To me, the size and shape of the SE body, screen, and bezels—all are perfect “as is” in the balance of style and usability. (Except the screen is too tall—I can’t reach the far top corner without changing my grip. 3.5” 3:2 was much more ideal.) I only want the internal updates—3D touch, waterproof, inductive charging, camera improvements, storage increase, speaker improvements, and fast charging. And of course updated SoC and RAM when performance starts slowing down. True Tone, display closer to surface of glass, and Touch ID 2 would be nice but not critical.
I know everyone wants a bigger screen but I care much more about my phone feeling comfortable and secure in my hand while I’m using it, especially while on the move. The only time I want a bigger screen is when I’m at home and then I just use my iPad mini.
[doublepost=1511462641][/doublepost]Oops I must have missed this response.
The unintuitive and unnecessary 3D Touch is slower most of the time because it's so inconsistent. The cursor thing doesn't work when you want it to and normally results in unwanted letters being typed, which you then have to remove. The shortcuts are unnecessary, and slower than just opening the app and making your selection. Same with the app switcher, a double press on the open button takes as much time as getting your thumb in the exact right spot to 3D Touch for the shortcut. Of course this is anecdotal based on the ~9 months I had a 6S, and from talking to those than I know that own 6S's/7's.
I don’t know what to say—that wasn’t my experience at all when I had a 6s. I found 3D Touch very reliable, and quicker and easier for the aforementioned uses than non-3D Touch. I didn’t use it much for shortcuts though.
And I've never heard of an iPhone being damaged by rain. I've never heard of a use case that involved submerging your phone in water. This is of course also anecdotal, but I'd say these two examples account for a small minority of users.
I don’t really know other people’s cases. But I know I would have much more peace of mind using my phone in the rain, when my hands are wet, or near water knowing it was designed with seals to protect it from water damage than if it wasn’t.
They're gimmicks, designed to create hype for a consumer base that is never content with their device or simple incremental improvements every couple of years. Each release needs something to draw attention and create a feeling of desire, that's what 3D Touch, Waterproofing and new colours do. People demand features and will buy whatever gimmicks Apple sell simply because they offer something different from what they already own.
Maybe. But that need to draw in the customer doesn’t necessarily mean every new feature is a gimmick. It just means it could be. Features have to be judged case by case for the individual. These particular features (3D touch and water resistance) may not apply to you so it’s understandable that you think they are gimmicks. I feel that way about other features. But these are useful to me. In fact, I was waiting for these features from before they were announced (not 3D Touch specifically, but a better way to move a cursor and switch apps), so to me they are far from gimmicks. Another example of a feature that I have been waiting for that some people think is a gimmick is inductive charging. I charge my phone in my car and by my bed and I always wanted to be able to just place the phone in the mount or on a pad without worrying about cables. Not useful to all, but it is to me.
It’s often difficult, but people just need to understand that their experience is not everyone else’s experience.
