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Questionable Claims of a 4.6" Screen on Next iPhone, But 4" Screen Still Seems Very Possible

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alexlovesmacs said:
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People who say they want a bigger screen on the iPhone don't own an iPad or tablet, and people that want the screen to stay the same own an iPad or tablet.
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I own an iPhone and an iPad 2 and I'd like a larger screen on an iPhone. Maybe my use case is unique (but I don't think it is), but of my iPhone, Mac and iPad, my iPhone gets the most use.
 
I think this claim is true, as it's necessary for Apple to go to a larger sized iPhone to continue improving hardware and housing a large battery for even longer battery life.

I expect to see the following:

  • iPhone 5
  • 4.6 inch 1440x960 376 PPI display
  • A6 w/ quad-core Cortex A15 and a single PowerVR SGX 600 series GPU
  • 1GB LPDDR2 RAM
  • Lots and lots of battery life :D
 
I've owned a Droid X, a Droid Incredible 2, a Droid RAZR MAXX for a little bit, and currently the 4S. I can tell you right now that the best screen size was that of the Incredible 2 at 4". It's the perfect size. The form factor of the phone remains small and ergonomic, there is no reaching or awkward hand movement necessary to get any part of the screen with your thumb, and the added .5" is really noticeable whilst still being small completely manageable. While I liked the 4.3" on my X, the little extra size was a tiny bit annoying when reaching for the top. Also, I wish there was just a little bit more real estate on my 4S every once and a while even though that issue is resolved mostly by the high resolution. Preferably, a 4" screen at Retina resolution would be great. That said, I very much like the 3.5" on the iPhone. It's a killer display and the 4" on the Incredible 2, if anyone has used it, is incredible as well. It's probably the best screen on an Android phone (beats out all the AMOLEDs I've used) and is second to only the iPhone. Now if the 5 features a 4" with the quality of the current retina, it would be blow away. 3.5" is great, but it's a little limiting nowadays. A 4" Retina IPS display would be killer on the next iPhone.
 
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Millionaire2K said:
Just a idea... the current iphone glass is just about 4.7in. So why not keep the same phone size and go edge to edge with the screen. Or go very close to the top and bottom edges.

Apple could then :p at other HUGE phones while the iPhone is a nice size with the largest screen.

Just an idea.
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This.

Also, 4 inches too small? That's what she said.
 
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I would love to have a 4" screen, and I know it's tough, but a slightly thinner phone. And hopefully not glass on the back too!

I'm sure it will blow us away though!
 
Let the iPhone rumors commence!

I thought there'd be a longer lull period between the ipad and iphone rumors, but the "analysts" aren't wasting any time!
 
I highly doubt Apple would go with a 4.6 screen. If they do I will be first in line. But even by today's standard 4 inches is becoming too small. Samsung is selling plenty of "huge" Galaxy Notes at 5.3 inches and I'm sure HTC and Motorola will be following. 5 plus inches will be the new superphone requirement. A 4 inch Android phone is considered low to mid range today. If you must increase the screen size would you only add 0.2 to 0.5 inches? And on top of that you must bump up the resolution to keep it retina.
Personally I would not buy a 4 inch iphone. I love my 4.65 inch Galaxy nexus and I have no issues with it fitting into my pockets. Even the Galaxy Note fits into my pockets and is on my short list if and when it comes to Verizon. With Apple's track record a new display size bump will have to last for 3 to 5 years. So why not entertain 4.6 inches. The only thing holding me back from the iphone is that 3.5 inch display. Sorry, but once you go big you can never go smaller.
 
4" screen would be ideal for me. Resolution could stay the same. However a minimal gain in battery size (since they won't make the iPhone physically too much bigger) would be bad for LTE. I know Qualcomm just finished with their .28nm next gen LTE chip, but is it ready for mass mass production?

I do not believe the LTE chip the iPad is using is suitable for iPhone battery life. Maybe they can move their A5X/A6 processor to a smaller process as well to reduce heat, which currently annoys some iPad users.
 
bpaluzzi said:
Definitely, Apple needs to be more competitive. :rolleyes: Since the only three phones they make are #1, #2, and #3 in overall sales. Definitely screwing something up.

Wow.
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We're talking next gen here. If Apple wants to keep up with next gen Andriod phones spec wise, a bump in screen size once every 5 years wouldn't hurt.
 
Assuming it is possible, Apple could have a much shorter "chin" top and bottom and make the screen nearly as wide as the device. Looking at the photo and assuming it is as wide as the other brand device but 10% shorter, I can easily imagine that in my pocket, and as my age is over 45 my eyes would appreciate it as well. Like.

It would certainly make practical a 4G appropriate battery volume. The former iPhone would then become the iPhone Nano. The long rumored smaller iPhone will become clear it was the first one not the second form factor one.
 
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I would love the idea of owning an iPhone that has a 4" display. However I think that there is a very slim chance of the next iPhone containing such a display. My reasoning is that if Apple does indeed use a 4" display, then they would lose the "retina" standard. If they decide to change the resolution then that would cause issues with app developers.
 
ghostface147 said:
4" screen would be ideal for me. Resolution could stay the same. However a minimal gain in battery size (since they won't make the iPhone physically too much bigger) would be bad for LTE. I know Qualcomm just finished with their .28nm next gen LTE chip, but is it ready for mass mass production?

I do not believe the LTE chip the iPad is using is suitable for iPhone battery life. Maybe they can move their A5X/A6 processor to a smaller process as well to reduce heat, which currently annoys some iPad users.
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The next iPhone isn't ready for mass production either so I wouldn't be at all surprsied if it sported Qualcomm's new chipset.
 
slu said:
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I own an iPhone and an iPad 2 and I'd like a larger screen on an iPhone. Maybe my use case is unique (but I don't think it is), but of my iPhone, Mac and iPad, my iPhone gets the most use.
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Eaxactly the same with me. I don't know about others, but I also use my iPhone for games, movies, youtube, netflix, etc... All of that stuff would be better on a bigger screen. I am not talking ridiculous big but 4" is what would be ideal. It is no longer just a phone but a multimedia device and a 3.5" screen is starting to loose it's appeal.
 
I'd love to see a new iPhone at 4" with the resolution of the iPad 2

4" iPhone with 1024 by 768 pixel would be great. If Apple makes this move, App developers won't need to make updates to their apps as the 4" iPhone can use iPad apps natively. Eventually, the current iPhone aspect ratio will be phased out and developers will only need to worry about one aspect ratio with 2X graphic for iPad and 1X graphic for iPhone.

Imagine how happy app developers would be if their apps can be 1024x768 for iPhone and 2048x1536 for iPad.

The app store can be updated to look like this.

iPhone
iPhone 5 and iPad

Then in a few years when Apple no longer supports the iPhone 4/4S like they no longer support iPhone 3G and iPhone original... all they need to worry about is an app store without tabs for iPhone and iPad like they do now since the aspect ration would still be the same with different resolutions which can just be 1x or 2x graphics.

A 4" iPhone with 1024 by 768 resolution would have a screen size of 3.2" x 2.4" with 320 DPI.
 
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budakpisang said:
Resolution is actually the primary concern, not device footprint or even aspect ratio. Apple's approach to resolution is that it is a means to gain sharpness, not to cram more on the screen. For anyone reading who doesn't understand why, let me explain:

You could make a bigger screen in two ways - cram more pixels onto it, or make each pixel bigger.

All iPhones have the same screen size at 160 PPI (points per inch), which means that as a dev I can count on say that each 160 points of length in code will translate to exactly an inch on any iPhone, even a retina one. (The retina devices simply have more pixels per point). This also means that if I have an artwork that's 160 pixels wide, all I have to do to get it to render crisply on a retina device is to make it 320 pixels wide without any change in code. (Same goes for iPads and retina iPads)

As I see it, cramming more pixels onto it changes the apparent size of the screen (in points), which means if I coded a menu that's 320 points wide, it would now still be 2 inches wide, but there'd be be more than 2 inches of horizontal width on the screen. I'd have to change my app code, or at least the UI xib to make use of all those new pixels - many devs would be pretty upset if the OS stretched or resized their interfaces by default.

Making pixels bigger to fit a 4" screen would cause my 320 point wide object to be more than 2 inches wide now. Also, it'd mean backtracking on the ridiculously high retina display pixels per inch number that we all know and love. In that world, I could always resize my image to suit the new PPI, but again that would mean remastering all my assets twice - once for retina (pixel doubling) and once more for this strange arbitrary PPI

Regarding vector based artwork, iOS doesn't render vector data, only raster; and scaling down high resolution artwork without losing detail isn't just a simple affair of dropping pixels or taking averages - which is why Apple requires two versions of every asset, one for non retina and a -2x one for retina displays. The UI artist should have complete control over how the artwork is scaled, not the OS.

If Apple does do it, here's how I think they'll do it - the new device have more pixels than an iPhone 4S, with the same PPI. It would then render existing apps pixel perfect, at 3.5" size in the center of the screen with a black area of nothingness around it (it'd be exactly as it looks on current devices), and apps whose devs decide to put the time and effort into biggifying can say so in their app bundles and make use of the new screen size.

I suppose if they do go that path, it'd be pretty awesome for everyone. Existing apps would run without loss of crispness or unintended change in size, while movies and new apps get the new big display, and users get to keep their Retina resolution displays.

One thing's clear, however - the Android way of handling screen sizes (just stretch and let the devs worry about it later) compromises on crispness and fidelity, cornerstones of good UI design - the whole Retina display thing shows that Apple knows and believes in this.
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If you are coding based on pixels and using grid location you are doing it wrong and that is poor design standards.

Also most of your argument breaks done when I point that desktop developers have been handling multiple resolutions, screen sizes for years. Devs who follow proper design standards that should be a non issue. Problem is iOS has a lot of idiots out there who hard coded stuff or did not design right for proper design standards. Self taught codes I fine are among the worse when it comes to following design standards as they have bad habits and never bothered to learn the correct ones.

Another thing your post tells me is Apple was lazy and did not handle stuff correctly either from the get go so it has a lot of issues if that run into that problem. It means Apple screwed up big time.

I ask you how do devs handle all those insane resolutions, screen sizes (And even aspect ratios) on desktop. Oh the humanity. It must be OH so hard.
 
Oh my god.

You would have to be an idiot to believe this.

Apple has already said they will not be changing screen size. this is a phone people. its ment for messaging and portability, the ipad is ment for screen size. if the iphone gets an awkwardly bigger screen where i cant type on the go with one hand i will be switching to windows phone.
 
I'm using an HTC Thunderbolt with a 4.3" screen. No complaints about size, really. Fits in my pocket and hand just perfect
 
iisdan said:
You would have to be an idiot to believe this.

Apple has already said they will not be changing screen size. this is a phone people. its ment for messaging and portability, the ipad is ment for screen size. if the iphone gets an awkwardly bigger screen where i cant type on the go with one hand i will be switching to windows phone.
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So it's not for videos, games, internet etc, etc......

Do you know how to use your iPhone ?

People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones ;)
 
iisdan said:
You would have to be an idiot to believe this.

Apple has already said they will not be changing screen size. this is a phone people. its ment for messaging and portability, the ipad is ment for screen size. if the iphone gets an awkwardly bigger screen where i cant type on the go with one hand i will be switching to windows phone.
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While I agree that 4.6" is not going to happen. When did apple say they weren't changing screen sizes? An official source would be nice. Not saying it's not true, just that I haven't seen this statement and would like to if it exists.
 
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What makes this rumor unbelievable is the fact that they say it'll be announced/released summer of 2012. I find it highly unlikely that it will be released before the fall of 2012. Guess we will see in a couple months.
 
iisdan said:
You would have to be an idiot to believe this.

Apple has already said they will not be changing screen size. this is a phone people. its ment for messaging and portability, the ipad is ment for screen size. if the iphone gets an awkwardly bigger screen where i cant type on the go with one hand i will be switching to windows phone.
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Apple also said they would never make a tablet. Apple also said they would never make something like a palm pilot. Apple also said they would never go to intel. Apple also said they would never abandon PowerPC.

Noticed a pattern there.
 
840quadra said:
I am fine with there being a larger phone as an option, however the footprint of the current model, with it's hi resolution display is perfect for my needs. Giving iPhone customers the choice for multiple sizes would be a good move IMO.
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You must be dreaming. Apple is very uncomfortable when the word 'choice' comes up.

But i agree with you, it'd be quite nice of Apple to offer two sizes. But that would require for Apple to realize that not every consumer wants the same size phone year after year.

However, the current 3.5" size I actually very much like in the iPhone. Even though I don't use one, I think the form factor is one of the best on the market. 3.7" is *my* ideal size. I would consider 4" acceptable if and only if it was edge to edge with a minimal bezel. All the gigantic 4.3+ inch android/windows phones that are being released are a nuisance. The only phone thats really impressed me is the HTC One V, but its not available for T-Mobile so it hasnt phased me much.

Not only are the 4.3+ inch phones big and bulky (and a drag to put inside front jean pockets) but THIS particular image should help understand things;

iphone-screen-size-theory.jpg


I currently use a 3.8" HTC Glacier (aka MyTouch 4G) and even at its size I find it somewhat bulky.

I think the *perfect* phone size is (total size, not screen or anything) was the Nokia e71; 114mm x 57mm x 10mm
 
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