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iPhone 5 to have bigger screen, same form factor

Reach9

Reach9

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Aug 17, 2010
2,417
224
In America
Rumor:

http://www.9to5mac.com/56429/purpor...nt-to-iphone-4-design-possibly-larger-screen/

These cases show a nearly identical design to the iPhone 4 with camera and LED flash holes on the back of the case, openings on the top for the earphone jack and sleep/wake button, and an opening on the device’s side for the SIM slot. Case manufacturers tend to not leave those ports open in cases.

one11.jpg


Adding to these cases are purported engineering images from last week. These images, from a sometimes accurate chinese iPhone parts reseller, also depict an iPhone 4 design, but with a larger display and edge-to-edge glass.
Click to expand...

We heard this before, but the latest info from 9to5Mac is getting more convincing.
So we're looking at a bigger screened iPhone in the same form factor as the iPhone 4.
If that's true, then i'm hoping for a 4" screen, and this upgrade will be awesome. Can't wait to see how iOS 5 turns up.
But i'm still doubting the legitimacy of the cases.
 
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More of these rumors? If this is true, I will be skipping this revision.
 
vincenz said:
More of these rumors? If this is true, I will be skipping this revision.
Click to expand...

I'm actually thinking they going to do a smaller screen an a larger form factor just to throw everyone off. 2.5" screen on a 8" phone, you heard it here first.
 
Old news... But yeah i hope they do a 4 inch iphone but without changing the actual size of the phone... Can they do it?
 
Interstella5555 said:
I'm actually thinking they going to do a smaller screen an a larger form factor just to throw everyone off. 2.5" screen on a 8" phone, you heard it here first.
Click to expand...

In a market where it's competitors are increasing their screen size? I don't think so.
 
Interstella5555 said:
c8a78b150691bffb508dd157196c124948.png
Click to expand...

Haha, you got me.
But the only reason I didn't catch your sarcasm was because there are people who think the form factor will shrink in size. (check the first comment in 9to5Mac's post)

On topic:
I do believe that this is what the iPhone 5 will end up looking like. I just hope that there is a change in the antenna, and it'll be perfect.

This could explain why the White iPhone 4s are in production if there are only a few differences between it and the iPhone 5, then it wouldn't be a big deal right?
 
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More screen real estate can make notifications much less intrusive if they decide to improve it in iOS 5. I'm all for a bigger screen and keeping the form factor the same as the iPhone 4. The design is just so iconic that it shouldn't only last one year.
 
Food for thought - there's already been a lot of discussion about resolution in respect of the iPad 2... people thought the resolution would be increased but it was made clear that the only feasible way to do that would be to double each linear dimension for a 4-fold increase in resolution (aside: yes, if you increase the number of pixels in each linear dimension by a factor of 2, the screen's overall resolution increases by a factor of 4). That was how it was done for the iPhone 4's LCD, and everyone agreed that was smart from a UI scaling point of view. And everyone's waiting for it on the iPad 3 as well.

So the iPhone 4's screen is 3.5" and 4 times the resolution of previous iPhone screens, and has been classified as a Retina screen because of the resulting DPI.

If the iPhone 5 has a larger screen, but the resolution remains unchanged, the DPI necessarily has to be lower than on the iPhone 4. So will it still get marketed as a true "Retina" LCD?

They could of course increase the resolution, but it's already been shown to be undesirable to increase resolution to anything apart from the doubling of pixels in each linear dimension (from a UI scaling standpoint), but that would be a HUGE increase in resolution for a small increase in screen size (0.5" or so) and is probably prohibitive (if it's even possible at all).

I'm sure a bigger screen of the same resolution will still look amazing and be perfectly usable, but from the discussion circling around when the Retina name first emerged, there's a clear DPI limit beyond which a screen can't really be marketed as "Retina"...

So if the screen does get bigger, and the resolution remains unchanged, DPI will drop. So will it still get marketed as "Retina"?
 
mustgroove said:
Food for thought - there's already been a lot of discussion about resolution in respect of the iPad 2... people thought the resolution would be increased but it was made clear that the only feasible way to do that would be to double each linear dimension for a 4-fold increase in resolution (aside: yes, if you increase the number of pixels in each linear dimension by a factor of 2, the screen's overall resolution increases by a factor of 4). That was how it was done for the iPhone 4's LCD, and everyone agreed that was smart from a UI scaling point of view. And everyone's waiting for it on the iPad 3 as well.

So the iPhone 4's screen is 3.5" and 4 times the resolution of previous iPhone screens, and has been classified as a Retina screen because of the resulting DPI.

If the iPhone 5 has a larger screen, but the resolution remains unchanged, the DPI necessarily has to be lower than on the iPhone 4. So will it still get marketed as a true "Retina" LCD?

They could of course increase the resolution, but it's already been shown to be undesirable to increase resolution to anything apart from the doubling of pixels in each linear dimension (from a UI scaling standpoint), but that would be a HUGE increase in resolution for a small increase in screen size (0.5" or so) and is probably prohibitive (if it's even possible at all).

I'm sure a bigger screen of the same resolution will still look amazing and be perfectly usable, but from the discussion circling around when the Retina name first emerged, there's a clear DPI limit beyond which a screen can't really be marketed as "Retina"...

So if the screen does get bigger, and the resolution remains unchanged, DPI will drop. So will it still get marketed as "Retina"?
Click to expand...

I see what you're saying and I don't think you're the first one to point it out. I think that as easy as it is to stick to scaled sizes like they have been that won't stop them from stepping out of that pattern and going a little bigger. I may be wrong so anybody can jump in and correct me but I believe if the iPhone went from a 3.5" to a 4" display (just for the sake of the argument) they could still keep the same resolution as the retina display is now. While it would be in the best interest of developers to update their apps to the new size the old apps would still work. They just would not be optimized for the display and might not look as good as they potentially could. Apple is obviously a huge player in the phone market so if we think that developers won't jump on board to update their apps per Apple's bidding we're crazy. Think about how many and how quickly apps were updated for iOS 4 on the iPhone 4. It was a matter of weeks for mainstream apps. Not a huge deal in my mind and worth it to maintain a pace with the competition in terms of hardware.
 
I'll wait for the iPhone X. That should be in 2016.

iPhone will runs its course eventually similar to those Michael Jordan shoes that were numbered accordingly or the Game Boy or Walkman line.

Where iPhone is PEAKING is IV -VII. Like the Final Fantasy series. ;-) iPhone V gives us a bigger screen, iPhone VI gives us LTE and NFC. iPhone VII gives more "Cloud" services...

It's current popularity is like Facebook. Once our grandmas and our aunties have one, it became less cool to have. Everything good thing dies someday. Even if iOS5 gets a complete revamp with the UI, I still wouldn't want to stay with iPhone for 6 years straight. But I can see myself returning within 4-5 years which is when iPhone 9 or 10 come out. These next few years is more for gaining experience with other OSes and exploring. Variety, please.
 
I don't care about a change in dpi unless it is noticeable. Some people say a 960x640 4 inch screen is about 300 dpi even. I would prefer that they keep it at 326 dpi or higher. Whatever happens, I'll end up buying one :D
 
brock2621 said:
Dual core CPU, duel core GPU, larger retina screen, 8mp camera = not good enough reasons to upgrade?

What do you need?
Click to expand...

Unless you have specific needs for a dual core processor or a better camera, the only reason would be a slightly bigger screen, which is not that tempting.
 
CSpackler said:
Unless you have specific needs for a dual core processor or a better camera, the only reason would be a slightly bigger screen, which is not that tempting.
Click to expand...

And here come the people who are not eligible for an upgrade this year to continually downplay the iP5 no matter what it has to make themselves feel better about having year old technology.

The iP5 is gonna be awesome no matter what quit acting like you don't want it.
 
i'm all for bigger screens. in my opinion, this closely ties to the internal testing of multitouch gestures for the iPhone. maybe not in this iteration (hoping for it non-the-less) but eventually
 
2011 - looks like it's going to be the year of: 'a bit faster, bit thiner, bit lighter, and now it comes in white'

Apple seem to be taking their foot of the innovative releases this year. I like to think Steve is sat in his office thinking: 'we'll give our competitors a little time to do some copycating and catch up work. Then in 2012 WE WILL BLOW THEM ALL OUT OF THE WATER -AGAIN. Hahaha I love my job.'
 
v66jack said:
2011 - looks like it's going to be the year of: 'a bit faster, bit thiner, bit lighter, and now it comes in white'

Apple seem to be taking their foot of the innovative releases this year. I like to think Steve is sat in his office thinking: 'we'll give our competitors a little time to do some copycating and catch up work. Then in 2012 WE WILL BLOW THEM ALL OUT OF THE WATER -AGAIN. Hahaha I love my job.'
Click to expand...

Let me see...oh of course you think that, you own an iPhone 4 and are not eligible to upgrade this year.
 
I bought an iPhone 4 on launch day, and I'm hoping the iPhone 5 blows it away, I will be standing in line again all night for it. And I'm eligible for an upgrade from AT&T on June 24th, so some of you who think you may not be eligible until 2012 just might want to check into that because AT&T moved the dates up again this year.:D
 
diamornte said:
Let me see...oh of course you think that, you own an iPhone 4 and are not eligible to upgrade this year.
Click to expand...

I'm on O2, usually they let you upgrade to the latest iPhone even if your not at the end of your contract. Not going to lie, I'm a sucker for Apple products. I just don't think anything too groud breaking will be out this year.

Obviously I hope I'm wrong.
 
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