iPhone 5

[Jr Mouse]



As much as I absolutely love my iPhone 4, I actually have been very unhappy with the screen size for a few years now. That's why I was kinda obsessing with the rumors last year. (And have since learned to really not pay too much attention to them.)

I think a 4" retina display would be a great step forward, but I'd actually be happiest with a 4.5" retina display. Before you say that would make the phone too big, you're wrong. The key would be to keep the form factor close to what the current iPhone is and eliminate the amount of bezel. In its current form, the iPhone is essentially 25% bezel on the front surface when you factor in the top and bottom bezel. You could easily (if technology would allow it) stretch out the current iPhone screen on its sides (in landscape mode) while keeping just a little bezel on the top and bottom. (For some sort of home button on the bottom and front-facing camera on top.)

Perhaps down the road we'll get something along the lines of what I want, but not anytime soon if I had to guess.

The problem is most of the bezel is on the top and the bottom. If you look on the sides, there is not that much room to evenly scale the screen up without increasing the width of the phone. No way Apple will change the aspect ratio and go widescreen. So if they really do decide to go that large, you are looking at a phone that is larger overall.

I also think any phone over 4 inches is too big. The disadvantages at that point start to outweigh the advantages. You loose the ability to operate the phone screen with one hand and it looses too much portability. These are phones, not mini-tablets. I would be absolutely shocked if Apple goes bigger then 4 inches and honestly, the odds are that they won't go any larger then 3.85 to keep the PPI in line with the standards they set.

 

[junior varsity]

i certainly hope they dont cut the product life cycle that short...
i updated my entire family's phones to the 4S

 

[blairh]



The problem is most of the bezel is on the top and the bottom. If you look on the sides, there is not that much room to evenly scale the screen up without increasing the width of the phone. No way Apple will change the aspect ratio and go widescreen. So if they really do decide to go that large, you are looking at a phone that is larger overall.
I also think any phone over 4 inches is too big. The disadvantages at that point start to outweigh the advantages. You loose the ability to operate the phone screen with one hand and it looses too much portability. These are phones, not mini-tablets. I would be absolutely shocked if Apple goes bigger then 4 inches and honestly, the odds are that they won't go any larger then 3.85 to keep the PPI in line with the standards they set.

I'm out right now but when I get home I'm going to do some renderings of what a 4" and 4.5" iPhone would look like without changing the form factor. Yes, it would have to go widescreen for the reason you stated.

 

[Jr Mouse]



I'm out right now but when I get home I'm going to do some renderings of what a 4" and 4.5" iPhone would look like without changing the form factor. Yes, it would have to go widescreen for the reason you stated.

But that's the thing, they can't go widescreen. It would cause fragmentation just like increasing the resolution would. It's also not a good aspect ratio for these touchscreen devices. I had a Kindle Fire, so trust me I know.

 

[blairh]



i certainly hope they dont cut the product life cycle that short...
i updated my entire family's phones to the 4S

Apple knows what they are doing. They will not upgrade the iPhone less than 12 months after their last release. Expect the fall to be the future iPhone release period from now on.

 

[Jr Mouse]



Apple knows what they are doing. They will not upgrade the iPhone less than 12 months after their last release. Expect the fall to be the future iPhone release period from now on.

I don't know and actually disagree that this is certain. The fall release of the iPhone 4S could have been a fluke and Apple may want to get back on its regular schedule. I wouldn't put money down on a bet either way.

JV, you shouldn't be wanting to upgrade a year old phone anyways. Just follow the natural path of every two years and save the money they give you for signing a contract. No one needs the latest iPhone, every single year.

 

[junior varsity]



I don't know and actually disagree that this is certain. The fall release of the iPhone 4S could have been a fluke and Apple may want to get back on its regular schedule. I wouldn't put money down on a bet either way.
JV, you shouldn't be wanting to upgrade a year old phone anyways. Just follow the natural path of every two years and save the money they give you for signing a contract. No one needs the latest iPhone, every single year.

i got my iphone on the pre-order because ive never had iphones before lol
i was always a blackberry person and blackberry's product life cycle was really a lot longer than most other brands...
and even their previous gen stuff, isnt "out-dated' as much as apple products..

 

[blairh]



I don't know and actually disagree that this is certain. The fall release of the iPhone 4S could have been a fluke and Apple may want to get back on its regular schedule. I wouldn't put money down on a bet either way.
JV, you shouldn't be wanting to upgrade a year old phone anyways. Just follow the natural path of every two years and save the money they give you for signing a contract. No one needs the latest iPhone, every single year.

Well I certainly can't say 100% because no one really knows. You are making it sound like a 50/50 bet right now and I'd say it's more like 85/15 that it's coming this fall. No one would be happier for a summer refresh than me, but I don't think Apple would release an iPhone less than 12 months after unveiling the last-gen.

I agree that people shouldn't want to upgrade their iPhone's every year, however it really depends entirely on what the 'new iPhone' entails. If it's LTE (and I'm all but certain it will be) then it's natural for many 4S owners to want to upgrade to faster cellular speeds. Even if the phone itself, hypothetically, is virtually the same in almost every other regard.

 

[Jr Mouse]



Well I certainly can't say 100% because no one really knows. You are making it sound like a 50/50 bet right now and I'd say it's more like 85/15 that it's coming this fall. No one would be happier for a summer refresh than me, but I don't think Apple would release an iPhone less than 12 months after unveiling the last-gen.

I agree that people shouldn't want to upgrade their iPhone's every year, however it really depends entirely on what the 'new iPhone' entails. If it's LTE (and I'm all but certain it will be) then it's natural for many 4S owners to want to upgrade to faster cellular speeds. Even if the phone itself, hypothetically, is virtually the same in almost every other regard.

I would give it more like 60/40, but that's just because I believe the rumors that the delay was caused by the problems they had in Japan. My gut says Apple will want to get back on a summer schedule, but again who knows?

LTE wouldn't be enough for me if I had a 4S. Too much extra cash has to be spent to upgrade early. I can understand one wanting to, but it's just not worth it for me.

 

[blairh]



I would give it more like 60/40, but that's just because I believe the rumors that the delay was caused by the problems they had in Japan. My gut says Apple will want to get back on a summer schedule, but again who knows?
LTE wouldn't be enough for me if I had a 4S. Too much extra cash has to be spent to upgrade early. I can understand one wanting to, but it's just not worth it for me.

I hope you are right, but again, my gut says fall.

I'm sure most consumers with a 4S would refrain from a potential LTE iPhone upgrade because of the dreaded early upgrade fee. (It was a $250 charge from AT&T last fall. Barf.)

 

[Douglas]



He echos my comments on the screen size increasing and it's effect on the screen's PPI.
Anyone who thinks Apple will give up it's ability to call it a "retina display" by going 4.6 inches is not paying attention. 4 inches MAX and I would place my bets down that it is closer to 3.7.

You keep repeating this thing about the retina display and the PPI etc. Why can't they just increase the number of pixels?

IIRC, when the 4S was coming out, there was some reason to believe that the processor couldn't handle more pixels, thereby ruling out a larger retina display. But to my knowledge, that is no longer necessarily a constraint, as nobody knows anything about the processor.

This is if I understand all this correctly, and it's certainly possible (in fact likely) I do not.

EDIT: That's not to say I think there will be a larger retina display - just commenting on its likelihood, which AFAIC is a total crapshoot. I for one would welcome a slightly larger display.

EDIT 2: I do not believe they will have a Q2 release. It will be in the fall like the 4S. I can't wait for the release, though, as I'm on a 4 and it's getting a little long in the tooth.

 

[Jr Mouse]



You keep repeating this thing about the retina display and the PPI etc. Why can't they just increase the number of pixels?

IIRC, when the 4S was coming out, there was some reason to believe that the processor couldn't handle more pixels, thereby ruling out a larger retina display. But to my knowledge, that is no longer necessarily a constraint, as nobody knows anything about the processor.

This is if I understand all this correctly, and it's certainly possible (in fact likely) I do not.

EDIT: That's not to say I think there will be a larger retina display - just commenting on its likelihood, which AFAIC is a total crapshoot. I for one would welcome a slightly larger display.

EDIT 2: I do not believe they will have a Q2 release. It will be in the fall like the 4S. I can't wait for the release, though, as I'm on a 4 and it's getting a little long in the tooth.

Easy, if they did this it would cause app fragmentation. There is a reason they did an exact doubling of the iPhone's display resolution when they moved to the retina display and that is because it allowed for maximum app compatibility. All apps designed for the old resolution could be upscaled perfectly for the new screen. This gave developers time to go in and switch out resources for ones that met the new, double resolution.

It's also the reason they did the same exact thing when they released the new iPad. Double resolution over the old iPad. Limited fragmentation and a fairly painless upgrade process for end users and developers.

Apple will not simply increase the number of pixels slightly. It flies in the face of their overall, winning, strategy so far. We will see even doubling with iOS, or no increase at all.

 

[blairh]

Here are my renderings. Far from perfect, I know. Just wanted to do this to create an idea of what a 4" and 4.5" screen would look like on the current iPhone 4/4S form factor. The form factor on the paper is slightly larger than the current iPhone because I traced it. The screen sizes however are exact.

Perhaps Apple would be forced to also increase the form factor in order to avoid a widescreen aspect ratio, however you can't deny that both of these, as a retina display, would be pretty amazing.

 

[Jr Mouse]

Yeah, I just don't see them ever going widescreen. Won't happen.

Now will they ever create a new resolution standard for iOS phones so they can go larger then 4? Maybe, but I just don't see it happening. Certainly not so soon after they created the resolution standard they have now. Better to keep fragmentation to a minimum and phone portability to a maximum. Remember, Apple puts a lot of care into design AND usability.

 

[blairh]



Yeah, I just don't see them ever going widescreen. Won't happen.
Now will they ever create a new resolution standard for iOS phones so they can go larger then 4? Maybe, but I just don't see it happening. Certainly not so soon after they created the resolution standard they have now. Better to keep fragmentation to a minimum and phone portability to a maximum. Remember, Apple puts a lot of care into design AND usability.

What are your thoughts on the Lumia 900? Worse ppi than the retina display, of course, but I've always admired Nokia's hardware. I realize WP can't compete apps-wise and I tend to loathe all things Windows, but I'm excited to at the very least try this phone out in an AT&T store. Every time I look at the 3G icon on the iPhone I'm aware of it. I know the next iPhone is coming most likely in 5 months, but still....