Size really matters, says Apple

You can never be too rich or too thin – and Apple, already top of the tree when it comes to money, is now officially the thinnest too.

The company’s been claiming in ads on its websites that, at 9.3mm thick, the iPhone 4 is the world’s slimmest smartphone.

But one viewer complained to the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority that the Samsung Galaxy S II was thinner.

The ASA duly got out its ruler, and established that while the Samsung phone measured just 8.71mm at its thinnest point, it has bulges at the top – where the camera lens is housed – and at the bottom. And these bulges, it seems, measure a gigantic 9.91mm thick.

The argument ended up hinging on whether or not users really care.

“Apple… said that consumers would not be interested in the thinnest part of the device, but in its overall measurements, as these would, for example, affect whether the device could fit into a pocket or a purse,” explains the ASA.

“They asserted that allowing thinnest claims to be made on the thinnest point of products would have a detrimental effect on consumers who could then purchase items that do not fit the space for which they had intended them.”

The ASA agreed, and is allowing Apple to continue making its claims.

Indeed, who amongst us hasn’t always diligently measured all our pockets before choosing the phone that fits them most neatly? It’s just a question of that and the color, surely…