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Apple Testing Screens for a Larger iPhone and a 13-Inch iPad
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How quickly times change. I remember when people thought the 3.5" screen of the original iPhone was too big.
Anyway, Apple is probably waiting for the technology to mature so that they can quadruple the resolution again. That makes it easier to avoid fragmentation since OS X and iOS don't scale the same way Windows 8 and Android do. If they came out with a 5" phone at the current resolution, people would complain that it isn't "Retina." If they changed the resolution, people would complain that the current apps don't work right (sort of like pre-iPhone 5 apps on the iPhone 5).
I don't mind there being an iPhone with a larger screen, as long as they also keep the current size, and don't make the current size the "budget" option. Full performance on both models please. I did not even consider an Android phone when I got my iPhone 5 as all the reasonably sized phones are lower-performance budget models.
Provided Apple doesn't deprecate the 4" model the way Samsung does, I'd probably stick with the 4" if Apple introduces similar models with larger screens. Samsung released the Galaxy S3 mini last year lacking LTE and having a slower processor than the real S3.
All that said, I think the rumored less expensive iPhone is far more important to Apple than the rumored larger phone or 13" iPad. As evidenced by the continued popularity of the iPhone 4 and the iPad mini, there is a market for less expensive, but still premium products. I can see Apple "replacing" the iPhone 4 and even 4S with the less expensive model, enabling them to standardize in 2014 on Lightning and the higher resolution screens.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Apple pushed the one-handed test. As such, those of us that believe it's important are probably going to say Apple is right. Of course, we said Apple was right at 3.5" too and that 3.5" was the "perfect" size right up until Apple rolled out the 4". In fact, many of us saw rumors of the 4" and slung all kinds of beat-downs at the stupidity, fragmentation, not pocketable, etc of a 4" screen right up until it appeared that Apple was actually going to do it.
Then, we heard rumors that it was going to be 4" but not in proportion- it was going to have a taller but not proportionately-wider screen which would require developers to recode for those dimensions. Those that didn't believe it found it "stupid", "Apple would never..." and fragmentation, fragmentation, fragmentation. And then Apple rolled it out and now even people within this thread call the iPhone 5 screen "perfect".
Should Apple roll out a 4.3", 4.6", 5" or larger as an iPhone 6, 6S or 7 and call it ideal, this crowd will quickly roll with it, probably even find fault with the "puny" sizes of 3.5" and 4" on older phones.
Spin like "one hand" would just be dismissed by Apple much like it spun away "who would want to watch video on an iPod" when it rolled out an iPod with Video (or the overly long cling to the 1-button mouse before finally rolling out the 2... or G4/G5 is far superior to Intel until Apple switched to Intel and then G4/G5 was outdated & inferior, etc). In other words, many "benefits" we tend to cling to when looking at competitors are Apple spin, made up of ideas that support what Apple has for sale right now. Eventually, Apple will abandon certain "benefits" and call the changes "next big thing" or "magical" and that old rationale will be dismissed just as quickly.
There were incredibly passionate arguments in Apple TV 1 & 2 threads that "720p was good enough" right up until Apple rolled out the "3" with 1080p at which point all that passion in that argument seemed to evaporate almost overnight. No one seems to call for going back to 720p now that Apple has endorsed 1080p (and, BTW, the internet didn't crash, "the chart" didn't seem to apply, until greater bandwidth is available to everyone everywhere didn't seem to apply, "everything" is still not available in the iTunes store at 1080p, and so on (all the logical and illogical rationale that supported the "good enough" argument vs. 1080p)). This happens over and over here.
The one PURE rule that consistently applies is whatever supports what Apple has for sale right now dominates and whatever Apple has chosen not yet to include "makes no sense", "is stupid", "99% of the public won't want or need that", and on and on. Then, when Apple does roll out that feature, all that "makes no sense", "is stupid", etc won't be applicable anymore and is replaced with "shut up and take my money", "I'm already in line", "can't wait to use that new feature" (that I called completely stupid and useless in a rumor thread 3 months ago when I didn't think Apple would roll this out), etc.
Can I make a case for 1-handed use of any smart phone? Sure. Is it really that big of a deal in day-to-day use? Some would swear that their life depended on it (until Apple rolls out a screen size that won't support it). Others could care less. It's like certain other benefits like "thin". How thin is thin enough? Already, we've reached a level of thinness where functionality is increasingly being removed to make room for "thinner" spin (apparently only for the sake of more spin, as if Apple has consumed it's own spin and starts off the next generation product evolution thinking with "non-negotiable: we have to make the next one thinner"), yet price isn't dropping with such removals. Do we find much fault with that? Not much. Because it is thinner.
A spoonful of sugar does make the medicine go down.
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Regarding the bezel.... I read the other day that Apple had patented the following. Your ipad's screen would go all the way to the edge. When interacting with the device a bezel would be displayed/rendered on the edge of the screen and touches in that area would be ignored. This would give you an area to hold like now but when watching films where the device is in a stand or you are holding by its edge it could use the whole area right to the edge.
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Look we all know 6" is a bare minimum.....
For 99% of users, particularly iOS issues. A file system being 'proper' or even user accessible is moot.
As for these rumors. I'm sure Apple has had lots of different sizes etc produced for testing. Means about as much as them filing a patent.
Forget Innovation. That is SO last decade. The future is Inflation. Or even reduction of existing stuff. Folks will just buy it. Cos they've done so up to now. Surely
Apple is famous for abandoning old logic
As for size, I have little problem using a 4.65" screen one-handed, but it helps that Android has the Back button on the bottom, instead of way up top like in iOS.
I think that's partly why Apple added the Back swipe gesture in iOS7.
Still making feminine protection jokes after all these years?
I guess for some people it never gets old.
That's why tablets need to go the way of "full OS" in my opinion. This is why I refuse to go either android or iOS and only settle for an atom based windows tablets running the full slate of functional software. My Galaxy S4 is plenty enough as part time phone and media consumption device. A 5" iPhone and 13" iPad running OSX would be a godsend.
Yes, but it was a well in the most remote spot in Tasmania.
I don't think any of Microsoft's failings has an effect on Apple products. I was only using the RT as an example of a tablet you don't want to use as a tablet b/c it's so heavy. It's much more of a Windows laptop alternative for someone who just wants Internet and Office. I think that is what a 13" iPad would be too, except that it might actually have a niche following like the 17" MBP did, but with a different demo of course.
In all seriousness I think there is a huge market for a really large tablet that you just move around yr home.... a bit like a portable tv....
Yea I think so. In order to have a 5 inch screen without the phone being ridiculously big (cough Samsung cough), get rid of the "forehead" and "chin." No home button, hide the front camera behind the screen (per Apple patents), then just a small sliver for the ear piece.
Problem is the simplicity of using iPhone would be gone. Regular people wouldn't know how to get to the home screen, pull up multitasking, etc.
I just want the next iphone to look like this (if it can be edge to edge on the sides, even better): physical dimensions of the phone just like iP5, and display as big as possible.
I don't care what it will be called (5S, 6, math, +, etc). Just make it like this and take my money!
I don't care what it will be called (5S, 6, math, +, etc). Just make it like this and take my money!
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About time that Apple finally gets with it.
So many people here saying "I don't want a phone that big". Guess what, while you don't, many, in fact, millions of other people do. Look at how well the Galaxy and Note line are selling. One of the major reasons why I left my iPhone was lack of a larger than 4" screen and I honestly don't ever see myself going back.
One size does NOT fit all, and it is wise of Apple to provide what consumers want. It will only lead to more sales, which is what they should be going for.
So many people here saying "I don't want a phone that big". Guess what, while you don't, many, in fact, millions of other people do. Look at how well the Galaxy and Note line are selling. One of the major reasons why I left my iPhone was lack of a larger than 4" screen and I honestly don't ever see myself going back.
One size does NOT fit all, and it is wise of Apple to provide what consumers want. It will only lead to more sales, which is what they should be going for.
Maybe it's just me, but I prefer to have my devices that fit my needs and my needs are:
- For quick and ultra portable: I have my iPhone 5 (don't like it any bigger, I even like the 3.5 screen better)
- For bigger screen and still ultra portable: I have my iPad mini
- For even bigger screen: I have my iPad
- For serious work AND still portable: I have my Macbook Air
- For taking over the world: I have my Mac Pro
I don't want a phone with 6.5, or 5.5, or 5.0, or related hybrid screen sizes that can't do the job as good as the 5 mentioned above. But that's just me.
Best post I've seen on a macrumors thread.
I know the name of the 13" iPad:
iPad DX
http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-DX-Wireless-Reader-3G-Global/dp/B002GYWHSQ
iPad DX
http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-DX-Wireless-Reader-3G-Global/dp/B002GYWHSQ
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Personally, I hate the idea of an even larger screen on the iPhone. And I'm not just saying that and will change my tune the minute a larger-screened iPhone is released.
The current 4-inch screen is just too big (for me) and awkward to use with one hand; I've said it since it was announced. 3.5 inches was perfect. The only real reason I got my iPhone 5 was for LTE.
The current 4-inch screen is just too big (for me) and awkward to use with one hand; I've said it since it was announced. 3.5 inches was perfect. The only real reason I got my iPhone 5 was for LTE.