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Apple Will Reportedly Launch Three OLED iPhones in 2020 Including Smaller 5.42-inch Model With Thinner Display
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Okay, so while these display sizes might seem weird at first, I think it might all make sense. I did some thinking, math and photoshop.
(1) Let's look at the two larger sizes first, 6.06" and 6.67". These seem strange at first, but only because they're accurate to two decimal digits. While Apple uses 5.8" and 6.5" in their marketing for the Xs and Xs Max, these actually have screen diagonals of 5.85" and 6.46". Comparing this to the rumored sizes, this corresponds to additional 0.21" in each case. So I pretty sure these two devices correspond to the Xs and Xs Max 2020 versions, so
Xs 2018 with 5.85" -> Xs 2020 with 6.06" (probably 6" screen diagonal in marketing)
Xs Max 2018 with 6.46" -> Xs Max 2020 with 6.67" (probably 6.7" screen diagonal in marketing)
(2) How exactly could these devices look like? Okay, so assuming the display ratio stays at 19.5:9 as it is currently, then using the new screen diagonals and Pythagoras this corresponds to a 3.59% increase in screen width and height for the Xs and a 3.25% increase for the Xs Max. Suppose the devices stay roughly the same size, specifically we keep the device height exactly the same and just scale the screen size accordingly to the new numbers. Then we get this (rough) mockup:
So the new screen sizes would correspond to pretty much the exact same device size but with pretty much zero bezels!
(3) Lastly, what's up the small version with 5.42" ? Again doing some math and assuming a display ratio of 19.5:9 this corresponds to a 127mm screen height, compared to a screen height of 142mm for the 6.06" device in a 144mm height case. Assuming the same (super thin) bezel of 2mm, this would indicate a device with height 129mm. A little bit larger than the SE with a height of 124mm. So this seems to be a new SE size device with OLED screen and thin bezels.
Conclusion: It seems there is a major redesign in the pipeline for the 2020 iPhone lineup. This fits to rumors from 2017/2018 of a slowed down upgrade cycle with major redesigns every 3 years instead of every 2 years. So my assumption is we will see a similar lineup to Xs, Xr and Xs Max in 2019. In 2020 the "cheap" LCD option will be dropped and we will see three OLED devices.
Small: Roughly SE size device with 5.42" OLED screen (5.4" screen in marketing)
Medium: Roughly XS size device with 6.06 OLED screen (6" screen in marketing)
Large: Roughly XS Max size device with 6.67 OLED screen (6.7" screen in marketing)
All three with ultra thin bezels and I guess we could possibly see a smaller notch and maybe an iPad Pro style redesign.
Happy to hear any thoughts to this.
(1) Let's look at the two larger sizes first, 6.06" and 6.67". These seem strange at first, but only because they're accurate to two decimal digits. While Apple uses 5.8" and 6.5" in their marketing for the Xs and Xs Max, these actually have screen diagonals of 5.85" and 6.46". Comparing this to the rumored sizes, this corresponds to additional 0.21" in each case. So I pretty sure these two devices correspond to the Xs and Xs Max 2020 versions, so
Xs 2018 with 5.85" -> Xs 2020 with 6.06" (probably 6" screen diagonal in marketing)
Xs Max 2018 with 6.46" -> Xs Max 2020 with 6.67" (probably 6.7" screen diagonal in marketing)
(2) How exactly could these devices look like? Okay, so assuming the display ratio stays at 19.5:9 as it is currently, then using the new screen diagonals and Pythagoras this corresponds to a 3.59% increase in screen width and height for the Xs and a 3.25% increase for the Xs Max. Suppose the devices stay roughly the same size, specifically we keep the device height exactly the same and just scale the screen size accordingly to the new numbers. Then we get this (rough) mockup:
So the new screen sizes would correspond to pretty much the exact same device size but with pretty much zero bezels!
(3) Lastly, what's up the small version with 5.42" ? Again doing some math and assuming a display ratio of 19.5:9 this corresponds to a 127mm screen height, compared to a screen height of 142mm for the 6.06" device in a 144mm height case. Assuming the same (super thin) bezel of 2mm, this would indicate a device with height 129mm. A little bit larger than the SE with a height of 124mm. So this seems to be a new SE size device with OLED screen and thin bezels.
Conclusion: It seems there is a major redesign in the pipeline for the 2020 iPhone lineup. This fits to rumors from 2017/2018 of a slowed down upgrade cycle with major redesigns every 3 years instead of every 2 years. So my assumption is we will see a similar lineup to Xs, Xr and Xs Max in 2019. In 2020 the "cheap" LCD option will be dropped and we will see three OLED devices.
Small: Roughly SE size device with 5.42" OLED screen (5.4" screen in marketing)
Medium: Roughly XS size device with 6.06 OLED screen (6" screen in marketing)
Large: Roughly XS Max size device with 6.67 OLED screen (6.7" screen in marketing)
All three with ultra thin bezels and I guess we could possibly see a smaller notch and maybe an iPad Pro style redesign.
Happy to hear any thoughts to this.
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Be interesting to see Apples take on the no notch, high screen to body trend, but surely that will come this year? No way they are going to stick with it in its current guise beyond 2019 when the competitors have much more aesthetically pleasing solutions.
I would love to buy a new iPhone but I’m going to wait until they make thin, light phones again. I have the iPhone 7 and everything newer than that is huge and heavy. It’s an odd trend for Apple to release thicker, heavier phones year after year...especially with Jony Ive’s obsession with thinness. Hopefully they’ll “trim the fat” from the iPhone soon.
I think you're on the money my friend. As for the notch, I think Apple should be working on reducing it by at least 50%, after Samsung released a phone with a much smaller 'hole' cutout, it would be embarrassing for Apple to redesign their phone with the same rabbit ears, two years later
I do agree with you for the most part but how many years has it been that people have *waited* for an iPhone SE2 that never appeared. How long did it take Apple to get from an iPad mini 4 to an iPad mini 5 without even a design change.
These rumour do in fact help Apple in that it prevents a proportion of buyers out there from throwing in the towel and doing something else. It gives them something to be patient and wait for. The only reason I'm using a Samsung phone today is that Apple didn't give me an iPhone SE2… the phone that's rumoured to appear in 2020 in this article. Difference is, I can buy a Galaxy S10e today rather than wait 18+ months. I'm just waiting for the price to drop some and the 256GB models to become available in my region.
Same goes for the iPad mini… I love that form factor and gave up on it, sold my iPad mini 3, and now have an iPad 2018. Thing is, the iPad is that slight bit too wide for what I want as I doesn't happily fit in the bag I want it to fit into. As such this rule out any iPad Pro. In the meantime Samsung has thrown out the Tab 5Se. As I use my iPad for video watching 95% of the time. Given the Tab 5Se comes fits inside my size requirements, comes with an 10.5" OLED in a narrower 16:10 (vs 4:3 of the iPad) aspect, where do you think my money will go?
So had this rumour appeared this time in 2018 I may well have been ok to wait for that phone rather than giving multiple sales to a competitor in the year(s) leading up to a maybe release. Given the pace at which Apple is releasing product and offering change these rumour do have a great deal of value to offer Apple.
Also today display sizes are technically very strange numbers, but are advertised as a rounded value.
No one like to have a notch in their face so it's same principle that people dislike even more on the phone.
In 2017, Apple has done horrible things to their flagship product and refuse to develop third-generation touchID capable of scanning human fingerprints via touching the screen.
Most user thumbs can naturally reach anywhere the screen of 5-Inch Phone and so it made sense to offer that size while keeping the cost low due to reduction in overall screen size and more affordable for the customers instead of opting liquid crystal display like the iPhone X-Ray which is absolutely the worst budget oriented product ever existed on an iPhone lineup.
In 2017, Apple has done horrible things to their flagship product and refuse to develop third-generation touchID capable of scanning human fingerprints via touching the screen.
Most user thumbs can naturally reach anywhere the screen of 5-Inch Phone and so it made sense to offer that size while keeping the cost low due to reduction in overall screen size and more affordable for the customers instead of opting liquid crystal display like the iPhone X-Ray which is absolutely the worst budget oriented product ever existed on an iPhone lineup.
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I don’t really want anything even 1mm larger than an SE. I want a headphone jack. I want squared edges. I want a rectangular display, free of notch. I want TouchID.
I have very little confidence they will make what I want again. I am happier with my decision to buy a second SE with every day that passes.
On the positive-ish side, if they make something smaller than the current range of dongle-bound soap bars, then that would be better than them not doing so, and likely the option I’d have to take once the SE is not supported at all (which I hope is as long as possible).
I have very little confidence they will make what I want again. I am happier with my decision to buy a second SE with every day that passes.
On the positive-ish side, if they make something smaller than the current range of dongle-bound soap bars, then that would be better than them not doing so, and likely the option I’d have to take once the SE is not supported at all (which I hope is as long as possible).
Lol! Even though I plan to get the 6.7 iPhone 12 in the future I still can't help but to like your post lol!"Including Smaller 5.24-inch Model"
Yeah, it's almost like rumors should be in the name and tag line of the site...
Well I'll be...
I'll take a small without the multiple camera lens. However, I am still fine with the LCD screen since I don't really watch video or play games.
Frankly I think I'd prefer they took the XR design and added a scaled 1080p display and dual camera (like the 8 plus) rather than going all OLED.
There's a lot of ways they could go with this, 5.42" could be the new cheaper device, while the 5.8 and 6.5 get size bumps to 6.06 and 6.67, or the whole line could be roughly in feature and price parity, or the middle model could again be a cheaper version, and they have a new feature to use as the key differentiator.
There's a lot of ways they could go with this, 5.42" could be the new cheaper device, while the 5.8 and 6.5 get size bumps to 6.06 and 6.67, or the whole line could be roughly in feature and price parity, or the middle model could again be a cheaper version, and they have a new feature to use as the key differentiator.
I'm waiting for the rumors re: a better quality optical zoom with....how to say this--longer distance? Zoom x 5?
Not upgrading my XS Max until I see that.
Not upgrading my XS Max until I see that.
Agreed that it is still larger than desired, but having no physical buttons and edge to edge display will make it feel smaller than it really is. The SE was 4.5" with a home button.
This year is just a minor refresh/spec bump. No redesign according to all the sources that matter. Biggest upgrade looks to be the camera on the Max sized model.
I'm gonna do what I thought I would never do and keep my iPhone X for 3 years before I upgrade.
Well it looks like you will get the opportunity to get a smaller iPhone again. I just wish I can get a white bezel iPhone again.
Looks like smartphones are sort of met it's saturation point. No big innovation beyond screen size and typical processor bumps...may be ToF camera and group stage lighting! At this point prices must be gradually reduced minimum 10% of its peak value until there is significant innovation (eg: foldable mobiles with 8inch screens)...these designs (from X onwards) are just refreshes imo
I am not sure if I believe this one. Not about the smaller iPhone, but what would be the purpose of not buying the XR over the XS at that point? The XR is an awesome phone (I have the XS but bought the XR for mom) and I am not sure it would pay for Apple to raise the price on that model by adding an OLED screen to it.
If Apple doesn't stop changing the screen size, I'm gonna lose my marbles. Every year there is a new phone, and since I upgrade every year I have to get a new case. And since Angela has left, their color choices have either disappeared or become ugly pastels.
I have four cases I really want to use with my XS Max but can't because the camera has moved 90 degrees and the size is a bit off.
I get they are trying to "innovate"....as if adding a third camera is innovation.
Please quit changing the screen size or I'll just hold off on upgrading because I am getting really tired of buying a set of cases and then they become useless a year later. I like to change the case based on my mood or what function I am going to (tougher cases for fishing or beach or outdoor, less protective for work and at home).
I have four cases I really want to use with my XS Max but can't because the camera has moved 90 degrees and the size is a bit off.
I get they are trying to "innovate"....as if adding a third camera is innovation.
Please quit changing the screen size or I'll just hold off on upgrading because I am getting really tired of buying a set of cases and then they become useless a year later. I like to change the case based on my mood or what function I am going to (tougher cases for fishing or beach or outdoor, less protective for work and at home).
