This thread is to have a centralized place to discuss the validity of the rumors that say Apple will release a 5.5" iPhone this fall/winter.
I will start up the conversation.
We have seen countless 3D printed mockups suggesting a 4.7" as well as a 5.5" iPhone 6 is on the way.
But there is no hard evidence that a 5.5" iPhone 6 is in the pipeline.
Let's talk mockups. Anyone can make a mockup. You could print one with a 3D printer or mill one out of a slab of aluminum. All you need are the dimensions of all of the external features, CAD program to render it in 3D, a CAM program to convert the 3D model into USABLE G-Code for a CNC machine.
So... where do these dimensions come from? Allegedly from someone who has access to specs, design drawings or blueprints... who leaked them out... for either money, notoriety or both.
Ok... so the design is leaked. That is evidence right? Not really. They could be spot on. They could be from an earlier design that Apple has since tweaked. They could be a rough estimate from hearsay or from a brief amount of time spent with a prototype or prints.
Also... there is what I believe... that the 4.7" mockups are accurate, and 5.5" are "best guesses" as to what a 5.5" model would look like. It is pretty easy to extrapolate what a 5.5" model would be like based on a 4.7" design.
So what would be "hard evidence? In my book, "hard evidence" would be an unmistakable, undeniable part leak. A leaked back housing. A leaked glass/sapphire front panel.
Things like leaked logic boards are intriguing. They give proof that SOME KIND of new hardware is coming. You know... THAT particular board isn't used in any of Apple's current hardware. But you don't know what new hardware it is intended for.
For example:
MacRumors recently posted THIS ARTICLE that "compares a 4.7" iPhone logic board to a 5.5" iPhone 6 logic board." I argue that the larger logic board could be coming from an updated iPad mini.
These logic boards aren't enough proof.
So the hard stuff? There have been 4.7" model back shells leaked. There is a 4.7" sapphire/glass panel obtained by tech Youtuber MKBHD that he demonstrated in a video about a month ago.
But there has NOT been a SINGLE PART LEAK for a 5.5" iPhone 6. We would surely have seen SOMETHING by now if it was coming.
I would like to point out some history:
In 2011, people were convinced that we were getting a "large iPhone 5 with a tapered aluminum back shell."
![iphone_5_mockup_back.jpg]()
Many of the same media outlets and sources were reporting it up until a few days before the keynote. But... ALL WE HAD SEEN OF THIS 'iPHONE 5' WERE MOCKUPS. There were NO LEAKED PARTS. But... a few weeks before there were leaked parts of "something."
Then, just days before the keynote, there were mixed reports that Apple was releasing the iPhone 5 and a cheaper version of the iPhone 4 that would be called iPhone 4S. Some outlets reported that there was no iPhone 5 and only a "4S." Some even reported that the new "tapered iPhone" would be called 4S and not iPhone 5.
On October 4th, 2011 Apple revealed ONLY an iPhone 4S. NOTHING ELSE.
The very next day, Steve Jobs passed away.
So yes. Based upon all of this... I DECLARE. There WILL NOT be a 5.5" iPhone in the foreseeable future. Come September 9th 2014, if I am wrong, I expect to see this thread bumped with "I told you so!."
But if I'm correct, I will be the one bumping it.
I will start up the conversation.
We have seen countless 3D printed mockups suggesting a 4.7" as well as a 5.5" iPhone 6 is on the way.
But there is no hard evidence that a 5.5" iPhone 6 is in the pipeline.
Let's talk mockups. Anyone can make a mockup. You could print one with a 3D printer or mill one out of a slab of aluminum. All you need are the dimensions of all of the external features, CAD program to render it in 3D, a CAM program to convert the 3D model into USABLE G-Code for a CNC machine.
So... where do these dimensions come from? Allegedly from someone who has access to specs, design drawings or blueprints... who leaked them out... for either money, notoriety or both.
Ok... so the design is leaked. That is evidence right? Not really. They could be spot on. They could be from an earlier design that Apple has since tweaked. They could be a rough estimate from hearsay or from a brief amount of time spent with a prototype or prints.
Also... there is what I believe... that the 4.7" mockups are accurate, and 5.5" are "best guesses" as to what a 5.5" model would look like. It is pretty easy to extrapolate what a 5.5" model would be like based on a 4.7" design.
So what would be "hard evidence? In my book, "hard evidence" would be an unmistakable, undeniable part leak. A leaked back housing. A leaked glass/sapphire front panel.
Things like leaked logic boards are intriguing. They give proof that SOME KIND of new hardware is coming. You know... THAT particular board isn't used in any of Apple's current hardware. But you don't know what new hardware it is intended for.
For example:
MacRumors recently posted THIS ARTICLE that "compares a 4.7" iPhone logic board to a 5.5" iPhone 6 logic board." I argue that the larger logic board could be coming from an updated iPad mini.
These logic boards aren't enough proof.
So the hard stuff? There have been 4.7" model back shells leaked. There is a 4.7" sapphire/glass panel obtained by tech Youtuber MKBHD that he demonstrated in a video about a month ago.
But there has NOT been a SINGLE PART LEAK for a 5.5" iPhone 6. We would surely have seen SOMETHING by now if it was coming.
I would like to point out some history:
In 2011, people were convinced that we were getting a "large iPhone 5 with a tapered aluminum back shell."
Many of the same media outlets and sources were reporting it up until a few days before the keynote. But... ALL WE HAD SEEN OF THIS 'iPHONE 5' WERE MOCKUPS. There were NO LEAKED PARTS. But... a few weeks before there were leaked parts of "something."
Then, just days before the keynote, there were mixed reports that Apple was releasing the iPhone 5 and a cheaper version of the iPhone 4 that would be called iPhone 4S. Some outlets reported that there was no iPhone 5 and only a "4S." Some even reported that the new "tapered iPhone" would be called 4S and not iPhone 5.
On October 4th, 2011 Apple revealed ONLY an iPhone 4S. NOTHING ELSE.
The very next day, Steve Jobs passed away.
So yes. Based upon all of this... I DECLARE. There WILL NOT be a 5.5" iPhone in the foreseeable future. Come September 9th 2014, if I am wrong, I expect to see this thread bumped with "I told you so!."
But if I'm correct, I will be the one bumping it.
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have been testing bigger screen iPhones for a couple of years now. I remember an interview with Tim Cook where he said Apple wasn't interested in bigger screen iPhone's while trade off's existed, such as battery life. So in this time, they must have been playing around and found a way to produce a bigger screen while still keeping the excellent quality 
