Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Next iPhone to Have Thinner, Higher Quality Screen
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
If it's made by Sharp, I'd bet it's an IGZO too. Both of these technologies save power, so even if the screen size grows, it could still end up using less power overall.
And even if they keep the battery the same thickness so the phone gets thinner, the battery can be taller by virtue of a taller phone. They'll want a bit more battery for heavy LTE users anyway. (and the 4s doesn't last as long as the 4)
edit: Forgot to mention Gorilla Glass 2. It will let them make the glass thinner for the same strength or make it stronger for the same thickness. They have a potential to really slim down the display with the combination of GG2 and in-cell and decrease the power with IGZO and in-cell.
And even if they keep the battery the same thickness so the phone gets thinner, the battery can be taller by virtue of a taller phone. They'll want a bit more battery for heavy LTE users anyway. (and the 4s doesn't last as long as the 4)
edit: Forgot to mention Gorilla Glass 2. It will let them make the glass thinner for the same strength or make it stronger for the same thickness. They have a potential to really slim down the display with the combination of GG2 and in-cell and decrease the power with IGZO and in-cell.
Last edited:
Regarding the worries about fragility and flex, I don't think the next iPhone is going to have any glass on the back at all.
I've seen the mockups and the "leaked" parts and I'm thinking that the back is a mix of metal and plastic.
Since the 4 and the 4S are glass I'll bet that people saw plastic and assumed it was glass.
We know that Apple received this patent for bonding metal and plastic and I'll bet that's what the mockups have been showing.
http://www.appleinsider.com/article...lastic_and_metal_in_building_new_iphones.html
If that's right then we'll essentially be seeing a metal unibody case with bonded plastic inserts to allow for signal transmission and antennae performance.
A bonded metal/plastic combo has got to be stronger and more rigid than metal and glass alone and certainly more than a metal/glass combo.
I've seen the mockups and the "leaked" parts and I'm thinking that the back is a mix of metal and plastic.
Since the 4 and the 4S are glass I'll bet that people saw plastic and assumed it was glass.
We know that Apple received this patent for bonding metal and plastic and I'll bet that's what the mockups have been showing.
http://www.appleinsider.com/article...lastic_and_metal_in_building_new_iphones.html
If that's right then we'll essentially be seeing a metal unibody case with bonded plastic inserts to allow for signal transmission and antennae performance.
A bonded metal/plastic combo has got to be stronger and more rigid than metal and glass alone and certainly more than a metal/glass combo.
I think they never will. For several reasons. Apple does not want to compete in the mass market for budget phones. Yes, they offer the 3GS and 4 still, but you don't catch the uninformed mass with a several years old device. They follow like lemmings the signs "New" and "Free" and especially a combination of both. But that is not to the disadvantage of Apple. These low-budget Androids help to fractionize the system even more because you can bet, they will never see an OS update (if the phone didn't get released just before a new Android OS iteration). Thus, the programers will be even more frustrated with every new cheap Android on the market. Not even mentioning alternating screen sizes. Also, look who gets the profits on the market: Apple almost all, Samsung most of the rest. That means for a company seeking financial gain from selling, as long as you have the same share of profit, you do good. If you have the biggest share of profit, you are the leader of the pack. Now, it does not matter what the percentage of market share is as long as the profit is high enough. Stupid example would be if you have 2% maket share and 90% of the profit, your investors would not really get disturbed if you drop to 1.5% as long as you still have 90% of the profit. It might just be that the market grew by 25% with competitors who just break even.
What do you mean that they are behind? In size? Well, you know the old saying: "Size does not matter, it's the technique(/ology)." They can be as advanced as they want to be. They are too big for just carrying in my pocket and they don't have iOS. Actually, I would rather prefer a budget Android because they are not as bulky at times compared to the "top dogs." If I want to use a tablet, I use my iPad. Everything below that shoud be small enough to not be a burden. These big Androids are - in my opinion.
Last edited:
Thank you for answering his question by being a condescending *****. If 3.5 inches is too small for you, do me a favour and consider doing the following:
1) Get your eyes checked
2) Buy an iPad
3) Buy a Samsung with said screen size
I really hope the iPhone doesn't go about 4 inches. Even the current 3.5 is fine. This is a phone and I don't want my pockets ripping at the seams trying to contain a 4.8 inch behemoth of a phone.
Long Phone Debunked By This In-Cell Rumor
I'll take you back to the original leaks of the "long phone" and remind you of the glass that was with the case. Why would there be separate glass that wasn't fused to the LCD screen?
If the screens and glass are glued in Japan and possibly by LG in S. Korea, that means the leaked case and glass wouldn't come together until assembly in China. There is NO logical reason for someone to have both plain glass and plain case. It doesn't make sense for the supply chain, nor for replacement parts. Screen manufacturers in Japan don't need the case, and the assemblers in China would only have access to fused screens after manufactured in Japan. ....And there are more holes.
Apps wouldn't just scale to fit a new aspect ratio. If Apple wanted to make every app look work they'd have to provide black bars. Why would they ever want to do that instead of just design a phone around a screen of the same regular 3:2 ratio? Don't these guys hate fragmentation?
Here's how the landscape looks like for developers.
Currently there are only two aspect ratios to worry about, 3:2 for the phone and 4:3 for the pad. There are technically 4 resolutions currently supported, but they've gone to pains to simply double resolution for retinas--specifically so as NOT TO MESS UP APPS. So now you'd have a 3GS at one resolution and 3:2 aspect; the 4 and 4s both at double the resolution but same aspect; ; iPad 1 and 2 at another resolution and 4:3; and iPad 3 at double the iPad 1 and 2 res with the same 4:3 aspect ratio.
Now you really want me to believe they're going to 16:9 ratio and adding another resolution entirely just so they can have a 4" display? I ask again, since they've spent so much time maintaining relative resolution consistency and aspect ratios, why would they abandon this now?
The simplest answer is that the long phone is not the next iPhone.
I'll take you back to the original leaks of the "long phone" and remind you of the glass that was with the case. Why would there be separate glass that wasn't fused to the LCD screen?
If the screens and glass are glued in Japan and possibly by LG in S. Korea, that means the leaked case and glass wouldn't come together until assembly in China. There is NO logical reason for someone to have both plain glass and plain case. It doesn't make sense for the supply chain, nor for replacement parts. Screen manufacturers in Japan don't need the case, and the assemblers in China would only have access to fused screens after manufactured in Japan. ....And there are more holes.
Apps wouldn't just scale to fit a new aspect ratio. If Apple wanted to make every app look work they'd have to provide black bars. Why would they ever want to do that instead of just design a phone around a screen of the same regular 3:2 ratio? Don't these guys hate fragmentation?
Here's how the landscape looks like for developers.
Currently there are only two aspect ratios to worry about, 3:2 for the phone and 4:3 for the pad. There are technically 4 resolutions currently supported, but they've gone to pains to simply double resolution for retinas--specifically so as NOT TO MESS UP APPS. So now you'd have a 3GS at one resolution and 3:2 aspect; the 4 and 4s both at double the resolution but same aspect; ; iPad 1 and 2 at another resolution and 4:3; and iPad 3 at double the iPad 1 and 2 res with the same 4:3 aspect ratio.
Now you really want me to believe they're going to 16:9 ratio and adding another resolution entirely just so they can have a 4" display? I ask again, since they've spent so much time maintaining relative resolution consistency and aspect ratios, why would they abandon this now?
The simplest answer is that the long phone is not the next iPhone.
Last edited:
The in-cell technology means the touch sensors will not be in front of the LCD, so not longer obscuring the image.
It is the components behind the glass that are being combined to make them thinner, not the glass itself.
I am a paid developer and my apps would, most likely, not natively support a taller screen (different aspect ratio). Wouldn't we, the developers, be notified beforehand about such changes?? When the new iPhone launches, I would like my apps to be ready on Day 1... 
So just becasue you don't want a bigger screen we all must suffer?
Just buy a 4S then if you feel that way.
I am a paid developer and my apps would, most likely, not natively support a taller screen (different aspect ratio). Wouldn't we, the developers, be notified beforehand about such changes?? When the new iPhone launches, I would like my apps to be ready on Day 1...
Yes, you would. They sell a crap ton of these and I'm guessing they'd like not to be flooded with customer hate about existing apps not working.
The long phone is so much stupidity and just goes to show you the power of pictures.
People see photos that look nice and they assume it has to be real. Even though we had the same darn thing last release with another bogus design floating around (which happened to confirm a rumor, as this one did as well).
Fact is, there are counterfeiters galore in Asia...it's a big business. They're guessing and leaking. Maybe off of real prototypes, maybe just off of rumor sites.
I am a paid developer and my apps would, most likely, not natively support a taller screen (different aspect ratio). Wouldn't we, the developers, be notified beforehand about such changes?? When the new iPhone launches, I would like my apps to be ready on Day 1...
If you're called Epic Games, Electronic Arts or Rovio ? Sure you would be notified ahead of time, with a proper NDA. Small time developer ? You'll learn about it when everyone else does.
That's just how Apple operates unfortunately.
Apps would still work fine in letterboxed mode, so no need to warn developers ahead of time, aside from a few big names to update their apps for a day 1 launch of a 16:9 device.
Older iPhones will still be available for those who do not want a bigger screen.
Remember, you have the power of choice to buy what meets your requirements.
I begun developing after the newest iPad release so I did not know it. Meh... it sucks!
And if they made it the same thickness as the iPhone 4/4S everyone would complain that it is the same form factor. There's just no way to please all the Apple fanboys until the phone is actually out and then everyone will love it. 
I begun developing after the newest iPad release so I did not know it. Meh... it sucks!
Well like I said, it's not like your apps wouldn't work on a new 16:9 iPhone as rumored. The horizontal resolution (in portrait mode) would still remain the same 640 pixel and thus you'd just get black bars on both sides.
What is this based off???? I understand Apple COULD do this with NDAs, but why leave 400,000 apps broken? It just doesn't make sense they would drop a new aspect ratio and resolution on developers with no lead time. Heck, it doesn't make sense to fragment things even more (Cook has commented that he knows their App Store's success is partly in its lack of this sort of fragmentation).
There is no super secret cabal with a new aspect ratio. The new phone will be 3:2 and probably maintain the same resolution as the retinas. People get obsessed over what retina means, when it's just a marketing term. That's far easier to change (see 220 something MBP display called retina) than breaking apps left and right.
This is based off every new iPhone/iPad feature introduced (including the original Retina display, compass, etc..). And broken what ? Letterboxed apps are not broken, they work fine.
I got the opposite reaction. Usually I got downvoted when I argued against obvious anti-Apple sentiment.
They aren't going to throw in a fifth resolution with an entirely new aspect ratio.
There will be a 3:2 new iphone. It probably won't even change resolution, just have a dip in dpi that won't even be noticeable. If they do change things up, they'll still keep 3:2 and just do another multiple increase in screen res so things won't have to be changed. It seems to me keeping the 3.5" screen yet another year is even more likely than the long phone.
The crappy leaks with their inconsistent case designs (mic and camera differ depending on which leak), the ease at which a case can be created, the implausible stories (how does the case maker get the cut glass again?), the lack of any Apple legal action, the lack of any sort of reliable source confirming, the fact these leaks match pre-existing speculation in tech forums, and the previous history--just last year--of a bogus iPhone rumor, COMBINED with the fact it would bork every App....should lead you to disregard the long phone rumor.
The choice is yours, but seems a little implausible.