One of the observations I made in first impressions piece on the iPhone SE was how pleased I was to lose the camera bulge of the iPhone 6/6s. It really seemed to me that, in the iPhone 6, Apple was prioritizing an inconsequential bit of extra slimness over a pleasing design.

Assuming all the iPhone 7 mockup images are accurate, then Apple has smoothed out the edges on the upcoming model. I do think this is a big improvement aesthetically, and less likely to snag when removing it from a pocket. But when you put it up against the iPhone SE, as TWE has done with a mockup the site purchased from China, it still seems to me that the SE shows how it should be done …

Sure, the phone has to be marginally thicker to allow the current-generation camera to sit flush in the casing, but really, who cares? The difference in thickness between the iPhone 6s at 7.1mm and the iPhone SE at 7.6mm is literally half a millimetre.

That needs italics, I think. Half a millimetre. For that tiny difference – a difference nobody is going to notice unless you put the two down side-by-side on a desk, get your eye level down to the desk surface and stare hard – Apple has compromised the smooth aesthetics of the phone. That seems to me a great shame.

What do you think? Is the camera bulge a price worth paying for a half-millimetre reduction in depth? Or would you rather have the phone marginally thicker to get a flush camera? Let us know in the comments.