Poll: Would you accept a slightly thicker 2019 iPhone in return for three benefits?

Macworld has a wishlist piece on the 2019 iPhone. Some of it is uncontroversial and very likely to happen – things like a better neural engine and improved Face ID (including landscape operation, like the new iPad Pro).

But the site’s Jason Cross also proposes something Apple is extremely unlikely to do: making the 2019 iPhone a little thicker …

Here’s the pitch: make the new iPhone just one millimeter thicker. That would take it to 8.7mm, less than a half-millimeter thicker than the iPhone XR! It would still look and feel ultra-premium.

Why? Cross suggests it could offer three benefits:

• Lose the camera bump
• Increase the battery capacity
• Accommodate a USB-C port in place of Lightning

If we’re willing to countenance a thicker iPhone, the first two benefits seem no-brainers. The camera bump is something many of us feel spoils the aesthetics of Apple’s recent iPhones, and battery-life is an extremely common pain point.

I never hear anyone complain that the iPhone isn’t thin enough. Or that other premium phones, like the Galaxy S9 or the Pixel 3, are too thick. I hear everyone complain that they want longer battery life.

The third point is more controversial. Changing a long-used port always sparks everything from concern to outrage, but Cross suggests the 2019 iPhone would be the right time to make the switch.

It’s time to unify the system. Apple’s all-in with USB-C on the Mac; it doesn’t put any other ports on Mac laptops, and iMacs have an abundance of USB-C ports. Just make everyone’s life easier and swap Lightning for USB-C on all iPhones and iPads. Give us one cable to rule them all.

I made my own pitch for this earlier in the year. The most persuasive objection was that Apple is clearly on a path that will see the end of all ports on iOS devices, so why have two lots of upheaval – why not just wait for a fully wireless iPhone? That’s a fair point, but now that the iPad has made the switch, that does add weight to the argument that the iPhone should do it too.

But whatever your view on that, would 1mm more thickness be justified in the 2019 iPhone for either two or three of the proposed benefits? Please take our poll and share your thoughts in the comments.

Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news: