WSJ: Apple to increase iPhone screen size to 'at least' 4-inches

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Definitely prefer width over length. TWSS

... iPhone has a lot of real estate on the current form factor to increase the screen size properly. The phone wouldn't have to get much bigger.

!

It shouldn't make me chuckle, but it does!

But yeah, I agree. The stretched out 16:9 mock ups look off to me somehow.
 
3.5" is too small IMO. My GF uses an ipod touch (3.5"), I've been using my first smartphone, the Nexus S (4"), and there's no way I'd consider a phone with a smaller screen.
 
Cipherr said:
Galaxy Note isnt a "larger screen" thats an IMAX in your pocket. Its comically big. Definitely a niche thing.
In Asia you see Note on the street more often then anything aside for iPhones. I've never seen SII (let alone any non-samsung android) half as often. It looks a lot more like a popularity-fad than a niche right now - especially considering it's by far the most expensive phone on the market.
 
Anyone remember this video? I'm thinking that's what it'll ultimately be, whatever goes into those cases.. It might've been posted before but what's the 4" (3:2) PPI in comparison to the current 3.5"? Wondering if it'd still clarify as retina under Apple's formula/guidelines, considering the distance from screen number remains the same.
 
Anyone remember this video? I'm thinking that's what it'll ultimately be, whatever goes into those cases.. It might've been posted before but what's the 4" (3:2) PPI in comparison to the current 3.5"? Wondering if it'd still clarify as retina under Apple's formula/guidelines, considering the distance from screen number remains the same.

I think you can go up to 3.84" and still be retina

Perhaps apple will come up with some amazing research that shows people tend to use their iphones slightly further away than that, miraculously allowing them to classify 4" as retina - for that you'd only need to hold the iphone 12.5" away, not a big difference really.

edit: have a play with this - http://bhtooefr.org/displaycalc.htm
 
if they go taller, they'll talk about movies and TV, probably get someone on from Disney or ABC, push the focus towards media consumption.

Realistically you'd have a tiny border top/bottom with legacy apps. You could probably get around that by defining 'safe zones' where you don't put critical information in games/apps - a bit like on TV to protect for overscan. So on a 4/4S you just lose a little of the top/bottom border
 
I can't wait to see sentry gushing over the iphones new awesome bigger screen, it might be more hilarious than smokeydave's fellating whatever new design they come up with.

Does it bother you that even if they totally fuck the phone up, I'd still rather buy one than settle for an android phone?

As an aside, have you ever seen me fellate the design of any Apple product that wasn't the iPhone 4? Nope, didn't think so. I wonder why?

I hope they're able to pull off something like this;

iphone_4in_4s_ciccarese_large.png
This is acceptable.
 
Nib, you can't exactly compare how a different OS handles widescreen keyboard with what iOS already does. In many apps already, landscape is a pain to use because you can barely see the shit you're typing. It's a bit better in the native apps (since apple knows that fact and alter the menu bar thicknesses etc), but not by much. Here's how it would look stretched, which I consider to be (imo) ugly;

http://i.imgur.com/OF0cD.png[IMG]

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/ryHni.png[IMG]

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/I6nXc.png[IMG]

[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/bKoW3.png[IMG]

Barely being able to see a single line of what you're typing is what I consider 'yuck', but that's just me... and that isn't even landscape browsing experiences or apps.[/QUOTE]

You do realize that since the width (in portrait mode) remains the same the height of the keyboard in landscape mode will still be the same. There is no reason for them to increase the height of the (landscape) keyboard at all, so you get to see exactly as much as you see right now. Surely you're not claiming that the way it is right now is unsatisfactory?

Edit: Oh, it's been pointed out several times. Nevermind then.
 
You do realize that since the width (in portrait mode) remains the same the height of the keyboard in landscape mode will still be the same. There is no reason for them to increase the height of the (landscape) keyboard at all, so you get to see exactly as much as you see right now. Surely you're not claiming that the way it is right now is unsatisfactory?

Why would the height be the same? Would the keyboard be letterboxed or stretched lengthwise then?
 
Why would the height be the same? Would the keyboard be letterboxed or stretched lengthwise then?

I think both are better solutions than unnecessarily increasing the height, assuming they keep the same form factor for the phone. If it's 'letterboxed' I would assume they would use he extra space for larger function keys on the sides and if the screen remains centred (which it will indubitably be) then it will be exactly in the same position, and therefore exactly as usable as in all the other iPhones, which has already been proven to be pretty much perfect. They could also just put wider keys and stretching the whole thing horizontally, also a valid solution in my eyes but may get some complaints due to muscle memory, or whatever. Increasing the height would mess with that muscle memory in two dimensions with no added advantage since the height of they keys as they are now is already adequate and therefore doesn't need to be increased for better usability.


6vzl0.jpg
OF0cD.png

ryHni.png
 
Does it bother you that even if they totally fuck the phone up, I'd still rather buy one than settle for an android phone?

As an aside, have you ever seen me fellate the design of any Apple product that wasn't the iPhone 4? Nope, didn't think so. I wonder why?


This is acceptable.

It's okay man, you can admit 4" is a new exciting frontier for the iphone. After launch no one will remember who wanted what.

At 4" it's something I'll consider when i upgrade. Especially if it has NFC, that'll be a game changer. Would definitely overlook that hideous wall of icons if it has NFC. Hopefully less forehead and chin at 4".
 
A letterboxed landscape keyboard would be literally identical to the current landscape keyboard. It's a perfect solution.
 
I really don't think that they're going to make the bezel on the existing design smaller. It messes up the proportions. I don't think Jony Ive would stoop that low.
 
This is marking a sad trend I am noticing. Every product that has launched since Jobs died has had to be verified that Jobs had "a hand in" to lend the product some sort of legitimacy.

How many years of road mapped products did they say they had from jobs, 4?

The first product that did not have his hand in it is going to freak some people out. Sucks for Cook and co that a lot of people won't give them a fair shake.
 
It's okay man, you can admit 4" is a new exciting frontier for the iphone. After launch no one will remember who wanted what.

At 4" it's something I'll consider when i upgrade. Especially if it has NFC, that'll be a game changer. Would definitely overlook that hideous wall of icons if it has NFC. Hopefully less forehead and chin at 4".


why will NFC be a game changer? I can imagine a few key use cases, but I'm always wary when people just want tech thrown in for the sake of it.

TBH payment is the only reason I can think of, and its not that big a deal to swipe your oyster card for the underground, or your visa debit card.
 
why will NFC be a game changer? I can imagine a few key use cases, but I'm always wary when people just want tech thrown in for the sake of it.

TBH payment is the only reason I can think of, and its not that big a deal to swipe your oyster card for the underground, or your visa debit card.

you can store medical records on there, use it to replace keys (I could see RFID locks gaining traction once NFC is ubiquitous), have products 'beam' you information... there are lots of possibilities if you think about it.

Problem is, the applications won't come until enough people have NFC. The iPhone is in a position to make that happen.
 
May consider getting an iPhone if they up the screen to at least 4.3" and they swap out the wall o' icons for some nice screens of stuff.
 
why will NFC be a game changer? I can imagine a few key use cases, but I'm always wary when people just want tech thrown in for the sake of it.

TBH payment is the only reason I can think of, and its not that big a deal to swipe your oyster card for the underground, or your visa debit card.

NFC has more uses than just payment. Information is readily available on it's potential uses. Things won't change overnight but the more NFC capable devices out there the more services will be provided for it. We know how people love to line up for their "i" devices.
 
Yeah but now the cell/smartphones are getting thinner and thinner and I really don't like that :/ Feels like they can snap in half you have them in your pocket
The only phone that has ever actually snapped in half for me was the old Samsung Wafer. Modern smartphones are much more sturdy.
 
After seeing all these mock ups, I think Apple would be crazy not to go 16:9 unless they change the form factor to have less wasted space top and bottom. At present it's just a very un-efficient design, with poor use of space and limited screen real estate.

I remember the time when Cell phone companies were competing to make cell phones smaller and smaller.

This isn't exactly true. If you meant shrinking form factor and wasted physical space, then yes, I'd agree with you. But upping screen size has always been a high end user desire.

Like, Nokia N90, to N93, N95, N97 etc etc. Screen sizes go 2.1", 2.3", 2.6" and 3.5" respectively. Just as an example.
 
With this news and the slightly disappointing reveal of the S3, I think I am waiting for the iPhone 5 before I make a decision on a new phone.
 
I remember the time when Cell phone companies were competing to make cell phones smaller and smaller.

... not sure if serious?! All cell phone companies except Apple make many different types of phones including models a lot smaller than the iPhone. You do have a point though; it hasn't been more than a year since people were laughing at HP for making the smallest smartphone ever :/
 
That's called Android. Enjoy.

Ha! OK, let me spell it out to you, much like I spell things out to my 2 year old daughter.

iPhone 4s = Me do not want.
iPhone XL with better looking UI = Me want!

I see what you are saying. You are saying "iOS will NEVER look better than what it is now" and I'm saying "If it does change, I will get one".

Thanks for listening.
 
How many years of road mapped products did they say they had from jobs, 4?

The first product that did not have his hand in it is going to freak some people out. Sucks for Cook and co that a lot of people won't give them a fair shake.
The question is, where do those years begin (also, I think it was 5, maybe)? Is it 2011-2015? 2012-2016?

I don't think Apple will be broadcasting this, but I'm sure they will drop Steve's name to rile excitement when hype is at a lull. Flash-forward to 2018: "Oh, this was an idea Steve talked about a couple times, and we decided to flesh it out. Introducing iRoll."
 
Ha! OK, let me spell it out to you, much like I spell things out to my 2 year old daughter.

iPhone 4s = Me do not want.
iPhone XL with better looking UI = Me want!

I see what you are saying. You are saying "iOS will NEVER look better than what it is now" and I'm saying "If it does change, I will get one".

Thanks for listening.

You really aren't getting this, huh.

This isn't exactly true. If you meant shrinking form factor and wasted physical space, then yes, I'd agree with you. But upping screen size has always been a high end user desire.

Considering the three best-selling phones are all 3.5", it seems pretty reasonable to say that 'high end user desire' is actually for 3.5" phones.
 
You really aren't getting this, huh.

Considering the three best-selling phones are all 3.5", it seems pretty reasonable to say that 'high end user desire' is actually for 3.5" phones.

You mean the iPhone? Yea that doesn't really tell us anything. If an iPhone 5 comes out with a 4.3" screen, you can be sure that will be the best selling phone too.

In any case, the iPhone as far as I can tell is not the best selling phone. Total sales are around 189 million. Nokia 1110 leads with 250m.
 
You mean the iPhone? Yea that doesn't really tell us anything. If an iPhone 5 comes out with a 4.3" screen, you can be sure that will be the best selling phone too.

In any case, the iPhone as far as I can tell is not the best selling phone. Total sales are around 189 million. Nokia 1110 leads with 250m.

So what you're saying is that iPhone sells by name alone, whereas people who buy bigger phones are making sensible decisions based on rational thought.

Cool.
 
I'm actually feeling happy at how pleasantly surprised all of you are going to be when you start using a phone with a bigger screen.
 
So what you're saying is that iPhone sells by name alone, whereas people who buy bigger phones are making sensible decisions based on rational thought.

Cool.

Or maybe, just maybe, they're buying an iPhone because it fit their needs in a way that an Android wouldn't so they're stuck with a phone with a smaller screen.

Heck I'm on the bigger screeen side of the market and I can tell you that there's no way I'm going back to a small cramped screen, heck my screen is 4,2'' (or watisit you're using as a system) and I find it too small already.
 
I'm actually feeling happy at how pleasantly surprised all of you are going to be when you start using a phone with a bigger screen.
I love how Android guys try and make it seem like using a 4+ inch screen phone is some sort of revelatory experience.

Truly, it is not.
 
So what you're saying is that iPhone sells by name alone, whereas people who buy bigger phones are making sensible decisions based on rational thought.

Cool.

No, what I'm saying is, there are hundreds of reasons why the iPhone is the most popular selling phone, and it's screen size is not one of the main one's. I guarantee you the inevitable bigger sized iPhone 5 will sell just as well if not better. Unless of course by that time Android and Windows eat more of Apple's market share.


I'm actually feeling happy at how pleasantly surprised all of you are going to be when you start using a phone with a bigger screen.

This happens with most Apple products. Screen resolution, camera, flash (light), video recording, MMS, camera quality, multi tasking etc etc. There's always those who defend the lack of certain things vehemently until it gets added and then suddenly they love it or couldn't do without it. My guess is in the grand scheme of things, very few people will be disappointed with a larger screened iPhone 5, and the vast majority will prefer it.
 
Or maybe, just maybe, they're buying an iPhone because it fit their needs in a way that an Android wouldn't so they're stuck with a phone with a smaller screen.

Considering Android and iOS are essentially at feature parity, probably Android ahead, I find this a bit hard to believe. But sure, I suppose it's possible.
 
Considering Android and iOS are essentially at feature parity, probably Android ahead, I find this a bit hard to believe. But sure, I suppose it's possible.

Well Android is certainly behind in its integration of itunes...
jokes aside, when you look at the Android market, you see that the screen size is actually pretty important and considering that as you said they're at feature parity it wouldn't surprise me if the same happened on iOS (bigger screen = bigger sales).
It worked for tv after all.
 
I love how Android guys try and make it seem like using a 4+ inch screen phone is some sort of revelatory experience.

Truly, it is not.

You're saying that, and yet even Apple is making a 4" phone so people at Apple too think that using a 4" phone is a good idea. What's the problem? Do you really think that people will hate having a 4" iPhone? Do you think that it's going to really be a bust and that the majority of people will still prefer the tiny 3.5" once they get used to the 4" one?
 
I'm actually feeling happy at how pleasantly surprised all of you are going to be when you start using a phone with a bigger screen.
lol. I used a 4.3" HTC for months before the iPhone and I can honestly say I don't give a shit. I'm ok with bigger screens (4.3" is my limit though), I just don't want it to look like those vertically prolonged mockups.
 
Well Android is certainly behind in its integration of itunes...
jokes aside, when you look at the Android market, you see that the screen size is actually pretty important and considering that as you said they're at feature parity it wouldn't surprise me if the same happened on iOS (bigger screen = bigger sales).
It worked for tv after all.

Right, when you look at the Android market. But iPhones all have the same sized screens, so if you want a bigger phone you have to buy an Android (or a Lumia 900). I'm not denying that for some people, the big screen is important. But when you consider that the three best selling smartphones (my bad saying phones earlier) all have smaller screens than the Android big boys, and one of those phones is three years old, I think that the argument that 'well the market definitely wants this' somewhat breaks down. Seems like a good chunk of the market is perfectly okay with 3.5".
 
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