“Apple’s upcoming 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 smartphones won’t simply be copies of each other when it comes to hardware, a new report from highly informed KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo (via 9to5Mac and AppleInsider) indicates,” Chris Smith reports for BGR. “The iPhone 6 phablet will have certain differentiating features, supposedly including a better camera. The 5.5-inch model is expected to have a camera with optical image stabilization (OIS), while the smaller 4.7-inch iPhone 6 is said to be equipped with an improved camera that lacks OIS.”
Smith reports, “‘[We] predict it will use a middle-mount type of open-loop [voice coil motor (VCM)] updated from the one used in the existing iPhone 5S,’ wrote Kuo, who has been accurate in previous forecasts detailing unreleased Apple products. ‘The 5.5-inch iPhone 6 is more likely to be equipped with OIS VCM due to lower estimated shipments and the need for more product features to differentiate itself from the 4.7-inch iPhone 6.'”
Read more in the full article here.
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If this is true, I think it’s ridiculous. People may be willing to spend more for a better camera, but in the case of a phone, bigger is not always better. Personally I like the 4-inch phone, but I’m willing to go to a 4.7. There’s no way I would want to use the 5.5-inch behemoth that won’t even fit in my pants pocket. Why should I not have the option to get the better camera?
Better cameras tend to be bigger – more space for optics hardware, and a bigger display to see what you are doing. Nothing ridiculous about that.
You can’t expect a good telephoto camera or DSLR camera to fit in your pocket – why would an iPhone be magically different?
You’re absolutely right that DSLR’s do not fit into your pocket, but that’s because the size of the camera is needed for the increase in quality.
If Apple needs the 5.5″ footprint to provide the increased quality, then so be it, but I think you and I both know this isn’t the case. It’s simply them trying to up-sell me to a size that I don’t want just because I want a better camera.
Of course, I take all my comments back if the rumor isn’t true 🙂
This rumor is about adding an optical image stabilizer to the larger iPhone – I don’t know how big that hardware will be, but it’s definitely bigger than a software image stabilizer and there’s ain’t much space available inside iPhones. Light sensors, the most important part of a digital camera take up space proportionally to how much light they can connect.
Rumor or not, an iPhone’s camera is still subject to the laws of optical physics, so there’s only so far quality can improve without making the optical hardware bigger.
This is not true at all.
iPhones with 4.7″/5.5″ sizes will be thinner than regular-sized 4″ models: 7 mm (or less for 5.5″) versus 7.6 mm.
The best camera can only fit into updated version of regular 4″ iPhone due to more thickness.
Bigger iPhones will have good cameras, but worse than regular iPhone.
You dont have to worry about a 5.5″ phone fitting in your pocket, it goes in easily and does not move around so much, so you forget its there. If the iPhone 6 is designed right and IOS is optimised for a larger screen you can use it one handed too. The benefits of the larger screen are massive once you get used to it, you will wonder why you ever prefered a much smaller screen.
I wholeheartedly agree. I am a man who doesn’t want to take a bag everywhere I go and regular sized pockets, which I believe to be true of the majority of men, in the Western world at least. So a phone with a screen bigger than four inches is just a pain. I will have to stretch my trousers out of shape, have it permanently in my hand or take a bag with me especially for it. I understand why owners of bigger phones refute this: it would make them look silly. But I can’t believe some serious compromises don’t have to be made. Honestly, I can’t really see the need for it, either, functionality-wise.
I totally agree. I use my iPhone as a camera ALL THE TIME. It’s great to have a good camera with me whenever I need it. It’s one of the great things about an iPhone. I expect the 4.7 in phone will be the big seller and it’s the one I will upgrade to. I won’t buy a 5.5 slab to get a better camera. I have no problem with the concept of differentiating the two models, but I can’t think of any rational reason for clustering features which includes a better camera in the bigger model. Time will tell if I am right after (and if) these two models come to market as to which one is most often used as a camera. To me, it makes sense to put the better features into the one people use the most, where the camera isn’t just an “add on” feature.
Have y’all considered that the OIS hardware may just not fit in the smaller handset?
As long as it does’t have the huge circular protrusion the other lagger behinders have. And please, no leather steering wheel look and feel to camouflage the cheap plastic-edness.
I’m afraid they may set the 5.5-inch version as a premium model with better hardware and a higher price tag. Which I personally would find disappointing. I’d definitely pay an extra $100 for better hardware and a sapphire-coated display, but I don’t want the 5.5-inch model.
It will be storage space I think, 128 gig iPads and 128 gig for the bigger iPhone only.
These analysts just want their names to appear everywhere, they don’t even seem to care whether they are completely wrong. I think they’d do themselves a favor if they just stopped making themselves look foolish by being perpetually wrong.
They would certainly be doing *us* a favor, anyway!
the best camera is the one you have with you. if the 5.5″ iphone doesn’t fit in your pocket easily then it isn’t any different than the dslr you left at home.
I still think the 5.5 will be an iPad nano. If not I hope they don’t call both iPhone 6. That will get confusing, like Samsung naming of phones.
This is conjecture at this point yet people are treating it as fact.
I want the 5.5 inch anyway though. It will change how I use my iPhone and iPad.
A 5.5″ phone will certainly change how you use your iPhone and iPad. It will make both redundant.
I just can’t see myself using the 5.5-inch version. There’s something to be said for having the ability to subtly check your phone, and with a 5.5-inch behemoth, that’s impossible. There’s no way to be subtle on a phone that big. I don’t want everybody at the club seeing what I’m doing on my giant phone.
No OIS in smaller phone is a deal breaker. I’ll be damned if I’m getting a. 5.5 just to get a better camera. Might be time to get a android after all.
Buh bye.
Buh bye.
The only reason I’m still not entirely convinced by these mockups are because of how similar they are to the iPod touches’ current design. I generally believe that Apple leads with the iPhone and follows with other products. I don’t see them reverting the iPhone to a design that has been in use already for some time in a lower end product line.
As for the camera technology. it’s a shame if they indeed differentiate the two. The only factor in deciding what phone to purchase should be screen size and storage capacity.
I like being able to slip my phone into my pockets without having to wear cargo pants. The 4.7 screen might be OK but the 5.5 is just too much for me, plus I’m not half blind. Maybe when I become an octogenarian I will need a 5.5″ screen.