How Apple Could Make the Move to 4.7" iPhone Displays

[davidChief]

I think it is unlikely Apple would present a 4-inch app layout letter-boxed on a 4.7-inch device. I think it is much more likely that they'd simply scale it up. The display's aspect ratio will presumably still be 16:9.

It wouldn't be too bad in terms of blurriness. They could even try and be clever and automatically set the device text size to 85.1% of the normal size when accessing a 4-inch app.

 

[Skika]

Also I don't understand how doubling it makes it simple, when the screen size is not doubling with it. If the scaling is the same then you get smaller icons. If you double the scaling to match the doubling of pixels, everything is bigger and there is no extra space. Unless I'm thinking about this wrong.

Exactly, when the iPhone 4 came out everything went super small.

 

[LordVic]

No it will be worse than that, as it will still have to scale 720P content down as 720P content is 1280 pixels wide. In reality you will not be able to tell a difference, but my first question is who watches 1080P bluray rips on your phone in the first place.

The main thing that will suck about the letterboxing is the keyboard, as it will be inset. On the iPad it seems to cut of touches along the edge of the display which makes it even worse as you end up missing the space bar half the time.

Me

but not because it's 1080p, but because all my bluerays are ripped to plex, which then sync's locally in 1080p.. just a byproduct of an efficient system that works very well.

to be honest, I probably would never tell the difference between 720p and 1080p.

 

[cclloyd]

but Apple and all the fan boys said 3.5" is the perfect size

3.5-4 is still the better size, but I'm willing to deal with a bigger screen if

A. They do it correctly and
B. I still get to have all my stuff work correctly as it has with Apple.

 

[dalbng]

Doubling the resolution seems reasonable.

(640x1136)*2 = 1280x2272, while keeping the current (5/5s) aspect ratio.
Other high-end Android phones currently have a 1920x1080 resolution over roughly ~5inch displays.

2272*1280 means 2,908,160 pixels.
Calculating 2272*1280 - 1920*1080 = 834560. That's around 40% more pixels than current 1080p panels.

Seeing as the iPad's resolution is 2048*1536 = 3,145,728 pixels and the A7 can handle it beautifully, I assume the A8 could drive 2.9 million pixels on the rumored iPhone 6.

Moreover, when apple introduced the iPhone 4, they went from 163 PPI to 326 PPI. Going now from 326 to 554 PPI doesn't seem too impossible.

 

[samcraig]

pixel doubling doesn't solve the "problem" or opportunity of truly using more real estate.

 

[Razeus]

Those icons are such a mess.

 

[Piggie]

but Apple and all the fan boys said 3.5" is the perfect size

No No No. 4" is the perfect size as of very recently I think you will find.

 

[Aidan5806]

This story has some serious issues in mistaking 1134 pixel height with 1334 pixel height. It's very confusing.

 

[GreyOS]

You definitely are. By your logic, the retina display of the iPhone 4 and Retina Display Macbook Pro would have destroyed all existing apps.

On the iPhone 4, the screen size did not change from the previous generation. This was simply about increasing density. The density was double, which was the important thing. Because the screen was the same size, this happened to mean doubling the pixels. They doubled the scaling for unoptimised apps to match the double in density. Developers still had to make changes to optimise but it looked ok in the meantime.

The iPhone 6 is getting bigger. Simply doubling the pixels isn't as neat as before, there is no real reason to do this like there was before. Again, think of the iphone 4 as doubling the density rather than doubling the resolution (because the screen stayed the same size, it just happened that these went in hand). Do Apple want to increase the density on the iPhone 6? If they do, yes the simplest way is to double the density. That would be 326*2 = 652ppi. Over a bigger screen this is actually MORE pixels than doubling the existing pixels. They probably don't want to increase density though. They probably want to keep that the same. Thus if the screen is getting bigger, this means more pixels, proportional to the screen size change. The screen is not doubling, I don't see why they'd double the pixels.

You suggestion messes with the density. To keep things the same size rendered on screen this requires changes to the scaling, which affects developers.
Rambling...

 

[somethingelsefl]

As an iOS developer I cant wait to have a new screen size (or two) to play about with when designing apps, the additional real-estate could pave the way for making similar UI's for both the iPhone and iPad

Exactly. Why are people acting like developers will be scared or confused by a change in sizes? The reason Apple takes it's time with this sort of thing is to allow developers time to get the ideas rolling. This is an exciting opportunity.

 

[TroyBoy30]

nothing less than 1080 will do for 2014

 

[itpromike]

Having nothing but rows of icons on your home screen made sense when the original iPhone came out because the power just wasn't there. Phones these days are desktop class machines of yesteryear and Apple needs to get you more functionality out of the home screen. People multitask and having to go to the home screen every time I want to do something else is getting very bothersome.

The only reason I still have an iPhone is that my jailbreak gets me the functionality I want (and allows me to stick with the wonderful ecosystem). Apps like BiteSMS, activator, flipcontrolcenter, springtomize are the only reason I'm still using an iPhone!

Sounds great mate but you and I both know that's not going to happen. When it comes to UI design I think Apple has reached it's peak. Maybe not in intelligence or ability perse` but they've reached their peak within the paradigm box they themselves have put themselves in...

They set the paradigm that it's "all about the apps" and have pushed this since day 1 that Android came out boasting about all their widgets. It was a defensive move by Apple since they really didn't have anything to compete with the utility of widgets or the potential/promised utility if used properly (not all Android widgets are useful and if iOS developer were given the opportunity they would design circles around most Android widget developers).

Their pride keeps them away from true innovation or at least competitive edge when it comes to UI paradigm. They pushed that rows and rows of icons make the device more user friendly when in actuality it no longer does... It actually makes the device less enjoyable and less efficient to use. The UI is now cluttered... and with each iOS release there are more and more stock apps that you A.) Can't uninstall even if you have no plans of using it or B.) Can't even remove off of your home screen until you actually need or plan to use it.

As it stands now most iOS user makes a folder for 'junk' on their homscreens which contain built in Apple apps they don't use. Again there is just a lot of clutter no matter how many folders you have. If you have 100+ apps that you use throughout years time and they all reside on your screen in folders it's still just a cluttered mess. I long for the day where we can have a launchpad the same way that OS X does... and for a day where I can put shortcuts to actual files I'm using on my home screen and not just applications... Ya' know, make the home screen useful and make getting work done (the thing they fight so hard to make you believe can be done easily with iOS device).

The last time their own design paradigm painted them in a corner they just copied and whistled and looked the other way like nothing ever happened (notification center). I wouldn't mind them doing the same thing this time with widgets and launchpad. Of course this is just my opinion and not everyone has the same design sensibilities however they could just make this an option and let those who like icons smattered about all over their screen do that as well if they like.

 

[Tinmania]

Am I the only who hates the bigger phones?

In the past the whole point was to make a smaller and smaller phone, I still remember Nokia 8800.

Now there is an insane idea, that a phone must as big as possible!?

My fingers didnt grove in the last years.

If you need a bigger display, buy iPad Mini!

The only way I could live with a bigger phone, is that the phone would be the size of iPhone 5/5s, but the screen would be from edge to edge.

The 1990s called. They want their Matrix phone back.

Meanwhile the rest of the world has moved on. Many people use their smartphone as their primary computer. Try doing that with a Nokia 8800.

The only problem I see is still referring to them as smartphones. They are essentially full-fledged computers that happen to make and receive phone calls.



Michael

 

[satchow]

but Apple and all the fan boys said 3.5" is the perfect size

At the time (3 years ago) it was perfect. I know plenty of Android users who scoffed at the Samsung Note, saying it was a ridiculously-sized phone. Now the same people are buying the S5, which is slightly smaller.

Things change. Who knows, in a few years we might be looking to move to sleek elegant 3.5" phones.

 

[GreyOS]

Exactly, when the iPhone 4 came out everything went super small.

Why are you rolling your eyes at me? Making clear "I don't understand" and "I may be thinking about this wrong" doesn't seem to deserve a patronising response.

Apple altered their assets and adjusted the way stuff was rendered, surely? So icons double in size, in terms of pixels. Text double in size, again in terms of pixels. etc. etc. That's why things weren't smaller isn't it?

 

[Ventilatedbrain]

Maybe they should introduce on-screen buttons.

I hate on screen buttons , on one hand they reduce the hardware but on the other hand they eat up from the screen. Bring the 4.7 but utilize LG to lessen the bezels

 

[KdParker]

Magic?

It is not like Apple hasn't considered the resolution changes that will be made with a bigger phone.

I would expect that this conversation at Apple was hashed out back in 2012 or maybe even 2011.

 

[jrswizzle]

Doubling the resolution seems reasonable.

(640x1136)*2 = 1280x2272, while keeping the current (5/5s) aspect ratio.
Other high-end Android phones currently have a 1920x1080 resolution over roughly ~5inch displays.

2272*1280 means 2,908,160 pixels.
Calculating 2272*1280 - 1920*1080 = 834560. That's around 40% more pixels than current 1080p panels.

Seeing as the iPad's resolution is 2048*1536 = 3,145,728 pixels and the A7 can handle it beautifully, I assume the A8 could drive 2.9 million pixels on the rumored iPhone 6.

Moreover, when apple introduced the iPhone 4, they went from 163 PPI to 326 PPI. Going now from 326 to 554 PPI doesn't seem too impossible.

Except that these displays don't exist. Has nothing to do with processor power. Simply that Apple sources displays from various manufacturers and none of them produce a 4.7" display with 500+ ppi at this point.

 

[chrmjenkins]

You don't want to increase resolution willy-nilly. Higher resolution means more battery demand. That being said, DPI matching seems odd.

 

[LordVic]

I hate on screen buttons , on one hand they reduce the hardware but on the other hand they eat up from the screen. Bring the 4.7 but utilize LG to lessen the bezels

agreed. on the nexus 5.. it's my biggest pet peeve.

The amount of times I accidentally task switch while trying to type cause I fat finger the keyboard and hit one of the on screen buttons is annoying as hell.

the one thing Samsung does well is preserving the hardware controls and giving you the entire display as usable space.

 

[cmChimera]

On the iPhone 4, the screen size did not change from the previous generation. This was simply about increasing density. The density was double, which was the important thing. Because the screen was the same size, this happened to mean doubling the pixels. They doubled the scaling for unoptimised apps to match the double in density. Developers still had to make changes to optimise but it looked ok in the meantime.

The iPhone 6 is getting bigger. Simply doubling the pixels isn't as neat as before, there is no real reason to do this like there was before. Again, think of the iphone 4 as doubling the density rather than doubling the resolution (because the screen stayed the same size, it just happened that these went in hand). Do Apple want to increase the density on the iPhone 6? If they do, yes the simplest way is to double the density. That would be 326*2 = 652ppi. Over a bigger screen this is actually MORE pixels than doubling the existing pixels. They probably don't want to increase density though. They probably want to keep that the same. Thus if the screen is getting bigger, this means more pixels, proportional to the screen size change. The screen is not doubling, I don't see why they'd double the pixels.

You suggestion messes with the density. To keep things the same size rendered on screen this requires changes to the scaling, which affects developers.
Rambling...

What? If they double the pixels, the density of the screen surpasses the iPhone 5/5s despite the larger size of the display. This is because the the display size and resolution increase were not proportional.


If they don't want a higher density than the iPhone 5, then they simply won't double the resolution. But I still don't understand why it would be pointless to double the resolution. It would be pointless only if Apple is trying to actively avoid a pixel density increase.

 

[davidChief]

I don't think doubling makes things any easier. The linear resolution would be 100% greater but the display would only be 17.5% physically larger.

The result would be that all the user interface components would be much larger than every previous iPhone. Is that a good idea?

At the moment Apple supports four display sizes:

3.5 inch / 4 inch / 7.9 inch / 9.7 inch

However they only support two ppis (with non-retina in brackets):

326 (163) ppi / 264 (132) ppi

Would they want to add a third ppi to the list? Or add a fifth display size?

 

[1Zach1]

Allowing widgets might help clean up the screen a bit instead of just increasing the number of app icons.

 

[cmChimera]

Except that these displays don't exist. Has nothing to do with processor power. Simply that Apple sources displays from various manufacturers and none of them produce a 4.7" display with 500+ ppi at this point.

The LG G3 is rumored to have a 2560 x 1440 display. LG is a manufacturer Apple, right? (serious question)