How Apple’s new iPhone SE and iPad trackpad support will change the way you design.
Apple had a couple huge announcements yesterday, sans event (because, well, you know). A second generation iPhone SE, with an iPhone 8-sized 4.7” display, along with the Magic Keyboard for iPad Pro (and Logitech equivalents for the iPad and iPad Air), are now available to order. These new products will improve your design process, increase your ROI, and standardize your features.
Much like IE6, the previous bane of every developer’s existence, the old 4” iPhone was becoming a problem.
The new iPhone SE’s 4.7” screen replaces the original SE’s 4” screen, consolidating the available screen dimensions. Additionally, the new SE has the same width as the iPhone 11 Pro (and its X and XS predecessors) of 375px. Given that width is a larger design constraint than height, since users can scroll, you can effectively now target just three iPhones: SE/11 Pro, 11, and 11 Pro Max. Here’s a cheat sheet for your design team that includes the current lineup, screen sizes, and resolutions:
This will free up your team from having to spend their valuable time on these antiquated 4” edge-cases, giving them more focus to design and build new experiences for these larger devices.
One constant truth has been the fact that hover doesn’t exist on touch devices. While this is still true on iPhone, this is no longer the case on iPad. iPadOS 13.4 added support for trackpads, adding a whimsical new pointer that features magnetism, highlight, and lift effects.
This means that during your product design process, you’ll be able to utilize the same hover design patterns on desktop and iPad. This functionality will be available to anyone with an existing Bluetooth mouse or trackpad, as well as the new Magic Keyboard and Logitech Combo Touch Keyboard. These new possibilities will energize your design team, delight your customers, and separate your product from your competitors.
The SE pre-orders are available on Friday, April 17, at 8am EST/5am PST. The Magic Keyboard is now on sale with deliveries beginning next week. You can start building for these experiences now following the Apple Human Interface Guidelines for iOS and iPadOS.
As always, we’re here to help you every step of the way.
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