I’m sorry. I’m just not a fan of the headphone jack being on the bottom of the new iPhone. I’ve heard the positive arguments. The lack of a cable draping over your screen. Not having to “flip” the phone around when putting it into your pocket while headphones are plugged in. Whatever.
My issue is mainly with taking the phone out of my pocket.
I’m left-handed, but I generally put my iPhone in my right pants pocket. This makes sense, when you think about it. The side of your dominant hand is where you’d generally want to keep your keys, loose change, your wallet, etc. The phone has to live in its own pocket, with nothing else inside it. Thus, it gets moved to the opposite side. A lot of people do it this way.
With the 4S, and all the other iPhones before it, I would place the phone into my pocket, screen facing inside, of course, which put the headphone port on top left. I could accomplish this with the simplest of twist of my wrist. No real effort; one smooth movement into the pocket. Pants pockets don’t tend do be mid-way down your leg, where your hands would rest with elbows straightened; they are at waist height, where your elbows are still bent and thus the phone is still sitting right-side up. To place a phone with the top down into your pocket actually takes more effort than placing it face up, since it involves more elbow movement. You have to pull your elbows up higher to get your hand into your pocket in that manner.
When I’d take my 4S out of my pocket, I could easily grab the phone between two fingers and pull it up into my palm again, straight up with another simple wrist movement. Even though the phone itself didn’t twist at all, my fingers and wrist could easily make the move while avoiding the cable on the top left of the device.
With the iPhone 5, the cable is on the bottom left of the device. So first, to put the phone into my pocket, I have to twist my elbow more than I used to. Not the end of the world. But then the headphone cable is sitting on the top right of the device as it sits in my pocket. In order to get the phone out, I have to either dig in completely past the headphone cable and pull the entire phone out in a complete grip, which isn’t easy with jeans and again involves much more elbow elevation, or I have to somehow try and grab the phone with a few fingers, like I used to, only this time with this headphone cord directly in the way, since it’s now on the right. And then once I pull it out with a few fingers, the phone is upside down, so I have to “flip” it. (Nine times out of ten I end up hitting the “home” button while I’m attempting this, as well.) Try as I might over the past few days, I can’t figure out any way to get my iPhone 5 out of my pocket that is anywhere near as graceful and effortless as my old method.
Of course, your mileage may vary. And I love everything else about this phone. But the headphone port on the bottom? Not a good thing for me.
