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Why Apple Won't Increase Screen Size

K

Keleko

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Mar 26, 2008
1,928
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It seems a lot of comments I've read here and on other sites are about the screen. "It isn't bigger!" is the complaint. So do all those who comment on that realize WHY it isn't bigger, and why it probably won't ever be bigger?

Retina display. That's why. Apple has set the bar high on screen resolution. None of the current top Android or Windows phones have yet matched the dpi of the Retina display on the 4 and 4s. They haven't even matched the total resolution yet.

Galaxy S II? 800x480 with 4.3" or 4.5". Worse resolution and DPI than 4/4s.
Droid Bionic? 960x540 with 4.3". Worse resolution and DPI than 4/4s.
HTC Titan? 800x480 with 4.7". Worse resolution and DPI than 4/4s.

For Apple to make a larger screen iPhone they'd have to do one of two things.

1) Increase the resolution to keep the same dpi of a larger screen. They won't do this because it would cause problems with all the apps already out there. It would fragment the app market for slightly higher resolution 4s apps vs all the other apps. It happened with 3GS -4 transition, but in this case the 4 had double the resolution, so it made it easy to scale up non-retina aware apps. They can't do this with a slightly bigger phone screen. It wouldn't allow for as easy of a transition. This is not the Apple way.

2) Increase the screen size but keep the resolution the same. This loses DPI. Then it would no longer look as sharp as the current Retina display. A lower DPI would lose the "Retina" distinction, too. Don't you think people would complain when the screen looked worse than the previous model? "Hey Apple, it's not retina anymore! LOLZ!"

Apple's bigger screen is called an iPad.
 
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Keleko said:
It seems a lot of comments I've read here and on other sites are about the screen. "It isn't bigger!" is the complaint. So do all those who comment on that realize WHY it isn't bigger, and why it probably won't ever be bigger?

Retina display. That's why. Apple has set the bar high on screen resolution. None of the current top Android or Windows phones have yet matched the dpi of the Retina display on the 4 and 4s. They haven't even matched the total resolution yet.

Galaxy S II? 800x480 with 4.3" or 4.5". Worse resolution and DPI than 4/4s.
Droid Bionic? 960x540 with 4.3". Worse resolution and DPI than 4/4s.
HTC Titan? 800x480 with 4.7". Worse resolution and DPI than 4/4s.

For Apple to make a larger screen iPhone they'd have to do one of two things.

1) Increase the resolution to keep the same dpi of a larger screen. They won't do this because it would cause problems with all the apps already out there. It would fragment the app market for slightly higher resolution 4s apps vs all the other apps. It happened with 3GS -4 transition, but in this case the 4 had double the resolution, so it made it easy to scale up non-retina aware apps. They can't do this with a slightly bigger phone screen. It wouldn't allow for as easy of a transition. This is not the Apple way.

2) Increase the screen size but keep the resolution the same. This loses DPI. Then it would no longer look as sharp as the current Retina display. A lower DPI would lose the "Retina" distinction, too. Don't you think people would complain when the screen looked worse than the previous model? "Hey Apple, it's not retina anymore! LOLZ!"

Apple's bigger screen is called an iPad.
Click to expand...

Exactly. The iPhone 4 has the best screen of any smartphone and it is 16 months old. Others have bigger screens with LOWER resolution than the iPhone 4. This leads to a significantly lower pixel density which equates to a signify lower quality of screen.

This is the one thing that drives me nuts about the clamoring for bigger screens. All of them seem to imply a significantly inferior display is okay just as long as it is bigger. Apple has never made those kinds of trade offs.
 
The Nexus Prime (Droid Prime) is going to be announced next Wednesday. Screen size looks to be 4.6" with 1280 x 720 resolution and 322 dpi (or at least what I've read). The "we can't get there from here" is no longer the case. And it's going to become a problem for Apple eventually if they don't increase the screen size to 4"+. Retina display only gets you so far. Example. We have a 47" LCD 720P TV in our living room. It's right at 5 years old. I bought my daughter a 24" 1080p LCD TV for her bedroom for Christmas. While the picture is sharper on her TV, no way in hell would I watch a football game or movie on it over the 47". When she wants to watch a movie, she asks to watch on the bigger TV. The slight difference in quality that my eyes, or anyone's eyes for that matter, can detect are completely and 100% negated by the lack of real estate. It's just the way it is, and it will be the way of the future for mobile phones. Apple will either get on the train or be left at the station. My guess is that they are on the phone with the ticket office as I type this.
 
Maybe its because they don't want to piss developers off. If you increase the screen size you are going to have to increase the resolution which means now developers have to build apps for a 3rd resolution so another set of images.

I wouldn't expect Apple to increase the screen size till the 3Gs is gone.
 
I don't think that is the reason. Lg the makers of the iPhone retina display also make a 4.2 retina display which will be released soon. The aspect ratio would be the same as the 3.5 inch.

They also make a 4.5 inch retina display. Both of which have the same ppi of 329 as the 3.5 inch screen currently.

I feel battery life is the main concern. Not screen size.
 
Yup.. you could look at it that way. The resolution and dpi of the existing screen is already better than anything else out there. Problem is if they decide to update the iPhone once every 12-16 months then it won't be at the top for long. LG already announced some phone with 4.5" 720p display and we'll likely see it next week on the Nexus Prime.

I'm very happy with the current 960x640 resolution though I wouldn't mind having the screen a bit bigger and letting the dpi drop just a bit. It's already insanely high and would still have a "retina" effect if the dpi went down just a bit.
 
I also don't know why are people complaining. They would be happy if they get the same like 4S + redesign and 4" screen. I don't know a reason why I would change any of these. The 3,5" is enough and also if they made the iPhone design iPad like, it would look uglier than this.
 
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I see why people are clamoring for a bigger screen but I completely agree with the first post. This is a phone. I do not want to hold a small tablet up to my face to make phone calls. It defeats the purpose of a small pocket mobile phone. I have an iPad for big screen browsing and mobile entertainment. Rather than clamor for a bigger iPhone, I'd much rather see a 7-8" iPad. But after seein a GSII yesterday, I hold steady that apple will never release an iPhone that increases forward-looking (ie front face) bulk that much, no matter how slim and light the device may be.
 
Nexus Prime is rumored to be 320 ppi on a 4.6" screen. Game over on your argument.

Apple will be forced to increase the iPhone screen size at some point. Contend that all you want, it's a fact. They should have bumped it up to 4" yesterday.

The 4S will give them 12 months to unveil a redesign. In the meantime the rest of the public (not getting an iPhone) will opt for a larger screened Android device.
 
I love how the teeny screen defenders first argument is "I don't want a tablet in my pocket".

Have you actually used a phone with a 4 inch screen? Like put your hands on it and experienced it? It's a big difference.
 
I agree with the OP, although I'll also point out that I think battery life and use of the phone in one hand are also big factors in the decision to go with 3.5". I'm sure they could have made the display larger in the original iPhone if they'd wanted to, but after a long period of research and testing, found that 3.5" was a sweet spot (between size and usability).

Although I agree that large displays look impressive, I personally think that they're less practical for day-to-day use. I'd also say, however, that I have less of a desire for a large iPhone display than some because I have an iPad as well.

P.S. I have owned two 4" Android phones in the past and I didn't like them. I found stretching to the top to get to notifications was a little inconvenient after a while.
 
Honestly, the retina display isn't that big of a deal. Sure, things are slightly sharper, but it's not like things on Android's larger phones are blurry.

A larger screen makes using it easier; typing for one, is more comfortable, as is using things like Maps, games, etc. Personally, I think 4" is the perfect medium.
 
I think the big problem for apple going forward is the aspect ratio of the screen. What makes those jumbo phones on the android side uncomfortable is how wide they are when holding it in portrait, it just doesn't feel right. So to keep the width at a reasonable level, they either have to stick with 3.5", maybe go to 3.6"-3.8" with edge to edge screen. Or they have to switch to a widescreen format, which would increase the screen size vertically if you're holding it portrait style.

I think wide screen would be the way to go, It would allow one more row on the home screen, you would have less scrolling in safari, and when watching widescreen videos it would take up the whole screen. The only problem would be developers would have to update their apps for the new format, but if they want to maximize screen size on a phone, they're going to have to do it.
 
Apple doesn't have to increase the screen size. Apple has generally been about "smaller" with their products. The Mac mini keeps getting smaller. The Macbook Airs are thinner, lighter, and getting smaller with each update. Their Macbook Pros are getting thinner and lighter with each update. The Apple TV shrunk significantly in size with the latest version. The iPod nano is lots smaller from the previous design. And so on. The only thing that has increased in size is the iMac with the screen size. That product is the only one where physical larger is more desirable (that includes the standalone monitors, too).

For a portable device, smaller is going to be better in Apple's mindset. That's another reason I don't expect there to be a larger screen for the iPhone.

One other reason I can think of is just personal preference. Not everyone wants a huge screen. I'm quite happy with 3.5" on the iPhone. The current size fits well both in my hand and in my pocket.
 
Apple has to or they'll go down like Hp or blackberry. A 4.2 - 4.4 720p iPhone for June 2012 would solve the problem
 
Two theories -

They don't want to piss off developers and decided to keep the ratio and resolution. Plants vs Zombies took over a year to get the Retina Display treatment.

Battery life. Packing more would mean they could lose the slimness and bigger screens do use up more juice. This is what made people so pissed off with RIM on the BlackBerry 9900. They went for the smaller battery and no auto-focus because they wanted the slimmer profile. Like Apple, RIM went for looks over function/better productivity.

There will be other smartphones with not only a higher resoluition, but just as a high ppi. By the time you get over 300ppi, you really can't tell difference anymore especially on a 3.5-4.6 inch screen. Like comparing a 1080p video to a 720p in a 30-inch HDTV screen. The naked eye won't be able to tell the difference that much anymore.

Like mentioned before, the Nexus Prime will have a higher res and a 320ppi.

auxsend said:
I love how the teeny screen defenders first argument is "I don't want a tablet in my pocket".

Have you actually used a phone with a 4 inch screen? Like put your hands on it and experienced it?[/B] It's a big difference.
Click to expand...
Exactly. People simply are basing it off 10-min demos and never actually getting used to any of them. I can understand some people not like these changes, but it would be like if someone was driving a small commuter car like a Kia or Corolla and decides to drive an SUV and giant pickup truck. They will get used to it. Some people forget how big are phones used to be and we lived through it for a couple years. My Nokia 3360 (3310 variant) was a brick. It was nearly as tall as the iPhone but double the thickness of most smartphones today at 22mm. Monochrome screen was tiny. This was only 10 years ago. I am not talking about any Zack Morris phones here. If some people can't get used to that, then I don't know what to tell you. I used to own a Palm Pixi and it sucked using it on a 2.6-inch screen since accidental presses were common. I can imagine if I got used to 4.3-4.5 inch touchscreen phone, going back to a 3.5-inches would be bothersome the same way as going from iPhone to Pixi. I just find it ironic that Nokia, who live still in the past, have a phone like the N9 that has a bigger screen than Apple.

Size does matter.
images
 
blairh said:
Nexus Prime is rumored to be 320 ppi on a 4.6" screen. Game over on your argument.

Apple will be forced to increase the iPhone screen size at some point. Contend that all you want, it's a fact. They should have bumped it up to 4" yesterday.

The 4S will give them 12 months to unveil a redesign. In the meantime the rest of the public (not getting an iPhone) will opt for a larger screened Android device.
Click to expand...

Key word is rumored.

IMO Apple will increase the screen size next year. I knew they weren't going to give us a large screen on this iPhone because they just gave us the retina display last year, where developers had to upgrade their apps from 460x320 to 960x640 their not going to make them upgrade their apps again one year later.

Guess you forgot about WP7 because everyone want an Android phone... Rolls eyes
 
auxsend said:
I love how the teeny screen defenders first argument is "I don't want a tablet in my pocket".

Have you actually used a phone with a 4 inch screen? Like put your hands on it and experienced it? It's a big difference.
Click to expand...

yeah it's a real big difference...big being the key word....so big in fact I've seen people at my office struggle to pull those gigantic phones out of their bugle boys...or they have it strapped to their waist like a glock and that looks silly...Apple will probably make an iPhone with a slightly larger screen in the future and I will buy it...but I don't need it
 
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