New iPhones are 'too big for women to hold': Feminist campaigners slam Apple for making devices that 'affect hand health'

Apple has been criticised by feminists for designing iPhones which are ‘too big’ for the average female hand..

Campaigners have responded angrily to the news that the technology company will be discontinuing the iPhone SE, which has a smaller screen. They argue that as the average female hand is an inch shorter in width compared to the average male’s, women need the option to buy smaller devices.

The screen width of the new iPhone X models ranges from 5.8in to 6.5in, compared to the smaller iPhone SE, which has a smaller screen at 4in.

Caroline Criado Perez, the feminist campaigner behind the Millicent Fawcett statue in Parliament Square and the Jane Austen ten pound note, said she developed repetitive strain injury from using a phone which was too big for her hand.

She told The Telegraph: “I genuinely have RSI from having an iPhone 6, and it went as soon as I switched to an iPhone SE.

"It genuinely does affect women's hand health, women do buy more iPhones than men, it just baffles me that Apple doesn't design with our bodies in mind.

"We should be furious about this, we are paying just as much money for it as men for a product that doesn't work as well for us.

"I have to make a choice between making an upgrade to the only phone that fits my hand before they discontinue it - soon there will be no iPhone that fits the average woman’s hand size - even though the technology is two years out of date. Or get a new one and deal with the fact that it'll give me RSI. That's not an acceptable choice in the 21st century,  you need to have a smartphone.”

Jess Phillips, the Labour MP for Birmingham Yardley agreed that companies often do not design their products with women in mind.

She said:  "In so much design and technology development the default standard is always that which suits a man. Companies have got to get better at recognising that their idea of normal should account for all their customers."

Others suggested the problem stems from the fact Apple does not hire as many women at the top of the company as it does men.

iPhones and hand sizes | How the screen has changed

Phone sizes​

• iPhone x - 5.8in
• iPhone x MAX - 6.5in
• iPhone xR - 6.1in
• iPhone SE - 4in
• iPhone 6 - 4.7in
• iPhone 6 plus - 5.5in

How hand sizes differ​

A study conducted on Australian pianists in 2015 found that the mean hand span for males is 8.9 inches (22.6 cm) and for females, 7.9 inches (20.1 cm).

Only a very small proportion of males (2 per cent in this study) have a span less than the female average, and that a similarly small proportion of females (2.9 per cent) have a span larger than the male average.

Hand size data from a study by Boyle, Boyle & Booker published in December 2015 by the Australasian Piano Pedagogy Conference

Sophie Walker, the leader of the Women’s Equality Party, told The Telegraph: "Apple's UK Head Quarters has a gender pay gap of 24 per cent, and men's bonuses are 57 per cent higher than women's. So do I think the boys at the top consider women when making design decisions? No I don't.

"Until companies like Apple have women represented equally at senior levels - as in all areas of business, politics and the public sector, women's needs are an afterthought.

"The boys at Apple are obviously obsessed with size but sometimes performance matters too."

Sam Smethers, the chief executive of the Fawcett Society agreed, commenting: "Whether it be services, products or the world of work, if we started in a different place with things designed by women for women we would improve women's lives & we would all benefit."

A spokesperson for Apple has been contacted for comment.