Other What is ideal aspect ratio for a phone in your opinion?

[txtx]

I've always liked 2:1 aesthetically, in photos and paintings, and wish it was used in movies. There's been such a gap from 1.85:1 to 2.35:1 in movies. But I'd pick 16x9 for a phone. I rarely watch video on mine and use my MacBook or TV for that.

I'm seeing more and more YouTubers using 18:9 (just call it 2:1!) to compromise between 16x9 screens and the newer phones. And Netflix series (House of Cards, Ozark) have done the same, although they probably wouldn't admit to catering to people who watch their shows on a phone.

I guess Apple's thinking on 19.5:9 was to capture the imagination of those thinking of taking panoramic photos or making "cinematic" videos more than watch CinemaScope classics on it. [Please don't do that--even at the proper aspect ratio, you'll miss everything from actors' micro expressions to sound FX nuances.] But it's true if you're capturing widescreen video, the oversized iPhone 13s allow you to see more of the detail in what you're capturing...

But that's if you want your phone designed firstly as a camera, and as a panoramic one. Maybe people do.

 

[txtx]

I was wondering about this too, and it reminded me of this parody from a while ago:

This will happen. It will simply be a slide-out, "telescoping" form. If you've got foldable phones...

 

[MacLappy]

Yes the 16:9 area of the taller phones is something like follows:

5.8" (iPhone X, XS, 11 Pro) - 4.96"
6.5" (iPhone XS Max, 11 Pro Max) - 5.55"
6.1" (iPhone XR, 11, 12, 12 Pro, 13, 13 Pro) - 5.22"
6.7" (iPhone 12 Pro Max, 13 Pro Max) - 5.73"

So despite a nominally larger diagonal only the Max phones actually offer equivalent space for watching videos to the plus phones.

Thx for detail. Pretty hard to hold pro max with one hand.

Pro Max are probably about as wide as iPhones can go while retaining the ability to be held with one hand.

Any extra screen space in future will likely be added by increasing the height of the phone, removing the notch, thinning the bezel around the screen or possibly from some kind of folding mechanism.

Perhaps with a redesign going back to a more ergonomic roundish shell, Apple could possibly slightly increase the width of the iPhone, this unfortunately would probably come at the expense of battery life(if we only consider current battery technology).