More Claims of Taller, Thinner Next-Generation iPhone with 4-Inch Screen and New Dock Connector

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Not too keen on the design, but then again I thought that about the iPhone 4's 'screws and seams'. So I may come to love it, but I really doubt this is what it will look like.

1. I really really doubt they'll change the aspect ratio. Although current apps could easily just be 'black bar'd' into the new display, it just would be so. Also, at no point do I ever use my phone and go 'it's the wrong aspect ratio'. Maybe that's just me, but even watching TV shows and movies is fine on the thing.

2. The metal back might make sense, but given that Apple have had a problem with antenna's and metal in the past I'm still not sure. We'll have to see I guess.

3. Losing the dock connector will make sense at some point, as I'm pretty sure it takes up enough space for Ive and his team to get annoyed at it. I've got accessories that use it, but hey, they're not gonna stop working with my current devices so.

4. The home button might make sense, but I quite like the fact that it lets me turn the screen on. I hate using capacitative buttoned Android phones as you have to use the power switch to turn it on. I'm sure I'll get used to it, but I don't think I'd want them to change it, unless they can work around the issue.

So overall, it just looks like they've collated loads of rumours from before the 4S. I get a feeling that it'll be a bigger change than that, but it'll be something that we havn't expected to change. I hope anyway. I love surprises. :D
 
ganymedes13 said:
I said the iPhone 4 looked ugly when I saw the Gizmodo article. When I saw it in person it was the most beautiful phone I've ever seen.

After that I learned to shut my mouth and trust Ive. This is even worse because it's a mockup.
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Here Here,

you are absoultely correct sir, and i was on the same boat. so those who say its ugly let master of design Sir Ive decide what is ugly and what is a master piece :apple:
 
I'd prefer a slightly wider phone than one that's slightly taller. Looks ugly that way I think.
 
guzhogi said:
I doubt Apple will change the aspect ration, but I guess it could happen.

Out of curiosity, some questions:

-How big a screen do you guys want? I've seen people say they want 4", 4.5" and I think I saw some people say they wanted a 5" screen?

-Bonus Question: why do you want that size screen? More screen real estate or just something like bragging rights ("My screen's bigger than yours!")

-How thin do you want it (and why)? Or should I rephrase it: if an iPhone/iPad had LTE advanced, 10+ hour battery life, 1 GB of RAM, 128 GB storage, would you rather have an 8mm device or 1mm device? Just curious why.
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4", but retain same aspect ration.

Because more screen is always nice, but I think anything larger than that would begin to compromise usibility with one hand.

My realistic answer is that I would prefer the iPhone to stay the current thickness and use a bigger battery. But assuming the thickness has zero impact on battery life, features, etc... my optimal thickness would probably be around 7mm, because anything smaller than that starts to be reduce grip. Honestly when I grab the iPod touch (in the apple store) I feel that the edges are too thin for my preference...
 
guzhogi said:
Out of curiosity, some questions:

-How big a screen do you guys want? I've seen people say they want 4", 4.5" and I think I saw some people say they wanted a 5" screen?
Click to expand...

I'd like it to have a 10" screen but fit in the same sized enclosure so I can comfortably put it in my pocket and hold it in my hand. Okay, that's absurd of course, but the point is, there are two contradictory goals here, and you can see it if you look at the history of mobile phone design. Once upon a time, mobile phones were big bricks of things. Over time they got smaller and smaller, and you used to pay a premium to have the smallest phone on the market. Now with touchscreen smart phones, you hear the opposite, with a lot of people (or perhaps just a very vocal minority?) wanting these big screens, which of course require big enclosures. Neither one is better than the other—it just depends on what's most important to you.

For me, keeping the enclosure small enough to use comfortably is more important. I'll go to an iPad when I want a bigger screen for my apps. I would not like the iPhone to get any wider than it is currently, however if they can make the screen slightly larger by having it go closer to the edge, fine.

-How thin do you want it (and why)? Or should I rephrase it: if an iPhone/iPad had LTE advanced, 10+ hour battery life, 1 GB of RAM, 128 GB storage, would you rather have an 8mm device or 1mm device? Just curious why.
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8 mm. Again, for comfort in the hand. I don't give a toss about bragging rights.
 
People here are going to complain regardless. They dislike the current design and will hate the new one no matter what it ends up being. Apple sold 35 million iPhones last quarter. I doubt they care about a few fanboys on a rumor site.

And some think Apple engineers might actually read this site. :confused:
 
Considering the ecosystem and piles of money Apple draws from the current dock connector market, I don't see them changing it. Maybe make it thunderbolt compatible (backwards with USB and other accessories) but killing it outright? No way.
 
imgonephishin said:
Exactly this.
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I agree with you both that this is complete BS, and frankly the mockup is hysterical in its lack of believeability.

That said...

Apple has 600K+ apps designed for 3:2. They've railed about Android fragmentation. There's no way in hell that they're changing the aspect ratio now.
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Like I said in prior thread on the topic, as long as they keep the pixel density at ~320ppi like it is today, then there is absolutely no issue with changing aspect ratio as a side effect of increasing the screen resolution. The key is to just add more pixels to the existing screen and let all current apps run with a border of unused pixels around them.

Another way to think about it: if someone secretly replaced the areas on the front of your iPhone today with pixels instead of useless plasic, would it effect how you use your apps today? The answer is no - the UI and apps would run and behave the exact the same way. The only difference is that you now have black pixels instead of black plastic (or perhaps white pixels instead of white plastic if you prefer).

I am not saying they will do this for the iPhone 6th generation, nor that they ever will. But they could, and it would be a relatively painless transition from a software point of view IMHO.

Larger screen? I'll buy that. But they'll be expanding it in both directions. In the mockups there's still the standard bevel on the left and right sides of the screens. You really think they'll expand upwards before using all of that space? My prediction is a 4" screen, same 960x640 resolution, screen goes right up to the side edges, slightly taller and wider device.
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I here you on the bezel part. The one thing that isn't clear to me is what the cost and engineering implications are in going to an effectively "zero bezel" design, even just on the left and right as you suggest. Could it be done? I suspect it could, yes, but there must be a reason why most (all?) current phones don't do it, and instead have some visible bezel (however small it may be).

The thing is, with regard to what you say about size, to me, a larger screen at the same resolution makes almost as little sense as the notion of a larger screen that increases resolution only in one direction. You don't need a larger screen if you don't add pixels. Instead all you need to do is just hold the phone a bit closer than you were before. It is like switching from a 42" 1080p television to a 46" 1080p television. Um... wait a minute why not just move you La-Z-Boy a bit closer?

The good news is that there is room to add more pixels (assuming PPI does not decrease) to the screen on the smaller dimension without going to a zero bezel and, in theory, without making the device larger than today. If they did go to 720 instead of 640, for example, that is only increasing the screen by 12.5% along that dimension, meaning there is still enough space on today's device for a very small (20th of an inch) bezel.
 
I'm going to laugh so hard when the next iPhone is the same size and aspect ratio. Apple has decided what size a phone should be. That's it. You're more likely to get a smaller tablet from Apple than a larger phone.

And it'll still sell out on launch.
 
  1. Take your iPod touch or iPhone.
  2. Take a ruler.
  3. Confirm that you can fit a 4 inches display in the current form factor.
  4. Relax.
 
The worst design mockup ever. Didn't even try.

Lastly, no way in hell they would "traincar" the design. IE - stretch it tall. Screws up the aspect ratio and would look like crap.

I am one of the few that likes the current design. Hated all the plastic Apple was using on the 3G/3GS.
 
Progress

Damn, My Kickstarter Elevation Dock hasn't even arrived and its already obsolete. I suppose that's progress.

The mockup looks pretty bad, but I have faith that the realization will have more finesse. The 4" screen and new aspect ratio is a foregone conclusion. No news there. The height of the phone won't increase as much as shown in the mockups because the deadspace around the home button and microphone will shrink.

My question is why switch from glass to metal on the back. Why fix what isn't broken? Will metal will be thinner or cheaper? It certainly is more robust, but I wouldn't compromise esthetics for that. The mockup shows a combination of metal and glass, but I doubt that will happen. Does a metal back foretell a curved surface?
 
Change the connector? No way

A significant fraction of every Best Buy, K-Mart, Target, Wal-Mart store is currently devoted to selling third party peripherals and accessories that use the current iPad/iPhone/iPod port.

Changing that universal port would be absolutely demented.

A new iphone would have to have a mind-blowing new feature (say... like mind-reading) for me to buy it and suddenly render every single one of my accessories (cases, radios, docks, etc.) obsolete.

Who writes and promulgates this stuff... ?

If it comes to pass you can bet someone would make serious bucks producing adapters.
 
I hope the glass back disappears on the next iPhone. While it has a nice finish, it is too thick, too fragile and too heavy.

I'm not a big fan of the iPhone 4 / 4S design. Besides the fragility compared to the previous models, it is also a lot less comfortable to hold. A slight roundness to the front edge, and the rear edge curving into the back would help enormously. Also having the full depth of the device at the edge would also be better. Currently neither the front or rear glass plays a part in what you hold, yet contributes a large part to the depth of the device.
 
I've got iOS itis .... please Apple (computer?), please give us updates and new designs on the iMac, MacBook Pro, MacPro etc. I know the iOS products account for most of you're profits and sales (I own em all), but PULEEEESE......
 
iPhone retina apps could stay at the same resolution and, instead of black bars as some have suggested, the extra screen real estate could show the multitasking bar, permanently.

That would give the iPhone fast app switching, comparable to the iPad's 4-finger swipe. I'd go for that: The current home button double-click awkward and non obvious.
 
I love the 3.5" Screen!

There has been talk of Apple putting a larger screen ever since the iPhone 3GS. The 4" screen size would be helpful, but it's not necissary. For the most part, there are not very many complaints about the iPhone's current screen size.

The design of the iPhone 4 has by far been my favorite! It is sleek, sexy and functional. The fact that all of the proportions are symmetrical is extremely important. I like the fact that I can put it down on a table and not have it wobble about. That said, I do not think Apple will put an aluminum panel on the back, then have glass. I think IF they do that, it will all be glass.

Apple has found their sweet spot- a 3.5" screen, and man it works! The iPhone is the perfect size! 4" phones are big and clunky- its harder to store them away and keep pulling them out. The design if the iPhone 4 is perfect! I really hope they build off of it, instead of a redesign!
 
Maybe I'm missing something here, but I think Apple would keep same aspect ratio and just reduce the PPI. Similar to how they did on the iPad. Bigger screen means that users would hold it farther from face. Using Apple's formula for calculating "Retina" I would say they would just spread out pixels to a lower PPI to obtain 4". The 16x9 solution works, but just doesn't seem like a good user experience.
 
If the next iPhone looks anything like this, for the first time ever I'll give some serious thought about jumping ship to Android, or WP7. That design looks beyond bad. :eek:
 
Reasons why a slightly taller AND WIDER screen would be awesome, and not just taller like this ugly mockup:

1. Larger keyboard means fewer typing errors.
2. Less scrolling on web pages. Greater view of the whole.
3. Share photos without squinting.
4. DRAW SOMETHING!!!
5. More space for improved multitouch inputs.
6. Sharing youtube videos (or any videos for that matter.)

What's not to love about a larger screen?
 
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imgonephishin said:
Exactly this.

Apple has 600K+ apps designed for 3:2. They've railed about Android fragmentation. There's no way in hell that they're changing the aspect ratio now. Larger screen? I'll buy that. But they'll be expanding it in both directions. In the mockups there's still the standard bevel on the left and right sides of the screens. You really think they'll expand upwards before using all of that space? My prediction is a 4" screen, same 960x640 resolution, screen goes right up to the side edges, slightly taller and wider device.
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I think the 4" is even a little big. I'm guessing they will go bigger, but somewhere in the 3.7-3.8" range, keeping the aspect ratio and resoltion. Going to 4" will drop the DPI quite a bit if they keep 960x640, so I'm looking for a small increase in screen size with little to no increase in overall case size.

That said, who knows what they will do? I doubt even Apple is 100% sure what design they will go with at this point. They probably have a few, very similar, samples they are testing right now but won't make their final decision for a little bit yet. They won't need to start manufacturing for another 4-6 weeks I'd guess?
 
strausd said:
That's what everyone said about the 3G and the 4, until it came out that is. Same thing happens every time.
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Not really... while some people had a preference for iPhone 3GS' curved design, it was hard to deny that the iPhone 4 was a beautiful design. Something like this would create much more controversy and disagreement.
 
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