“App developers need to be poised for a redesign because Apple’s iPhone is getting bigger,” Angela Meng reports for The South China Post. “The tech giant will roll out the iPhone 6 in two sizes – 4.7 inch and 5.5 inch – in September, according to industry insiders who have seen the prototypes. The new iPhone screen will be made entirely from scratch-resistant sapphire crystal glass, they said. Sapphire crystal, second to diamond as the hardest material, is now used by Apple for its iPhone camera lens cover and touch identification.”
“It will also sport a new display at 441 pixels per inch,” Meng reports. “‘They have to tackle the phablet [devices that serve as both phone and tablet] market. People want bigger screens now,’ one insider said. The iPhone 5S, Apple’s largest phone at 4 inches, is notably smaller than the S4, which measures 5 inches, and the Galaxy Note 3, with a 5.7 inch screen… According to the two insiders, the 5C will be gone while the 5S will stay but be made from cheaper material.”
“Despite widely circulated rumours that the new phone will be curved, insiders say the iPhone 6 will have a flat screen,” Meng reports. “The design ‘freeze’ for the iPhone 6 – after which no changes will be made – is set for April this year, they said.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Attribution: MacRUmors. Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Lynn Weiler” for the heads up.]
I think “scratch resistant” is a very moot point these days. I haven’t seen *any* scratched screens in years (the last was actually my 3GS, after it landed front-down onto gravel). *Cracked* screens from impact damage is a totally different story. Prove to me it can withstand 99.9% of standing-height drops at all major fracture-inducing impact angles onto concrete or granite tile surfaces, then I’ll consider going without case or screen guard, because I’m not risking easily-prevented damage to my $700+ mobile computer otherwise.
What are you talking about? Every iPhone screen scratches up, even the 5s. You’re just better at keeping your pockets empty.
My 3GS, for half a year before I got a 4S, had no screen-protector and was always in a pocket with my keys when I was out. The only damage it ever sustained was due to a drop onto gravel.
Dozens of friends who don’t use screen protection also carry their phone in the same pocket as keys, or in purses with keys and other stuff. Like I said I’ve not seen scratches on iPhone screens in literally years. I’m sure it still happens to some, but it’s well within acceptable tolerances now, wheras cracked/shattered screens are not.
“Imsiders” Ha! Just a different word for know nothing, speculating “analyst”.
Those sources are complete joke. You can see it by imbecile suggestion that Apple will drop the most popular smartphone size in the world — 4″.
One could argue consumers want iPhones regardless of screen size If size was the most important purchase decision consumers would be speaking with their wallet. The fact remains that with each new iPhone new sales records are set.
If/when Apple introduces a larger iPhone it will sell in record numbers and I am sure all these “analyst” will say we told you so. Then will come the quarterly earning showing smaller margins do to the higher cost of the larger device and the stock will tank. Absolute dollars profit will continue to rise and record profits will be reported.
I think there is no doubt that Apple will release bigger phone (though not instead of normal, in addition to).
Complete and utter crap.
Key Statement in Article: ” ‘The screens will be flat. Apple doesn’t do anything until Samsung does it, and then they improve upon it,’ another insider said.”
It’s the other way around, which means this is truly a samsung piece that they have planted.
I wonder why Apple does not convert the iPad mini into a smartphone.
I’m only interested in finding out if those new models can increase iPhone sales by at least 10%. I’m even more curious about what investors will ask for next from Apple when they do offer those larger display sizes.
Although I believe Apple should offer more than one display size choice in iPhones, I still have to wonder if those larger display sizes are driven more by availability rather than by actual demand. I think Apple should ask customers if they would like larger displays on their iPhones to get a handle on whether there is high consumer demand as widely claimed by analysts and tech pundits.
I believe that analysts make up and print crap like this just so they can manipulate the share value when Apple doesn’t release these products “as expected.”
Every single poster here will buy a bigger phone. Even if you are dirt poor, you are getting one. You won’t be able to resist.
Perhaps. And if the other 99% of consumers acts similarly to this purely representative sample, we are in solid.
[devices that serve as both phone and tablet] = BS!
The next iPhone’s will have a 4.5 and 5.4″ screens, no way, it will be 4.6 and 5.5″, no wait, it will be 4.5 or 4.6 or 4,7 or 4.8 or 5.0 (need to skip 4.9, to close to 5) etc etc etc, blah blah blah
I don’t think we’ll see larger screens this year. My statement is based on a recent WSJ interview with Tim Cook.
“WSJ: People want a bigger screen iPhone. Are you against that?”
“Cook: What we’ve said is that until the technology is ready, we don’t want to cross that line. That doesn’t say we’ll never do it. We want to give our customers what’s right in all respects – not just the size but in the resolution, in the clarity, in the contrast, in the reliability. There are many different parameters to measure a display and we care about all those, because we know that’s the window to the software.”
Let’s break this down:
“What we’ve said is that until the technology is ready, we don’t want to cross that line.”
I feel that sentence would have been much different if the technology was ready and Apple were planning on a larger iPhone screen this year.
“That doesn’t say we’ll never do it.”
I feel that statement wouldn’t have been made at all if Apple were planning on a larger iPhone screen this year. That sentence is saying “don’t give up hope, we will likely do this at some point”.
“We want to give our customers what’s right in all respects – not just the size but in the resolution, in the clarity, in the contrast, in the reliability.”
That sentence is telling me “we’re not quite ready for it yet”.
And, finally: How long did it take for us to see the first instance of a larger iPhone screen while other manufacturers were already making them? The HTC Evo 4G launched on June 4, 2010 with a 4.3 inch screen. The iPhone 5 was the first instance of a larger iPhone screen and it wasn’t released until September 21, 2012. I really don’t think Apple is going to make another similar change this soon.