest display ever offered on an iPhone.

Apple eventually offered both compact and giant iPhones

Interestingly, Apple did not completely forget users who preferred smaller devices.

In 2020, the company introduced the 5.4-inch iPhone 12 mini alongside the 6.1-inch iPhone 12. Thanks to its edge-to-edge display, the Mini provided significantly more screen space than older compact iPhones without requiring a large body.

The experiment showed how much Apple’s strategy had changed. Instead of imposing one supposedly ideal screen size on every customer, the company was now willing to offer several options.

However, large models remained the most visible part of the lineup, and the 6.7-inch Pro Max format became an important symbol of Apple’s premium smartphone ambitions.

More than a display change

The move towards larger iPhones influenced almost every part of Apple’s smartphone business.

Bigger devices created room for larger batteries, more advanced camera systems and improved multimedia experiences. They also encouraged developers to design applications that could display more information and take advantage of wider layouts.

Most importantly, the transition demonstrated a more flexible side of Apple under Cook.

The company had built its reputation by telling customers what a smartphone should look like. But as the market evolved, Apple accepted that different users wanted different experiences.

The iPhone 5 cautiously stretched the original formula. The iPhone 6 Plus broke away from it.

Once customers embraced the larger screen, Apple never truly looked back.