“Apple is planning the release of two iPhones in 2013 that are likely to be sized 4-inch and feature in-cell technology, according to industry sources,” Siu Han and Alex Wolfgram report for DigiTimes.
“Previously it was said that Apple would release a lower-cost version of its iPhone with a bigger screen in 2013,” Han and Wolfgram report. “But the sources claimed that Apple is indeed developing an iPhone with a bigger screen, but that will not be among the models to be lancuhed this year.”
Han and Wolfgram report, “However, the sources noted it is still yet to be determined if Apple will have adequate supply of in-cell touch panels in 2013 for a lower-cost version of the iPhone due to mass production issues…”
Read more in the full article here.
Related article:
4.8-inch ‘iPhone Math’ may be one of three new Apple smartphones to launch along with ‘iTV’ this year – January 21, 2013
How many of you anti-phablet clowns will be singing a different tune when that big ass iPhone drops?
Of course there will be some minor difference that enables the anti-phableters to save face, telling us that Apple addressed their fears because the screen is slightly smaller than the Galaxy Note or some crap so it’s not quite the same. But we all know the deal: Apple will release it, it’ll take off, you’ll love it and deny that you were ever against the idea.
Ouch! Nicely done. Hey, remember, there was going to be no iPad mini either. And it seems to be doing quite nicely now. Isn’t that right DC?
Jobs era: apple led the competition. . iPhone, iPad.
Post Jobs era: apple follows the competition. iPad mini, phablet.
Sad, but true.
Actually no one could equally argue that with
Jobs death Apple is now belatedly producing products that he wasn’t keen on. Depends on how you view it in the end.
Wasn’t DC (Derek Curie) supposed to do some mea culpa thingie if there was an iPad mini released? Did I miss it or something?
No. While that may be true for some, not for all like me. I value the real estate in my pocket and need a slim phone. The iPad handles everything else and FAR and away better than any pint sized “phablet”. The race for larger smart phones is a dead end unless you like the idea of balancing a 27″ smart phone on your shoulder. What will happen though is iPads and tablets will probably eventually get cell phone capability but will never overtake a simple pocketable phone. We used to value miniature devices, now some can’t wait until we make them boat-sized.
Well, there are the “anti-phablets” people who just don’t like the size, and then there are the people who survey the current market space and observe how existing phablet makers are struggling to penetrate 3% of the Android market segment.
The point is, for one reason or another, “phablets” are simply not selling at all. The phone size allows for less intricate design (more space for hardware), which translates into simpler manufacturing, therefore less expensive manufacturing. This allows makers to price them more competitively (i.e. same features for less money, same money with better features, compared to others in the category with smaller size). Yet, “phablets” are no more than the fringe of the current Android market (a few million units out of several hundred million devices).
We don’t know whether Apple really wants to pursue this segment. Should they decide to do so, it will likely be a result of a finding that the current makers are doing phablets all wrong, which would be the reason for their market failure. In other words, if someone had done a phablet right, presumably, it would have been much more popular. And if Apple did make a phablet, it may well end up being popular.
However, I’m still not quite certain whether the reason for such popularity (just as the reason for the iPad mini’s popularity) is the actual demand in the market for such sized devices (a shrunken tablet, an oversized phone). A good part of Mini’s popularity is in the brand. If someone wants an iPad, and can’t afford $500, they’ll buy a mini, even though the size is awkward. Besides, it is an Apple product, and the company has far larger loyal customer base (fiercely loyal, I might add) than ANY other company in the world. Many of those customers will be happy to buy ANYTHING Apple makes (including G4 Cube, which came out 13 years ago, when Apple had a minuscule customer base, compared to today).
I would be quite surprised if Apple decided to launch a big iPhone. Let us not forget; phablets have so far been practically the exclusive territory of men (and geeky ones at that); Apple’s market is equally female. Women tend to have smaller hands than men (on average), and iPhone 5 is pretty much the extent of size to which they’d be comfortable seeing an iPhone grow. We’ll have to wait and see.
Perhaps we have different takes on what constitutes a phablet. I consider the Galaxy S3 and any other smartphone in that 4.7″ or above range to be phablet territory. Should Apple release a rumored 4.8-4.9″ iPhone then that’s a phablet in my book. It doesn’t have to necessarily be 5″.
Now my personal preference would be an iPhone that’s about 4.3″, but if I know Apple there’s no way they’ll have four different screen sizes on the market. So if it’s a choice between a 4″ iPhone and one that’s 4.8″, then I’ll gladly take the iPhone Max.
Oy! I loved my G4 Cube!
Regardless of whether Apple ships a 5″ class “phablet” or not, I won’t ever get one.
I love the fact that the iPhone 5 can fit into my shirt pocket without significantly dragging it down. It does everything I need to do that does not require a full tablet (e.g., Gen 4 iPad). I have no need for a 7.x inch mini tablet, though I’m sure many people do.
For me (and everyone else I know, though that’s a specific subset of the Apple market) the progression goes like this.
4″ iPhone
10″ iPad
15″ retina laptop
Mac Pro with a pair of 30″ displays.
I would be fine with a slightly wider iPhone (think another column of icons rather than another row) as long as they make the device thinner.
Although the iPods don’t get a lot of attention these days, I think that the new Touch and Nano are some of the finest devices Apple has ever made. I could see an Internet-enabled Nano as the low cost iPhone of the future. If they work on making the iPhone even thinner, they could make a wider version with the shape of the Touch as a large screen iPhone.
These screens may be for something else these short sighted clowns can’t imagine. Maybe remotes / gaming devices for the new Apple TV this year. Maybe these devices are being designed to be installed into the car dash board and behind the head sets in cars. Maybe they get paid to type anything they want and they have know idea what Apple is doing next!
Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed the sheer amount of unsubstantiated speculative garbage printed regarding Apple?
I think sites such as MDN could serve their readers much better, by being more selective and refusing to run articles that only quote “sources”.
Do some investigation MDN. The more I visit this website, the more I realise it’s full of mindless regurgitation.
Haha, you assume they are not click whores.
Yes also outright lies about Apple, techtards rewriting tech history to suit their agenda ends, claims that Apple outright copied (though from where they can never say or deal with the fact that Apple mobile devices look like nothing that came before it), misinterpreting the Picasso quote about “great artists steal” in their minds as “copying”, not realizing the influence Apple has had on their dark side choices, saying Apple ripped off Xerox, etc.. I wish there was an acknowledged clearing house on tech history truth you could refer these jerks to they could not refute and shut them down in a hurry. It’s a tiresome disingenuous game with the clueless Fandroid agenda driven that reminds me of those types who deny the Holocaust ever happened to suit THEIR agenda’s.
Apple already produces 4″ iPhone with in-cell touch — it is called “iPhone 5”.
So this is just another nonsense from DigiTimes tabloid.
I for one want a larger iPad, 11.7″ I guess. Hopefullly this will be the rumored ipad that’s coming in the spring. And it will weigh less than iPad 4 🙂