Should the iPhone 5 display be wider?

[PostHate]

It's the natural way to view website on the COMPUTER. This is not a computer, it's a phone. Sites are designed to be thin in width and long with content (because of so many different resolutions on computers, the industry standard is 940-960px), making it an obvious fit for a portrait phone screen (iPhone auto-resizes content, and developers can also add META tags that throw Headers on the page that tell the content to scale if viewed on a device).

I hate having all that white space on either side of the page on a wide computer screen anyways.

Matter of opinion, I guess. But your original issue won't happen if developers just code their sites correctly, with expanding widths, not heights.

No, you are wrong. Every website is better in landscape mode.

I have perfect vision and I still can't fully see most websites in portrait mode without zooming in a big. Clicking on links is extremely hard that was as well.

On the other hand, in landscape mode you can read most websites just fine.

There's no argument whatsoever...

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Score one for a larger sized option...


just a note as well... 1280x720 @ 4.6 inches is STILL retina quality PPI (316)

Yeah, so we should expect Apple to model a phone around a person with bad eyes and no correction

Crazy talk...

 

[mikelegacy]

No, you are wrong. Every website is better in landscape mode.

I have perfect vision and I still can't fully see most websites in portrait mode without zooming in a big. Clicking on links is extremely hard that was as well.

On the other hand, in landscape mode you can read most websites just fine.

There's no argument whatsoever...

THERE IS AN ARGUMENT. Because I prefer, as many do, portrait, as a user, and as a designer/developer.

Designer/Developers DEAL with white space on the left and right because it is a LIMITATION of the fact that users aren't updating their monitors/computers and we want to make websites accessible to as many people as possible. Imagine if print designs had 3 inches of white on either side of them, it would look terrible.

Every designer or developer wants his digital content to fill the screen and allow as much readable content as possible. In portrait mode on iPhone (or in responsive designs) this is achieved due to the way the iPhone resizes content.

The web was originally meant to be viewed from TOP to BOTTOM. Therefore the more pixels you have in height increases view space and allows more content to be viewed "Above the fold". I don't want to have to scroll every four or five lines I read in landscape (as you would even at 1280x720).

You can keep scrolling every two seconds, and I'll keep using my "perfect vision" to read without any strain in portrait. (you may want to get your eyes checked, because my brother has terrible vision and manages in portrait just fine).

 

[bszelda]

Absolutely not. I currently have an Android phone. It is too wide. I HATE having to use two hands to be able to type on my phone with greater ease. I get cramps when I try to do everything single-handed on it (HTC Inspire 4G). :-/

 

[lazard]

Absolutely not. I currently have an Android phone. It is too wide. I HATE having to use two hands to be able to type on my phone with greater ease. I get cramps when I try to do everything single-handed on it (HTC Inspire 4G). :-/

i see your problem...you're not using swype.

 

[mikelegacy]

i see your problem...you're not using swype.

That's the ONLY thing I will miss from Android.

Then again, the iPhone keyboard is SO much easier to type on that the standard Android one (Motorola Bionic)

 

[3rd Rock]

Is having a longer screen the best idea? Should it not be wider as well?

Web pages will actually show LESS on them. When used in landscape mode the webpage will be stretched more horizontally then the older iphones, making text and images larger. Because they are larger, and the screen is the same height as the old iPhone (remember that we are in landscape mode right now) less will be displayed and more scrolling will be required.

Kind of a mute point OP, since its going to be what its going to be. Don't lose any sleep over it.

 

[Born Again]

Taller helps no one

So funny - not one single human wanted taller.

Really needed that row of icons

 

[PostHate]

~

You're wrong, every word of it.

 

[mikelegacy]

You're wrong, every word of it.

Nice rebuttal. You would do terrible in user experience design. You think that you're opinion of something is the only one that matters.

Landscape is for some people, it isn't for others. That's the simple truth. And if you ask me, if you prefer viewing the web in landscape, you are probably in the minority.

 

[PostHate]

Nice rebuttal. You would do terrible in user experience design. You think that you're opinion of something is the only one that matters.

Landscape is for some people, it isn't for others. That's the simple truth. And if you ask me, if you prefer viewing the web in landscape, you are probably in the minority.

Again, you are wrong. 180 degrees from being correct.

All someone has to do is look at this very forum in portrait to prove it.

 

[Nathan576]

Taller helps no one

So funny - not one single human wanted taller.

Really needed that row of icons

um......actually a lot of people agree than taller was a good idea. including me. good thing you arnt the ceo of apple, you would bankrupt them with your great ideas.

 

[iEnvy]

Not trying to be a fanboy but I always like the iPhone's narrowness compared to Android devices. The SG3 is nice but I like using my phone with one hand sometimes.

Wider does not necessarily mean better. Look at the phablet Samsung has. *shivers*

 

[eastercat]

Hell no! When I tried the androids at at&t, I couldn't use them one handed. I like that apple doesn't discriminate against those with smaller hands/stubby fingers.
OP, why didn't you add a poll to this?

 

[PostHate]

Hell no! When I tried the androids at at&t, I couldn't use them one handed. I like that apple doesn't discriminate against those with smaller hands/stubby fingers.
OP, why didn't you add a poll to this?

Should I?


BTW, Would a 1/4" really hurt?

 

[Farrellcollie]

I have small hands but middle aged eyes. I would have preferred it wider too. Even if they had made it .5 inches wider it would help me read the screen.

 

[PostHate]

I have small hands but middle aged eyes. I would have preferred it wider too. Even if they had made it .5 inches wider it would help me read the screen.

To bump it from the original size of 3.5" to 4", they wouldn't even have to make it .5" wider. Only about .25".

 

[JoeyCloverfield]

I think the next step for apple should be offering an iphone XL in addition to the normal models...kindof like the 3DS XL

Both resolutions should be 1280x720...

I think future lineups should go like this:

4.0 inch 1280x720 iPhone6

4.6 inch 1280x720 iPhone6 XL

I agree that Apple should do something along the lines of their Macbook and iMac line. Meaning giving users the choice of a screen size. In fact, Apple technically does do that with the introduction of the iPhone 5. Now people can decide from a 3.5" (iPhone 4, 4S) and 4" screen (iPhone 5).

However, I'm sure that's not what you meant. I disagree with your "same resolution" idea. While, theoretically, it should make it easy to develop for both screens. It really doesn't. You see a 4" screen with 720p resolution would require a higher than 326ppi. Something that's not only completely useless at this point but also will contradict Apple's developer guidelines of 44 points per touch size. That number would have to be upped and in fact would add even more fragmentation.

My solution is to keep the iPhone 5's screen. Plus, add a 720p 326ppi display as an option. If my math is correct that would be a 4.5" (diagonal) display. Now, Apple would have to do certain stuff to fit that 4.5" display into the iPhone 5's body. (This way the screen doesn't effect the thumb-rule many iPhone users are fond of.) The changes include, removing/reshaping the Home Button and finding a way to make the screen edge-to-edge. (A 4.5" display in an iPhone 5 body would essentially leave it with 1.25mm per edge.)

 

[Born Again]

um......actually a lot of people agree than taller was a good idea. including me. good thing you arnt the ceo of apple, you would bankrupt them with your great ideas.

Little do u know

 

[mikelegacy]

Again, you are wrong. 180 degrees from being correct.

All someone has to do is look at this very forum in portrait to prove it.

Alright, im done with you. You obviously have no desire to listen to anyone's opinion, and can't even come back with any form of an educated answer.

I guess I should have expected this from someone with the name PostHate. I guess the joke's on me.

 

[eastercat]

For you, probably not. My hand is thisclose to not working with my 4, so extra width would make it unusable.
If you don't add a poll, what's the point of asking?

BTW, Would a 1/4" really hurt?

 

[bollweevil]

I have a large hand and a long thumb, I would like it to be a half inch wider. That would be nice.

 

[PostHate]

Alright, im done with you. You obviously have no desire to listen to anyone's opinion, and can't even come back with any form of an educated answer.

This isn't about opinions, it's about FACTS.

BTW, ya know what us professionals call those "white bars to the sides of webpages" that you spoke about? "Laziness in programming".

I guess I should have expected this from someone with the name PostHate. I guess the joke's on me.

Awwww, you really got me there


Like I said, no one browses normal webpages in portrait mode. Even you, Mr. Bigshot, wouldn't browse this very forum in portrait mode without going to a mobile version or using an App.

 

[ObsidianBlade]

if the iPhone 5 screen was that large, I would not be upgrading. Way to big. No desire for a device that large. I have my iPad if I want a large screen device.

iPad is a far larger screen in comparison to the S3. In my opinion, anything under like 5.2" (which really pushes it for me) is a phone.

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iPhone is designed for one hand use, the S3 is a little inconvenient for one hand use but not much.

Yeah I suppose it's true that it can be a bit inconvenient. I find myself pressing the soft keys or things I don't want to sometimes.

 

[shawnwich]

I wish they had made it a bit wider as well and then had an iPhone mini that was the same dimensions/resolution as the iPhone 4/4S.

 

[Castle87]

I would have preferred a little bit more width, but not too much. I mean, I'm still confused as to why people are super excited about a .5" increase in height. Is .5" that big of a difference? I don't think so personally. And if they gave the screen .5" in height, why not just do the same for width? A little bit bigger, but not to the point where your hand feels a significant difference. I definitely don't want an S3 as it's comically big, but a little bigger than what the phone is now, I would welcome the change.