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I'm basing my thoughts on Apple not growing from 3.5 because Steve said Apple put alot of thought into it and research. Obviously he is no longer with us, so that may change.
I have friends that have snapped their Android phones in their pockets when they sat down...or end up carrying it around in their hand alot.
But I also have larger friends with bigger pockets...or women with purses whereas a larger phone isn't that much of a bother.

Steve and crew made those decisions as long as 5 years ago. Things change. The market changes. Customer needs and expectations change.

I have friends that have broken screen after screen on the iPhone from dropping them, sitting on them, slipping out of their hands, cases, etc.

Accidents happen no matter what size device is being used.

Like I said - I think Apple stands more to lose in the long term if they "never" change their screen size.
 
heck..

I'd be happy if Apple just put a 2nd speaker in the phone....they "show" two grills on the bottom afterall....plus it would help with ringer volume.


But I know the Fanboi's would really like a redesigned phone case....something to show off....
 
its 4" diagonal mac rumors need to kill that silly looking long iphone mockup iphone..:rolleyes::rolleyes:

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I'd be happy if Apple just put a 2nd speaker in the phone....they "show" two grills on the bottom afterall....plus it would help with ringer volume...

yes this too why does no "smart " phone be smart enough to have 2 speakers..
 
A 4" screen seems just about right to me, a little more breathing room than the current one, but not obnoxiously big. Everyone will have their own preference, but for me anything over about 4.25" seems too large for a pocketable device.
 
They don't but they did.
When the 4 came out they allowed early upgrades to try and lock in customers before the release of the Verizon iPhone.

True but for a release such as the 4S I don't think the would care if you upgraded or not, if you we already locked in for 2 years anyway.
 
I think 4" is big enough and I hope Apple doesn't change the aspect ratio. Actually I am pretty sure they won't do that. I wonder what Steve would say to that...
 
Might Be For Something Else

Perhaps these screens aren't for a phone due in Sept/Oct. Maybe they could replace the trackpads on the new MacBook Pros.
 
Indeed. I think there was only a 20 minute difference between Wifi-only and LTE-only tests when Arstechnica was measuring the battery life.

And in AnandTech's review, the new iPad went for 25 hours as an LTE hotspot. To me, that says the LTE isn't the 'battery killer'.

That's 4% per hour, just for LTE. I don't know what's your definition of "battery killer".
 
I'm not arguing that the screen isn't the biggest power eater, only that LTE uses more power than 3G, and that Apple can't stick an LTE radio in the current iPhone internal space w/ same battery and get the same battery life as the iPhone 4.

Yes, but the argument I was arguing against was arguing that they put in a larger screen so they could put a bigger battery to make up for LTE... do you not see the problem there when you acknowledge that screens are big battery eaters themselves? A larger screen is going to take more battery itself and probably needs that larger battery without the LTE added... therefore by adding a larger screen you aren't getting any added battery benefit.

I'm saying the argument that they have to put in a larger screen to make up for LTE makes no sense. It's like saying we increased the engine size of this car to force the car to be larger so it could take a bigger fuel tank because we wanted it to be able to drive farther on a tank... except that larger engine eats more fuel and therefore it will need more of a tank to go the same distance as before. The logic is bad.

It's already been shown that the larger battery is more for the screen on the iPad... the wifi iPad (with the same screen) really doesn't get much less battery, so it can't really be the LTE that needs that large battery so much as the new screen.
 
I know it's not especially popular here, but the OLED displays are the future and I'd like to see a high quality oled on the next iPhone. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to give up much pixel density, and I certainly don't want a pentile-based design, but the higher brightness and better contrast are appealing. I'd like a display I can easily see outside on a sunny day.
 
You guys, I really don't think the form factor of that mock-up is anything close to what it will be.

A larger screen- whether it be 4" or not- is inevitable. The mock-up is just silly though. The same size screen on the 4S release was a big letdown (to some). To release a new phone this fall and to have the same form factor/body style would be just the same. There are other mock-ups that are much more realistic, in my opinion. Sticking to the topic of this thread, I again would agree that Apple is indeed ordering 4" screens but they've also had at least 2 years to make a larger screen work in an LTE model. I can almost guarantee you it is going to be something other than a stretched out iPhone 4 with an extra row of apps. This next model has undoubtedly been Jonathon Ive's major project over the last few years; design, functionality and technology (larger screen, LTE, battery life) will not disappoint.
 
I'm going to miss the current form factor. Yes, thinner would be nice, but I like the fit in pockets now. My 4s "disappears" in my pocket. I sometimes have to check to see if I forgot my phone as I never know it's there. Although I've never carried one of the larger smartphones that are out there, it just doesn't look like something that size will disappear as easily.
 
I don't understand this clamor for a change in form and dimension at all.

I think the current 4S is near perfect, as were the predecessors with their identical dimensions (excluding curvature).

It will have nothing at all to do with how the phone works. ANY size is a compromise of visibility and portability.
 
As long as they keep the same aspect ratio it's fine, otherwise they'd be fragmenting the platform and they probably don't want that... I really like the 4" size in my Galaxy S and N9 (okay, N9 is a bit smaller at 3,9"), and I think 16:9 aspect ratio should be the standard but they really can't change it at this point.
 
Well, I tell ya, if they just stretch the same skinny screen vertically to achieve 4", they can keep it.
 
A) i would like to see your mockup
B) it looks almost exactly the same as the iPhone 4 (Which i think apple made...)

No it doesn't. That mockup is ridiculously elongated, making the 4" screen size almost completely useless. Radically altering the aspect ratio defeats the entire purpose of making a bigger screen.

What would an elongated screen accomplish? Better video viewing? NOPE. Better web surfing? NOPE. More pleasant reading experience? NOPE.

The screen will not look like that elongated monstrosity. Trust me.
 
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I wonder what the odds are that we'll be seeing the next iPhone before fall. John Gruber mentioned that if production is starting now it seems too early for a fall launch. Maybe that means sooner (or WSJ is wrong).
 
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