Every iPhone person I know has complained about the 13 Pro being significantly thicker and heavier than the previous models. Literally, things like "it feels like a brick in my hand." Making phones thicker/heavier is an HN meme that is completely out of touch with what normies want. Consider that for most people, the phone is their primary device, and one they hold in their hand for ~6h a day.

one of the reasons newer iphones "feel like a brick" is that they transitioned to heavier materials (stainless steel instead of aluminum) and because the corners are now squared. rounding corners often has the effect of making things seem thinner as well as usually making things more pleasant to hold. I agree with you that these users probably don't want a thicker iphone, but I would bet if you focused on perceived bulkiness in the industrial design, you could sneek in a slightly larger battery and still give the impression of a less bulky device.

> one of the reasons newer iphones "feel like a brick" is that they transitioned to heavier materials (stainless steel instead of aluminum)

What do you mean by newer iPhones? They use stainless steel since 2017 in the models X, XS (Max), 11 Pro (Max), 12 Pro (Max) and 13 Pro (Max), so it's nothing new.

Your anecdote vs my anecdote here, but I have never, not even one time, heard someone complain about the thickness or weight of an iPhone. I highly doubt the average user would even notice let alone care if you made the device a bit thicker.

Which iPhone did they have?

This would probably be a dealbreaker for a lot of people. Unihertz makes small android phones that are on the thicker side, and I've been hesitant to buy one because of their girth (despite there not being any alternative small android phones on the market).

There’s “thicker” and there’s “thick”.

The iphone 13 is 7.65mm. The Unihertz Jelly is 16.5.

Apple hasn’t made a phone thicker than 10mm since the 3GS, and that was 12.3 (up from the original 2G’s 11.6 because of the rounded plastic back vs flat aluminum).