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Seems to me that would look silly. I mean I'll buy it, but I think it needs to get bigger in both directions (if any).

I agree with it would look silly and needs to get bigger in both directions.

The solution is to leave the resolution the same.
 
At this stage of the game anything is better than the 3.5 inch screen size from 2007. When I use my wife's iPhone 4 for more than 3 minutes and then switch back to my 4.65 inch Nexus it reminds me why I can't downgrade.
I'm willing to switch if the screen size is increased. I love the idea of having one updated model released on a yearly basis from one company. But I will be very disappointed if Apple keeps the 3.5 inch display and only adds LTE.
 
Working on apps myself i can tell you an aspect ratio change is definitely way more work for an app creator than a resolution or screen size change where the aspect ratio stays the same.
And for apps which only use the standard UI components this may not be a big problem, but for the large majority of entertainment and games apps for example which have custom UI this is quite a lot work to support another aspect ratio (next to the different resolution assets one now already has to support for the different iPad and iPhone gens).

As device user, yeah, i would prefer more screen real estate of course, but why can´t the width grow a little, too?
 
Never understood the "it's hard for the developer" argument. So let's hold back hardware all because the developers will have a difficult time. lol.
Completely ludicrous just like increasing the height of the screen only. Evolve (Hardware and Software) or die. ie. RIM.

It's not just easier for the developer, it's better for the user. Right now the app store has iPad apps, and iPhone apps, and some universal apps. Most people can make that distinction. But when it comes to model number and screen rez, will they know which apps they can and can't get?

Perhaps the apps shouldn't be so locked to a certain screen size. I never understood that. Apps on an iMac or on a MacBook aren't locked to a certain screen. If you play Angry birds on an iMac of different sizes in full screen mode, it adapts quite naturally. Every app on a computer does for the most part. Graphics should be vector based whenever possible so hdpi isn't an issue, and apps should expand to fill the screen naturally.
 
I carry my phone in my pocket a lot.

I really don't want a bigger phone.

I can see if you have a purse or "man bag" that you might want to carry around a giant phone.

On the other hand, there are times where a very thin, light weight 7" iPad might be nice for light reading or web surfing. The problem with the 7" size though is typing -- the keyboard is too small to be useful. I do have a 7" Kindle Fire, but it's thick and feels nearly as bulky as my full-size iPad 2. The Kindle Fire keyboard isn't very useful for entering any amount of text unlike the larger iPad.
 
It's not just easier for the developer, it's better for the user. Right now the app store has iPad apps, and iPhone apps, and some universal apps. Most people can make that distinction. But when it comes to model number and screen rez, will they know which apps they can and can't get?

Perhaps the apps shouldn't be so locked to a certain screen size. I never understood that. Apps on an iMac or on a MacBook aren't locked to a certain screen. If you play Angry birds on an iMac of different sizes in full screen mode, it adapts quite naturally. Every app on a computer does for the most part. Graphics should be vector based whenever possible so hdpi isn't an issue, and apps should expand to fill the screen naturally.


While yes, in theory it would be awesome to have all (UI) graphics be vector based, in reality that is
rarely done nowadays cause it would often be way too performance intensive, especially on mobile devices.
Hence usually its not vector based or just vector based for some stuff and then even in that case rasterized while being shown usually.
An example would be the native text on iOS.
have you ever noticed that while you zoom in on a web page on iOS the text gets blurry and then when you stop zooming it becomes sharp again?
That´s because the text gets rasterized for better performance and then is blurry while scaling and then once you stop scaling the next rasterized version for those new target dimensions is created.

So yeah, all graphics always all vector is out for performance reasons in most cases for right now.

So then that means many graphics have to be converted to or be made as raster graphics in first place, then one has to make new ones for different resolutions, aspect ratios etc.
(just have a look at how many different dimension versions of app icons are already needed right now just as exampe).

And no, on pcs and macs most content actually does not support resolution and aspect ratio independence fully at all.
Usually what it does is support one resolution and aspect ratio nicely and for all others you get black bars on the sides and/or graphics being scaled to less ideal looking versions, nowadays "at least" usually developers add a few graphics versions for different resolutions etc.
On more powerful hardware vector engines can be used for less resolution dependance but that still doesn´t solve the problem of getting aspect ratio independence for all complex fullscreen graphics automatically.

But yes, on iOS users are not used to getting black bars at the top and bottom for anything else than movies. People are used to fullscreen apps which really use the full real estate of the screen nicely.

And yes, that is a lot of work for developers and graphic artists to implement and yes, if they don´t do it then you end up with black bars (hence the screen not uses well fully) or stretched look etc.
 
As explained here a while ago, a 4" display with a 1080 x 720 resolution (same aspect ratio & same density as the retina display found in the iPhone 4/4S) is far more likely...: http://www.kybervision.com/Blog/files/iPhone5_RetinaDisplay.html

Yes, that would make a lot more sense for both developers and users of apps. Keeping the same aspect ratio and pixel desnity; getting more screen real estate without breaking most existing apps in look (or forcing black bars onto most), that would be nice =)

now let´s see if Apple can make the bezel frame that thin =)
 
I highly doubt this. It'll be too tall vs the width.
I would not be so sure. I do not see the tall part being an issue. Android and WP7 all have 4in devices that would be roughly that size because they use the 16:9 set up.



And what would the landscape keyboard look like ?

I would say look at Android at how it is done. Remember Android uses the 16:9 ratio for almost all of the phones and as such you can look to them.

Those headaches would only exist for crappy developers. Making objects scalable isn't as big of a hurdle as you or other iOS fanboys make it out to be.

Your comment though suggests that there are many lazy/incompetent developers within the iOS realm.

Sorry but no. Aspect ratio change is were the real head ache is in making layouts. Resolution is easy to handle but dealing with different aspect ratio is a pain and even more so in games.

That simplistic view only applies to UIKit-heavy, utility apps loke Mail, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Not every layout can be made to automatically work (let alone look good) on any aspect ratio. Especially games and other apps that rely on custom, non-scalable graphics.

In the android world, however, settling for the 'black bars' seems to be the norm.
true for a lot of Apps but it would be hell on games.

If they're going to change the resolution, they should make it 16:9 exactly. That's the new standard in screen resolution, and I'd like to see it across all devices, TV's, MacBook Pros, iPhones, iPads. At least the iPad is the old standard in screen resolution at 4:3. I don't like these "somewhere in the middle" screen resolutions.

Honestly for me I with more companies would follow Apple style in making monitors at the 16:10 ratio and not the 16:9. It may seem minor but the problem with the 16:9 is there is just not enough vertical space for the width. I would much rather have 16:10 for working on stuff. I code a fair amount at 16:9 is ok but not enough vertical space. I could use a little more vertical while giving up a little width. Mind you I much rather work on 16:9 than 4:3.
 
4" better be as big as iPhones get or i'm screwed. I won't buy anything over a 4" screen, and i won't buy a phone that isn't an iPhone. lol. Hopefully they don't do this "height change" only. Looks too stretched out.
 
vader.jpg
 
I don't know why everyone's arguing about this. Even if they did change the screen to a 9:5 aspect ratio, the new size will likely carry on for the next few generations. And since we like Apple products and nothing else is good enough, it's either accept or never upgrade again. They could come up with the worst sized/shape screen in history and we'd all still buy it. Isn't the point of such a closed-off ecosystem that we trust Apple's judgement?
 
Well by the time I'm eligible for an upgrade it will be iPhone 6s or 7....LMAO
By then they'll have 7" screens on the iPhone
 
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I think that will be a 3.7" or something but preserving the same retina resolution. It will work well cause if the screen it's bigger we don't need to use it so close like the 4, then the retina effect will mantain. It will be a problem for the developers to mantain 4 different resolutions, more fragmentation like Android.

In the case of the article the work to adapt the apps will be more challenging like the retina change cause in some cases it's no simple 2x scaling
 
APple would not change the screensize ratio on a whim like this. Best for developers if that ratio stays thew same. So for this reason I call this rumour very interesting but totally

mythbusters-busted.jpg
 
"Huge headaches" for developers because they have to deal with OH MY GOD TWO RESOLUTIONS?


...
Please.

Try 5, users these days want their apps to be universal which means:

iPhone Standard
iPhone Retina
iPad Standard
iPad Retina
iPhone 4inch Retina
 
Try 5, users these days want their apps to be universal which means:

iPhone Standard
iPhone Retina
iPad Standard
iPad Retina
iPhone 4inch Retina
All they need to do for the retina versions is provide higher resolution graphics, and that's not difficult at all. They'd need to support the 4 inch model as well, if that had a difference resolution, which totals 3.
 
You should care. You want apps that are "good enough" like they have on Android?

It's not just about altering the apps. It's not just about hardware, like you imply. It's about the "whole widget", remember?

Maybe Apple *will* come up with something, but don't just assume that it's a throwaway trick with just a few APIs and "oh, just go redevelop".

What the h-ll are you talking about?

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Actually, three for assets. Make that six for some assets if your app works in landscape mode.

Plus the two for iPad if you're making a Universal app.

To say nothing of making sure things just look right for the two...sorry four...different resolutions and two different aspect ratios. And that things work right for both.

If you're not a developer or a UX person, don't speak about it.

Well as a developer....you're just being lazy.

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After being an Apple boy since the first iPhone and having a Mac for years before that, I'm afraid that after having the Android Nexus, S2 and One X in my hands for tests over the weekend, along with the S3 coming out later in the year, call it fragmented if you want, but apple will have to pull something bigger than a crappy stretched screen out of the bag for me to continue investing even time.

An Excellent Point!
 
[C&P’ing from my post in the iPhone area]


Interesting, and I think someone suggested something to this effect last year during the last “the next iPhone will be 4 inches” debate.
Well remembered! :)
Here's an interesting thing. If you keep the existing screen width and pixel count at 640px, and just stretch it in the long dimension to make a 16:9 ratio, the screen is 4" diagonal. Legacy apps can run without any alteration and keep their exact onscreen size. Modern apps can take advantage of the extra screen area.
iphonescreens.png
 
One advantage I haven't seen mentioned that I think makes ALL the difference here is the following...

If Apple simply made the screen larger with the same resolution and aspect ratio, all we'd get is everything rendered a bit larger, no more workspace. This approach means that all elements of the software will remain the SAME SIZE, but there'll be a larger screen, meaning we can see MORE instead of the same stuff inflated.
 
this is just very uncool. Apple would not do that. They will either keep the screen size or enlarge both dimensions.
 
....yes, a bit of a stretch.

The next iPhone will be approximately the same size as the Samsung Galaxy S (Fascinate/Mesmerize). The new 4" screen will be an increase in both lenth and width with an increase in the retina display. Remember, this will be an upgrade to remember!!!! =)
 
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