iPhone 5S Display Rumored to Carry Twice as Many Pixels as iPhone 5

[samcraig]

Pixelphobe people are odd. They always come in with impassioned arguments about more pixels can't bee seen, the strain on the OS is too much, people watch from long distances..

And they are always wrong. 1080 is better to watch than 720, 24mp cameras are better than 6mp ones, retina iPad Minis will blow away the current one. Same with the phone. More is better.

But there's overkill.

IE - most people who are only sharing photos online don't need 24mp. A 3.2mp is MORE than enough.

And it's not about MP - it's about the sensor size and quality. And the lens. MP means more when you are cropping and still want a full sized image and or you're doing HUGE reprints. And I mean huge as in banners/billboards, etc.

The odds in you being able to differentiate 720p vs 1080p on a 4" screen is nearly if not completely impossible.

 

[The Deepness]

Solid, logical arguments

Reading comments just proves that people do not understand that Apple moves with slow and deliberate precision towards any change. [...] Let us take a second to consider...

Thanks for the perspective and the insight.

 

[paradox00]

I disagree with that. Nothing wrong with "bigger screens" per se. But I wouldn't want an even bigger phone. I personally find the iPhone 5 already a little too big. The 4 had a better form factor.
In fact, if Blackberry hadn't messed up their BIS service I'd be going for the new Q10 with the small screen and a physical keyboard. I decided against the BB Z10 because it was bigger than the iPhone. The Samsung gigantasaurus phones and everything else I've seen for Android is out of the question because of sheer size. If it doesn't fit a shirt pocket and can't be operated with one thumb anymore it's out for me.

Everyone has different preferences, which is why I've been an advocate of multiple size options for quite some time now. Android appears to give that option, but none of the smaller phones have the same specs as the larger flagship phones.

 

[Michael Scrip]

never get those devs complaining if thats how they make their living. its their freakin job ...

i dont complain when my boss gives me a crappy task either. ill just do it

Exactly.

Apple has had a few different resolutions and aspect ratios over the years... and yet developers seem to be sticking with iOS regardless.

Even with only 17% of the smartphone market... the iPhone is still the most popular platform for developers.

I think developers will do whatever they need to do to make apps for the iPhone.

 

[TyPod]

I'll believe it when I see it!

 

[derbladerunner]

Beyond Retina? This sounds useless, it's not like our eyes got better overnight, is this for Cyborgs ?

Same for 4K or 8K resolution in small TV flatscreens at home (well, 4K would make some sense if 3D took off, but 3D is also a dud so far).

This is purely a "because we can" rumor in my view - with no advantage to the customer.

I would rather have Apple add a 4.2" or 4.5" screen size option instead of the current 4" inch, but I doubt they will change the iPhone screen size again as the article pointed out.

 

[rjohnstone]

If I thought they did, I would have said it.

Pentile display = rubbish. Depending on the layout, it is impossible to draw either a one pixel wide horizontal line or a one pixel wide vertical line. To produce pure black or white, you need two neighbouring Pentile pixels.

They're not all Pentile.
HTC One uses and Super LCD3 display that is nearly sRGB complaint out of the box.

 

[Amadeus71]

It's not for the next iPhone...

I suspect the source of this rumour wrongly assumes those displays are for the iPhone 5S.

What may be really behind this display is a retina iPad Mini.

 

[Ceonic]

Ok... double as many pixels.
I don't think the pixel density will change at all.

I think we will see a phone with DUAL DISPLAYS...

Apple MUST do something radical for their next iPhone, because they are falling behind, the samsung telephones have become much better than iPhone 5.

I have used the different iPhone models since the first iPhone was released. But I felt disappointed by the iPhone 5, there was nothing new...
I wanted a bigger display and ended up buying the Samsung Galaxy Note II instead, which I think is much superiour. I bought the iPhone 5 for my girlfriend and she is so jelous of my phone...

Anyhow, I hope Apple bring something NEW to the table with the next iPhone.
An slightly upgraded iPhone 5 would be an disaster for Apple.

 

[omnisphere]

I have had many many mobile phones through the years and displays from 2.6" - 5.5" and 5" is the best size of them all if the bezel is thin like Galaxy S4. 4" screen is not enough to day, Apple please make a 5" iPhone or at least 4.5"

 

[Benjamins]

Ok... double as many pixels.
I don't think the pixel density will change at all.

I think we will see a phone with DUAL DISPLAYS...

Apple MUST do something radical for their next iPhone, because they are falling behind, the samsung telephones have become much better than iPhone 5.

I have used the different iPhone models since the first iPhone was released. But I felt disappointed by the iPhone 5, there was nothing new...
I wanted a bigger display and ended up buying the Samsung Galaxy Note II instead, which I think is much superiour. I bought the iPhone 5 for my girlfriend and she is so jelous of my phone...

Anyhow, I hope Apple bring something NEW to the table with the next iPhone.
An slightly upgraded iPhone 5 would be an disaster for Apple.

congrats on your new Macrumors account.

 

[Defender2010]

Ok... double as many pixels.
I don't think the pixel density will change at all.

I think we will see a phone with DUAL DISPLAYS...

Apple MUST do something radical for their next iPhone, because they are falling behind, the samsung telephones have become much better than iPhone 5.

I have used the different iPhone models since the first iPhone was released. But I felt disappointed by the iPhone 5, there was nothing new...
I wanted a bigger display and ended up buying the Samsung Galaxy Note II instead, which I think is much superiour. I bought the iPhone 5 for my girlfriend and she is so jelous of my phone...

Anyhow, I hope Apple bring something NEW to the table with the next iPhone.
An slightly upgraded iPhone 5 would be an disaster for Apple.

Dual displays? Come on, that's truly ridiculous. ( in the English sense- meaning absurd

 

[chleuasme]

With retina 3x, the pixel density would necessary be between 400 ppi and 500 ppi (3x132 resp. 3x163), or blurriness and/or dimensions would cause problems before any app update.
For 1.5 Mpixels, a 1536x960 @ 400ppi 8:5 screen measures 4.5". But imply a new screen ratio to support for devs, and letterboxed apps before that.
I'd rather bet on a 400 ppi 4.3" 3:2 screen at 1440x960, making any 4/4S app compatible on day 1. That's 1.4 Mpixels.

 

[Kissaragi]

seems a bit unlikely.

 

[tkermit]

congrats on your new Macrumors account.

Macrumors should have a "new poster" badge, like the one Ars Technica uses.

 

[Casiotone]

This resolution is perfectly possible.

While the iPhone 5's screen has a 1136 x 640 resolution, effectively it is only a 568 by 320 resolution (iPhone 4S' is effectively 480 x 320).

Rather than providing a "2x resolution"-image for Retina devices, a developer would need to provide a "3x resolution" for 'Retina+' devices.

It is possible. Believe.

And I'm really excited about the rumours I'm hearing. While I am not planning to buy an iPhone 5S or such, I'm really excited to hear that Apple seems to be innovating again. A fingerprint scanner... a display with the highest pixel density on a phone thus far... - that's just awesome!

Why is there so many people trying to spread this lie recently? The iPhone 5 effective resolution is 1136x640 and the 4S is 960x640. End of story. Every single pixel can be addressed like on every other phone.

It really seems like these people try to make us believe that iOS devices have some kind of "fake" retina resolution, which is simply not true.

 

[hakr100]

It would be nice to have something really useful in a display, such as the ability for it to be read outdoors in bright light. That's certainly technologically possible.

 

[cclloyd]

I demand a 4k phone!

 

[576316]

I agree that we could do with a "Super Retina" but not twice the pixels. Just something competitive.

 

[otismotive77]

a bigger screen would be better for that resolution.
the 4 inch retina display is perfect, apple should make a bigger screen for the iphone 5s.

 

[Jsameds]

No. You get to a point where it's not going to make a difference on a 4" screen.

Yes and the iPhone's retina screen han't quite reached that point yet, as I have already said you can see pixellation. It is very obvious to the naked eye during games, even on a 4" screen.

 

[tcgjeukens]

More pixels I can't see.

 

[dvoros]

more pixels

The very end of the article states that while this would be good for Apple to have a major upgrade to its software and hardware at this time, Apple won't do it. I believe the reason they won't do it is simple; INNOVATION HAS LEFT THE BUILDING AT APPLE!!!!!

 

[Aidan5806]

If "retina" as it is now is supposed to present pixels packed so closely the human eye can't see a difference, why is super-retina desirable? In other words, if about 150-300 ppi is at the limit of what human eyes could discern, why is "more than that" desirable?

If there was any truth to this rumor, it seems it would be the old Mhz, Ghz game of "who has the biggest number?" (or megapixel wars all over again). Or, it might mean that a bigger screen (height & width) might be coming, but I would think Apple would choose to target one of the iPad resolutions rather than add yet another resolution target somewhere in between. If Apple could fit one of the iPad resolutions into a new (larger screen) phone, you get "retina" and a huge number of apps already ready to go (although some UI button sizes might be overly cramped at around 5 inches).

If there is anything to this, I would guess the latter. But I have great doubts about this one.

are you suggesting that Apple should make a three to four aspect ratio display for a phone? Because not only does that sound awful but it's been tested before with the LG intuition and that was a complete flop.

 

[AnonMac50]

While this rumour doesn't make much sense on it's own. If Apple is planning on expanding the iPhone brand to larger sizes, it will make sense to have a higher screen resolution available to maintain a sufficient pixel density. With Apple having ended sales of the the last non-Retina iPhone [3GS] in 2011. I wonder if the plan will be for future version of iOS to eliminate the original resolution and make the current iPhone resolution the "lower resolution", and introduce the second higher resolution suggested above for larger-screen devices.

3GS was only discontinued September last year.