WSJ: Apple to increase iPhone screen size to 'at least' 4-inches
- Thread starter Good Job Bob
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Lord Error
Insane For Sony
Yeah, I'm hoping for a thinner bezel at least, but so far they've been consistent in that sense between the two product lines.
Lord Error
Insane For Sony
Yeah, I'm looking forward to it as much as I'm not looking forward to using this thing.
That is only true if you compare an x" 3:2 screen with an x" 16:9 screen. The closer to a square you are, the larger the area is. People complain that thumbs wont reach with larger screens, and keeping the same width is how to avoid that problem. If they keep the same keyboard height (which as I've explained before, I think they should) then you see more content than from a 3.5" screen but less than if you had a 4" 3:2 screen.
Treefingers
Member
This is what I was worried about. To me this looks way too long with the added space on the top & bottom.Pretty much confirmed really. iPod touch parts.
CrunchinJelly
formerly cjelly
At least it'd work for more than 6 months, unlike the current Home buttons. Seriously, Apple must get enough returns for that reason that they should at least investigate other options for the Home button.
After playing around with my iPhone screen again, I think the taller screen will have a negative impact on one handed use for most people. Damn, not too happy with this change now. 3.5" is really ideal :/
90% of the time I (now this is just me, not an indication of whatever everyone else does) I use the phone in portrait mode. On my GNex, with software buttons and keyboard and suggestion bar above keyboard, I still have 50% of screen free to display content.
Lord Error
Insane For Sony
I'm not sure if this is what you've been addressing of what I've said, but with full page width in landscape mode, there's no way you'll see more content. What you see will be larger, but you'll see (much) less of it. I use landscape a lot for web browsing on the phone, so that's one drawback for me. I suppose they can alleviate this by adding an extra zoom mode for landscape that just has everything letterboxed, which would be kinda funny but actually more usable. Sigh, I just wish they increased the damn thing proportionally.
You've waited this long, I'd wait a few more months. You'll be wanting the next one when it comes out, and you'd be able to sell your 4S, but you'll come out a couple hundred dollars in the red, still. I have that itch now that my phone is approaching 2 years old, but still holding out for this next one.
Most apps and webapps depend on a scrolling page system to viewing content. Usually there is a row of menu buttons on top or on the bottom, and the rest scrolls up and down. Having larger real estate makes all those apps all the more usable considering those menu buttons already take up a large percentage of the screen.
I don't understand this attitude against more vertical real estate. There are a large amount of browsers that have features to hide the search bar/tab bar, all in the effort to get more screen space for the actual web pages. More vertical screen space does the exact same thing.
I've already posted this, but I think the biggest deal is that when using the keyboard in portrait mode (aka what people use 90% of the time), there's a lot more viewable space above it.
But isn't this just a fact about the area of the screen, and the fact that using half of the physical surface area for buttons is actually usable, rather than the aspect ratio?
I mean, if the screen were the same width (in landscape) but 3:2 you'd see even more of the content.
You mean the browsers that have to hide the search/tab bars because vertical screen space is a premium on...widescreens?
The apps one I can sort of see the benefit, I guess. But I'd personally rather have better legibility (i.e. larger size) of edge to edge text than just not have to scroll up and down quite as much. But I guess that's personal taste.
Ah okay, you could also consider it that way. I automatically assumed (and I could be incorrect here actually) that the font/icon/ui element size will remain the same size since the width of portrait mode is to remain the same size. So if you switch over to landscape, with the same font size, you'll get 176px of extra space on the side to put text. If they do in fact make everything larger, then yes, you will be correct.
yeah, absolutely. I know it'll be more cumbersome for me.
man... could this be the year I finally skip an iphone revision? I went out and got unlocked phones in previous years while I was in a 3 year contract but now I'm not convinced the new form factor will be a clear, obvious improvement. it would need to be friggin paper thin for me to do it.
Lord Error
Insane For Sony
Not UI elements, but web page content already often becomes larger when you switch from portrait to landscape on iphone. For pages that are formatted to take full screen width that's what happens at least - pages remain full width in landscape mode as well, and the content (text, images) size increases. I like this a lot because it makes it possible to have larger content on a smaller device when you need it, and still have content be perfectly readable/usable in terms of height.
I'm pretty sure apple designers are not oblivious to this either, I kinda expect there to be a letterboxed zoom level in landscape mode now....
NYR
Member
But that is just it though - you've limited yourself by locking yourself to those limits set by iOS. No chance to try anything new, without an entire infrastructure change. They'll always be limited in their choices. Android can use multiple resolutions and sizes.
Personally, I want a bigger, wider, borderless/edgeless screen with some feedback. Home Button should be gone, captive button. Mic and front camera aligned centered. Love the +/- buttons on the iPhone 4, so keep those and the switch.
Obviously form factor isn't the only consideration or you wouldn't have made the jump from 3G->3GS and 4->4GS. I expect even Good Job Bob to be purchasing the next iPhone on day one for whatever software feature Apple is artificially making available only on the new model.
Unless Apple is following a tick-tock model of development and the hardware revision is going to be the main feature this year.
Ive and Jobs experimented with 16:9 but decided to go with 4:3.
I doubt it'll happen with the iPad.
Maybe I'm just being dense, but would scaling old apps to a larger screen if it had very high PPI even be a huge deal? It would be a bit blurry, yes, but they already decided that it was fine to have big blocky pixellated upscaling with 3GS->4 and iPhone->iPad.
Lord Error
Insane For Sony
There's absolutely nothing to be gained by replacing a physical home button with a touch button. If they do it, they'd need to make the button area not just touch sensitive, but pressure sensitive too, so that you could do button clicks without lifting your thumb up from there (I really hate this with all the phones that have touch buttons there). They'd also need to make it haptic so that you can find it just by sliding your finger across the surface without ever having to look for where it's located. All that for what reason exactly? Physical button solves those problems at a fraction of the cost and just plain works and feels better.
no, it wasn't but each iphone revision never felt like a clear step backwards in usability.
you could make a case that iphone 4 was less comfy in the hand than the curved 3GS, but it made up for it by being easier to hold for pictures, games, etc. (4S was a contract HUP, so it was a no brainer for me)
but, in this new case, the longscreen is really putting me off. the way I hold my phone 90% of the time, I know that the taller screen is going to be annoying. so, yeah, I'm thinking this year I may save my money and see how it plays out.
Unless iOS 6 completely changes the way apps work altogether and there's no longer navigation bars on top (which would be a huge shock to everyone, really).
Lord Error
Insane For Sony
There's absolutely nothing to be gained by replacing a physical home button with a touch button. If they do it, they'd need to make the button area not just touch sensitive, but pressure sensitive too, so that you could do button clicks without lifting your thumb up from there (I really hate this with all the phones that have touch buttons there). They'd also need to make it haptic so that you can find it just by sliding your finger across the surface without ever having to look for where it's located (and no, not the terrible whole-phone-vibrates haptic feedback). All that for what reason exactly? Physical button solves those problems at a fraction of the cost and just plain works better.
That depends a lot on the website though. I actually don't have an iPhone at hand but I can show you that with mine on, say, MobileGAF the font/image sizes all remain the same:
Yes it's true, you get more area. It all depends on the overall design actually. If they keep the height of they keyboard the same size (in terms of inches/cm not pixels or relative pixels) then the aformentioned example is rendered moot.
Agreed, I prefer the tactile feedback of a proper home button. Really dislike capacitive buttons.
Lord Error
Insane For Sony
Images don't remain the same for sure. I'm just looking at diablo 3 thread on mobile gaf now, and the images extend to full width in landscape mode, making them much larger and better to see.
Deadly Cyclone
Pride of Iowa State
Looks like my Droid X's design. I guess it will be an easy switch for me. The Droid X screen is 4.3" and more long than wide.
So it stops bloody breaking all the time?
Lord Error
Insane For Sony
When mine started breaking, Apple replaced the whole phone free of charge. I'd much rather deal with that minimal hassle once every two years or so, than having something that annoys me every single time I use it. Besides, the better solution would be making more airtight physical button, so dust can't get in, rather than replacing it with something that has worse usability.
Did we already forget this?:Pretty much confirmed really. iPod touch parts.
http://www.macrumors.com/2012/05/22...ller-ipod-touch-front-panel-iphone-5-cameras/
That was true 4" 3:2. Among other parts leaked... who knows, that might just be the iPod, or just one type they're going with.
You are right. My mistake.
You guys really like the hyperbole. This is not universally true in the slightest.
When I had my 3.7" high-re wide screen Droid 1 and the 3.5" low-re iPhone 3GS at the same time, the iPhone screen was more conformtable to view webpages with. Both were running Opera Mini.
With the Droid, you either bring the screen closer to view the text, and feel that your peripheral vision can't see the bottom of the screeen; or you push the screen away and you feel your can't read the web text clearly.
That's why I pick Galaxy Note over the Galaxy Nexus. Widescreen is shit.
With the Droid, you either bring the screen closer to view the text, and feel that your peripheral vision can't see the bottom of the screeen; or you push the screen away and you feel your can't read the web text clearly.
That's why I pick Galaxy Note over the Galaxy Nexus. Widescreen is shit.
Lord Error
Insane For Sony
They would need to make it pressure sensitive and haptic, and not by utilizing vibration either. Well, I guess they don't have to make it haptic, they can just have an oval dent in the glass where the button is, that's how you'd know where to find it. It still feels nicer when you press it, and the button gives in though.
How do people hold their phones? I keep seeing this comment.
my brother has a samsung galaxy s2 and runs into the same problem with the touch buttons on the bottom of the phone.
Lord Error
Insane For Sony
On iphone I like having a thumb in the resting position over the home button many times I use it, because why not really. You use it for audio controls, multitask etc.
You're right, hundred is probably abetter number. But what benefits does this really bring to the table with an extra 176 pixels vertically? That's it? That's what they'll tout as 'revolutionary 4 inch screen'? Meanwhile, without getting any real improvements with that slight elongation, what it will do is fuck with developers anew. And for no real good reason. If it was a 3:2 4", the size increase would actually be beneficial to develop for.
it's not terrible, but 3G is really slow and it drops a bunch of calls. the main reason is that my work got a Verizon discount so it would work out to cost about the same as ATT (when it used to be like $15 more a month)
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