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Throughout the past few months, a number of rumors have suggested many different resolutions for both the 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone 6, giving a variety of reasons as to how Apple will best optimize a larger screen size for both users and developers.

Prominent Apple journalist John Gruber has now given his in-depth take on the subject, suggesting that the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 will likely feature a resolution of 1334 x 750 with 326 pixels per inch, while the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 would most likely have a resolution of 2208 x 1242 with 461 pixels per per inch. While Gruber insists that he has no specific knowledge of these resolutions for the iPhone 6, he makes a strong case for why they make the most sense for Apple.

iphone_5s_6_grass.jpg
4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 mockups compared to iPhone 5s

Gruber notes that keeping the current "2x" Retina resolution at 326 ppi on the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 would be consistent with Apple's previous patterns on iOS devices:
At 4.7 inches, 1334 × 750 works perfectly as a new iPhone display, addressing problem #1, showing more content. With point dimensions of 667 × 375, this display would show 1.38 times more points than the iPhone 5. At 326 pixels-per-inch, everything on screen would remain exactly the same physical size. There would just be 38 percent more room for content.
Gruber also adds that moving to a "3x" Retina resolution at 461 ppi for the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 would display an even greater amount of content while being able to render the same Retina pixels on a larger scale:
Everything works at these dimensions for a 5.5-inch display. With an increase in area of 68 percent and a scaling factor of 1.06, this display would address both reasons why someone might want a very large iPhone: it would show a lot more content, and it would render everything on screen, point-for-point, a little bit bigger. And at 461 pixels-per-inch, everything would be amazingly sharp.
In both of those examples, existing apps would still be able to run at such resolutions, as optimizing current apps would be made easier considering the scaled nature of the displays.

The given 1334 x 750 resolution of the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 contrasts with information shared by luxury modified iPhone vendor Feld & Volk earlier this week, which came with a photo showing the display of the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 under a microscope with a pixel density higher than 326 ppi, perhaps 1704 x 960. That resolution has also been cited in previous rumors, but Gruber claims in his post that an iPhone 6 with a resolution of 1704 x 960 would only work well for 4.0-inch displays, as it would not show any additional content compared to the iPhone 5 when measured in touch points.

Gruber also comments on the possibility of both a 4.7-inch and a 5.5-inch iPhone 6 with a resolution of 1472 x 828. The claim states that such a resolution on the 4.7-inch device would render UI elements and text about 10 percent smaller, while such a resolution on the 5.5-inch device would equal out to be 307 pixels per inch, or only marginally better than Apple's original definition of the Retina display as being at least 300 ppi.

The iPhone 6 is expected to be unveiled on Tuesday, September 9 at a media event. It is likely that the 4.7-inch version will go on sale about a week after the announcement, but the 5.5-inch may be held back due to production issues. In addition to a larger display, the iPhone 6 will likely feature a thinner design, a faster A8 processor, an improved camera, a more durable Touch ID sensor, and more.

Article Link: Outlining the Case for 1334 x 750 and 2208 x 1242 iPhone 6 Retina Displays
 

sputnikv

macrumors 6502a
Oct 3, 2009
506
3,184
The title should be renamed from " 4.7-Inch and 5.5-Inch iPhone 6 to Carry 2x and 3x Retina Displays" to " 4.7-Inch and 5.5-Inch iPhone 6 to Carry 2x and 3x Retina Resolutions"
 

lewisd25

macrumors 6502a
Jul 6, 2007
851
591
Well, if the 5.5" has a higher ppi, then that's what I'll get. Now I just need to find jeans with larger pockets.
 
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snebes

macrumors 6502a
Apr 20, 2008
810
712
Again with the "Apple Journalist"?

Big words coming from a Sanitation Engineer....

</sarcasm>

It's just fluffing up who Gruber is. MR is full of fluff. The last paragraph of almost every article is usually regurgitated fluff about other vague rumors, too.
 

profets

macrumors 603
Mar 18, 2009
5,111
6,138
Excellent write up, approached logically on where Apple may go with screen resolutions.

I'm so curious/excited about the potential of a big increase in screen real estate on a 5.5" screen.
 

nfl46

macrumors G3
Oct 5, 2008
8,321
8,602
Give me my damn 5.5" iPhone 6, please! Apple is about to cashhhh out this year!
 

Rogifan

macrumors Penryn
Nov 14, 2011
24,084
31,014
This headline is misleading. Gruber is very clear that he has no inside information. These are just educated guesses on his part.

----------

and looks like Apple is going to embrace the larger scale phone and make it the flagship iPhone.

Based on what?
 

xmichaelp

macrumors 68000
Jul 10, 2012
1,815
626
I don't really care about what it has to be honest. Once you get into super hi res / retina all increases are negligible.

What I do care is a retina Macbook Air and iMac / TBD.
 

Rogifan

macrumors Penryn
Nov 14, 2011
24,084
31,014
The retina iPad mini has 326 ppi compared to 264 ppi for the iPad Air. Does that mean the retina mini is the flagship iPad?
 

commander.data

macrumors 65816
Nov 10, 2006
1,056
183
Those resolutions give the 5.5" iPhone 2.7x more pixels than the 4.7" iPhone. It'll be interesting to see if Apple does anything with the GPU besides just a small clock speed bump otherwise the 5.5" may be underpowered to run things at native resolution. Given how the iPad 3 struggles handling it's native resolution compared to the previous iPad 2 hopefully this won't be repeated.
 

xmichaelp

macrumors 68000
Jul 10, 2012
1,815
626
Having different resolutions with the bigger one having higher DPI seems kind of silly though. The iPad has the same with the lower cost smaller one having higher DPI...
 

lewisd25

macrumors 6502a
Jul 6, 2007
851
591
The retina iPad mini has 326 ppi compared to 264 ppi for the iPad Air. Does that mean the retina mini is the flagship iPad?

I have both the Air and the Retina Mini, and I find that I use the mini far more frequently. So in my mind, the retina mini is now indeed the flagship.
 

pedromcm.pm

macrumors 6502
Mar 23, 2014
483
0
Porto, Portugal
4.7 = the new 5c

Well, the 5c is the second or third best seller in the world. If the 5s goes free on contract, you can easily expect Apple to have the 3 best sellers on the planet.

The high end will get owned, and OEMs will drown in a sea of losses if something doesn't change (like stoping the stupid pursuit of selling more devices at all cost, literally).
 

bigchrisfgb

macrumors 65816
Jan 24, 2010
1,453
639
So hold on, if I got a 4.7 inch iPhone then everything on the screen would stay the same size? So I would still have to zoom in for some content? That pretty mud defeats the point in having a larger screen.

They did that with the 5, where I everything was the same size and all we got was a few additional lines of text. The whole point in going towards a larger screen size is so that zooming in to see/read content is no longer required.
 

AngerDanger

Graphics
Staff member
Dec 9, 2008
5,452
29,002
I won't be happy until Apple crams 'em so full of pixels that they need to store some in extra dimensions!

And, please, for the love of my precarious sanity: GET. THE. PHONES. OFF. THE. GROUND.

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