Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

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

Casiotone said:
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.
Click to expand...
You don't get it, do you? I'm not saying we're dealing here with a 'fake resolution' - that is what you make of it, because you don't understand what 'we' are saying.

Effectively, in normal apps (like News apps), the effective resolution is 480 x 320 on an iPhone 4S. That's because in most apps, the normal UI elements are used. Those apps who use those elements take up the same space and show just as much content as an iPhone 3GS with non-retina display.
So what about images? Developers provide images for the 'standard resolution' (480 x 320 displays) and for the 'Retina resolution' (960 x 640).

Really, the only apps which actually show more content on an iPhone 4/4S than on an iPhone 3GS or older, are gaming apps and video apps because than all pixels are utilized.

If Apple settles with the 1704 x 960 resolution, all most developers need to do is upload higher-res images. The effective resolution is still 568 x 320, because that's just how much content is shown.
Even most games scale perfectly, because most popular games make use of scalable gaming engines.

I'm not claiming developers can't use and can't adjust every single pixel if they wish. That's what you make out of it, but that's not what I am saying.

Don't say that it is not true, because most apps effectively only 'use' 568 x 320 unless a developer decides to specifically create differences for every single pixel.
 
Vulcan said:
I was always under the impression that resolutions with higher PPI above "Retina" would be unnoticeable. Is this not correct?
Click to expand...

"Retina" is only for the "regular" reading distance. Like for iPad, if you look at the screen close enough, you could see the pixels.

But again... for iPhone, it doesn't really make sense...
 
No way!

There is no way I believe this. Twice as many pixels? That would be a resolution of 1360 x 900 - keeping with the same 3:2 ratio that the iphone's have had. What would be the sense in that?
 
macchiato2009 said:
internet is already blurry on a retina ipad

so why more pixels in the upcoming iphone when no content other than apple apps and icons are ready for it ???
Click to expand...

The Web is blurry on retina devices because Apple made the mistake of using resampling to 200% instead of resizing to 200%.

And no, resizing would not make anything blocky, it would just display everything as if it wasn't non-retina. The text would be sharper but at least the images wouldn't be blurry.
 
QCassidy352 said:
The problem is that you're equating more pixels (higher specs) with "better" or "best" without regard to whether those fancy specs improve, don't affect, or actually hurt the experience. IMO doubling the resolution of an iPhone would certainly not help the experience and would likely hurt it as there would be a noticeable hit to battery life to power that many more pixels.
Click to expand...

sonicpace said:
I don't think they should make this change if it is just so they can say they are the best and have the highest resolution. The current retina display resolution is fine as it is now. Why make a change that is not going to make a perceivable difference? I don't want reduced battery life. I want more battery life.
Click to expand...

You both missed the point of my post. I look at some of the new android screens and, regardless of the stats, I can see that their screen is better. In my opinion, regardless of what studies say, if you double the screen resolution, the perceived quality of the phone will improve. I could give you details regarding why I hold this opinion, but I don't feel it's important.
Regarding battery life: If I sink an extra billion dollars into a phone I wouldn't be satisfied with a better screen. I want a better screen AND better battery life AND a faster phone. I want to see inovation! I don't want the industry standard spec bump every year... I want to see step changes!

I realize that it is impossible to mandate inovation, but it seems like Apple is becoming satisfied with being among the best instead of hungering to be THE best.
 
Aidan5806 said:
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.
Click to expand...

No, I'm pointing out how unlikely this rumor seems to be: makes no sense to me to have "super retina" or similar if our eyes cannot resolve better than existing retina. IMO, it's Mhz, Ghz or Megapixels wars all over again.

Then, I'm connecting this rumor with the oft-quoted (and subset desired) one of a bigger screen iPhone. If there is something to this rumor, that's probably the way it would show up.

My guess is that if there is anything to this rumor and the rumor for a bigger screen iPhone, I bet they just go to one of the 2 iPad resolutions for the new phone. Introducing yet another resolution target seems unlikely to me.
 
Orlandoech.com said:
Who cares, give us a bigger screen already.
Click to expand...

Oh god, I can't believe how surreal this thread is. Am I the only person who thinks the most blunderingly obvious use for more pixels, is to make a bigger screen?

Here's what's happening: 5.95 inch screen, 1360x900 pixel, 326ppi, (thanks the the guy above for those figures), released in parallel with iPhone 6 and it'll be called the iPhone Pro
 
Currently for someone with a 20/20 vision you would have to hold the iPhone 5 closer than 26.78 cm (10.54 inches) ALREADY overkill (since most people don't have 20/20 vision and don't hold their phones that close to their eyes).

Doubling the pixel you would have to hold the phone closer than 18.94cm (7.46inches).
By the way those are the distances the current GSIV imply.
Meaning if you aren't holding your phone that close to your eyes all those pixels the marketing department has been selling you are USELESS.
 
Amadeus71 said:
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.
Click to expand...

There has been much discussion here before about targeting something between the 1X resolution of the existing mini and the 2X resolution of the full-sized iPad. Those that present themselves as "in the know" (which may or may not be true) claim that the fundamentals of how iOS is set up pretty much rules out any in-between resolutions without some huge overhaul. To hear them tell it, the jump from 1X to 2X was the ONLY way it could be done (without huge ramifications).

Targeting something in between like 1.5X or so is apparently a huge mess in terms of how iOS is set up. Again, whether they know what they are talking about or not- I don't know. But they sure seemed certain that it wasn't some kind of simple scaling. I even asked about running the 2X app and just video scaling it down to a 1.5X screen resolution (which conceptually means no new app resolution coding) but they made me believe that it just could not work like that. I interpreted their feedback that it's not the ability to render what's on an iDevice screen at in-between resolutions but more about how the touch interface is set up with certain dependencies that don't scale to fractions.

To hear them tell it, apparently, upgrades in iOS resolutions are pretty much locked to an idea of doubling. And if we're already at "retina" which is described as being the max a human eye can discern, doubling again seems to have no benefit whatsoever until human eyes significantly evolve.
 
unless they increase the size again it's the most useless innovation they could add to the iphone at this point. And yeah, I really do hope they increase the size again. if they made the resolution 2x the 5S while also making the screen size 1.5x or so larger, it would increase pixel density as well as give everyone the larger phone they want. I hope that's the plan.
 
Doesn't glassesless 3D have something along these lines ? i.e. same size screen but lots more pixels to allow viewing from different angles or something.........
 
As a developer: Please, no. 2272x1280 on a ~4" screen? Why? it will only reduce performance for a minuscule improvement in look.
 
Next up from predictions from this source...

1) Blackberry to overtake Apple in market share by 2014
2) Major feature of iOS 7 will be that it becomes completely free and open source, almost like a Ubuntu for mobile devices.
 
Double the pixels, half the battery life and no noticeable difference in the display.

Makes perfect sense.
 
nick_elt said:
how can you all say it doesn't make sense? all the competition has far higher dpi in there screens than the iPhone. Does apple really want to be left behind???
Click to expand...

DPI is not the issue, because Apple is pretty much at the point of diminishing returns on a 4" screen as is. If you double the resolution you end up pushing a lot of the pixels the human eye does not appreciate, which in turn impacts your hardware and/or software performance and battery life.

Beyond bragging rights, going HD class on a 4" screen doesn't make much sense.

Now if Apple were to increase the screen size...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back