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What benefit does elongating the screen provide?

S

superdudeo

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 7, 2010
221
0
Wirelessly posted

Apart from the obvious benefit of 16:9 video. Surfing the web and general use will offer no advantage by lengthing the screen. Width is desperately needed, I just really hope the rumours are not true.
 
superdudeo said:
Wirelessly posted

Apart from the obvious benefit of 16:9 video. Surfing the web and general use will offer no advantage by lengthing the screen. Width is desperately needed, I just really hope the rumours are not true.
Click to expand...

i completely agree. but with all the leaks and rumors, it looks like where geting a longphone 5 :(
 
superdudeo said:
Wirelessly posted

Apart from the obvious benefit of 16:9 video. Surfing the web and general use will offer no advantage by lengthing the screen. Width is desperately needed, I just really hope the rumours are not true.
Click to expand...

when you turn it on the side it will be wider, that's good for web pages and videos, it being longer in portrait adds more space for text messages app so you can see more past texts and other apps that display data like that (eg twitter)

overall the mock-ups don't show a massive increase in physical size over the 4/4S so a larger screen is what is needed I'm not a fan of massive black bars top and bottom and apple looks like they are butting that empty space to good use.
 
Personally I was hoping for more of a combo of a little taller and little wider, that width would help out greatly with browsing, typing etc. That way keeping a small footprint still but letting the screen grow diagonally. If my GSII was just "taller" with no added width, I wouldn't have liked it.
 
Maybe a longer screen can make way for a widget. Yes, a widget.
I personally think that Facebook/Twitter/<Insert similar third party apps here> widgets are useless but a weather widget like the one found on the notifications screen would be nice on a home screen.
Perhaps apple could implement first party widgets that icon only occupies 'one row of app' size.

Can you imagine? The weather widget on the notification center move to the elongated home screen on the iPhone while retaining 4 rows for the apps below.

I would expect apple to improve the usability of other apps with the longer display. Photos app could show more photos or even add a visual touch to it like the iPad (Pinch to see all photos). Also, perhaps the camera app can have a small row of photos just right opposite the camera icon. When photos are taken, the photos sort of flys into the row of photos. Argh! Sorry if You can't understand! I find it hard to elaborate on my fantasies of a longer and bigger screen :rolleyes:
 
Wide screen video is the only real advantage I can see, but who watches movies on something as small as an iPhone anyway? Having to scroll less vertically on a puny screen is a very weak argument. WIDTH is needed just as much as height. If you don't do both, it's stupid to just half ass it and raise the ceiling in an over crowded room.
 
One big advantage to keeping the same width as the current phone is one handed use in portrait orientation. As it stands now, the phone is borderline too wide for thumb typing with one hand.
 
superdudeo said:
Wirelessly posted

Apart from the obvious benefit of 16:9 video. Surfing the web and general use will offer no advantage by lengthing the screen. Width is desperately needed, I just really hope the rumours are not true.
Click to expand...


It stops competitors from being able to make fun of Apple for not having a four-inch screen. It gives Apple the ability to say we have a 4 inch screen.
 
no obvious benefit
reading and browsing is as hard as it was
playing will not be better either
It actually does not impact phoning, almost least useful feature of this phone!
 
I really dont see what the big deal is. web pages will offer more content on 1 screen. more room on the homescreen. 16:9 video. webpages fit on iphones in portrait now if the new iphone is longer more content will fit. Making the phone wider would screw up developers even more as well as the homescreen and everything else. this makes perfect sense.
 
Going longer does not make sense, even for Apple. It adds zero benefit to the user. I would not count 4 extra apps on a page as a benefit, as you'll get no additional real-estate benefit inside of the apps.

This is why I have a slight hope that these rumored iPhone leaks are false. The phone needs to be wider, along with being taller.
 
xAnthony said:
Going longer does not make sense, even for Apple. It adds zero benefit to the user. I would not count 4 extra apps on a page as a benefit, as you'll get no additional real-estate benefit inside of the apps.

This is why I have a slight hope that these rumored iPhone leaks are false. The phone needs to be wider, along with being taller.
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I really think it comes down to they need the "4 inch screen "selling point. That is one of the major criticisms of the iPhone. The other criticism is a lack of LTE, which is coming this fall obviously. So, I think this is just a way to get around that 4 inch screen criticism.
 
applefanDrew said:
I really think it comes down to they need the "4 inch screen "selling point. That is one of the major criticisms of the iPhone. The other criticism is a lack of LTE, which is coming this fall obviously. So, I think this is just a way to get around that 4 inch screen criticism.
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You could be right, but I really hope they don't try and pull a fast one like this. Sure the phone may now be 4 inches, but that extra 0.5 of an inch does not provide any added benefit to the user. If they try and use that as a selling point, I'll be extremely disappointed in Apple.
 
xAnthony said:
You could be right, but I really hope they don't try and pull a fast one like this. Sure the phone may now be 4 inches, but that extra 0.5 of an inch does not provide any added benefit to the user. If they try and use that as a selling point, I'll be extremely disappointed in Apple.
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I understand where you're coming from. But I actually like it. One handed use is very important to me. By not making it wider, they keep one handed use extremely easy. I've been testing on my 4S. One handed, I can reach the entire front face of the phone. So I think this taller phone will be great!
 
applefanDrew said:
I understand where you're coming from. But I actually like it. One handed use is very important to me. By not making it wider, they keep one handed use extremely easy. I've been testing on my 4S. One handed, I can reach the entire front face of the phone. So I think this taller phone will be great!
Click to expand...

This is BS and I don't know why people state such a thing. Holding my iPhone 4 with my right hand only, I can easily reach out another inch or more with my right thumb. And I have borderline small hands.

A wider iPhone would not be more difficult to use (unless you make it Galaxy Note big). The issue with one handed use really comes into play when the phone's screen is very long. I can't use the One X (4.7" screen) with one hand comfortably because my thumb needs to reach the top of the screen and the home button.

The 'taller' iPhone will be a big hit but it's only going to benefit landscape use.
 
A 16:9 screen ratio would great improve AirPlay mirroring functionality or at least aesthetics, eliminating the annoying black bars on the sides.
 
Well, I do watch a great deal of video (movies) on my iPhone. In fact, I quite enjoy it. Having a larger screen that is also wider would be fantastic and I can't see why Apple wouldn't do this.

I picked up a Nokia Lumia 900 (used) just to see what it was like living in a non-iOS world (kinda fun, but that's another story) and I'm digging the 4.3 inch screen.

Oh, and a UI update (icons and such) would be a breath of fresh...
 
blairh said:
This is BS and I don't know why people state such a thing. Holding my iPhone 4 with my right hand only, I can easily reach out another inch or more with my right thumb. And I have borderline small hands.

A wider iPhone would not be more difficult to use (unless you make it Galaxy Note big). The issue with one handed use really comes into play when the phone's screen is very long. I can't use the One X (4.7" screen) with one hand comfortably because my thumb needs to reach the top of the screen and the home button.

The 'taller' iPhone will be a big hit but it's only going to benefit landscape use.
Click to expand...



I'd be willing to bet you have to shift your grip to reach that extra inch though. for me, with big hands, I can reach all points on the front of the iPhone without shifting my grip. Make it wider and I can no longer do that.
 
blairh said:
This is BS and I don't know why people state such a thing. Holding my iPhone 4 with my right hand only, I can easily reach out another inch or more with my right thumb. And I have borderline small hands.
Click to expand...
Your hands are not small. I can barely reach across the screen with my thumb in one-handed use.

If I had to go with a bigger iphone, I would definitely want for a longer screen. A wider screen makes it damn near unusable for my small hands.

Considering some of these renderings look like the artist was on crack, I wouldn't put much credence in the rumors. I am, however, keeping an open mind about the designs just in case they are legit.
 
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