[D.Lo]

What will hardcore Apple fans do if the new screen is 4.1"? Eat crow or stick with old 4S? Or come up with new theory why the new iOS is designed for larger screen?

I hope if they do this kind of thing they branch it off as an option, and keep the 3.5" as well. Seems like how they do things too, they did it with iPods and the most recent laptop lines, and seems there might be an 8" ipad coming.

If you feel that the current 3.5" screen is perfect, why are you afraid that the new iPhone will be bigger? Do you absolutely need to buy the latest model? Why not just stick with the (then) old model?

It is getting such that there are diminishing returns, so yes. 3G to 3GS was a huge jump, 3GS to 4 too, but 4 to 4S wasn't anything much at all, apart from HSPA+.

[Tobor]

You said that letterboxing would solve your problem... *i'm confused* *shrug* carry-on

Older apps that aren't updated will run with no scaling. That's all I was getting at.

[Kung Fu Jedi]

If you feel that the current 3.5" screen is perfect, why are you afraid that the new iPhone will be bigger? Do you absolutely need to buy the latest model? Why not just stick with the (then) old model?

Won't most phone owners want to upgrade at some point? I don't buy a new iPhone every year, but I do usually get a new one when my contract is up. That means at some point I'll be forced to buy a 4" screen model.

Of course, I'm not exactly worried about it. I'll wait to see if this rumor is true first and then see how Apple implements the larger screen. I'm personally not against it being larger as long as the overall form factor doesn't change dramatically.

[SmokyDave]

If you feel that the current 3.5" screen is perfect, why are you afraid that the new iPhone will be bigger? Do you absolutely need to buy the latest model? Why not just stick with the (then) old model?

Because eventually the internal hardware will be outdated and your OS / games will take a hit.

It's not so much the screen that's perfect, it's the overall package. Changing the screen will affect the overall package.

[demon]

I'm looking to replace my Droid soon and the screen size is the biggest thing keeping me from getting an iPhone. A 4 inch screen would be real nice.

[Dapperk]

How awesome would it be if the rumored smaller iPad was actually an iPhone. I'd have one just so I could pull it out Crocodile Dundee style. "that's not a phone..."

[dark10x]

I wouldn't have thought that a larger screen would be better, but having seen my friend's Galaxy Note... do want.

OK, a larger screen is nice, but THAT large? The Note is positively gargantuan! I can't imagine carrying that thing around all the time.

[CrankyJay]

I'm in...just gotta convince my wife she needs a new one as well so we can switch from AT&T back to Verizon for LTE (I'm assuming this will have LTE).

[rollingstart]

A hesitation I had moving to the the iphone (4s) from my olde phone from the pastworld of 2006 was how much larger the iphone was. After an hour I stopped noticing and only the weight difference felt like an adjustment. The case I use makes the 4s even better. So I think a phone that's a little bit bigger isn't going to be a problem after the introduction, when the benefits of a larger screen will be more present day to day. The 3.5 inch screen does feel cramped and at times limiting.

I'm not one to upgrade with every iteration, but I'd like it if Apple adds a larger screen option for when I get my next phone in a year or two.

[Kosmo]

How awesome would it be if the rumored smaller iPad was actually an iPhone. I'd have one just so I could pull it out Crocodile Dundee style. "that's not a phone..."

I could see this - moving on (however small it is) the Galaxy Note space. Make a 7" iPad and build in phone capability, which should add negligible cost.

[Tobor]

How awesome would it be if the rumored smaller iPad was actually an iPhone. I'd have one just so I could pull it out Crocodile Dundee style. "that's not a phone..."

I would recommend selling all Apple Stock immediately if this happened.

[Cheech]

Maybe if it was edge to edge..

The issue is muscle memory. I was able to transition from a Blackberry to an iPhone precisely because the keyboard was roughly the same. Not sure what widening the keyboard would do to me.

That said, half an inch is really nothing. Seriously, break out a ruler. If they made the screen edge to edge and decreased the phone's thickness, I don't think it would be a big deal.

[kinggroin]

I don't see what makes it ludicrous. When I hold an iPhone in my right hand, my thumb just reaches the far upper left edge of the screen. With a 4" or 4.5" screen, that move would become progressively more awkward. Might not be a big deal for Android that has that system back button in the lower left, but iOS is built around the upper left zone for navigating backwards. A bigger screen makes it harder to tap that zone.

ICS actually handles "back" differently now. Icon of the app is always present in the top left corner to move back one level in the hierarchy within the app (like ios).

The back "button" now takes you to the previous operation (like going back to the YouTube app from messenger).

When it works, its a navigational godsend. When it doesn't , there's no telling where the back button will feel like sending you.

[chrislowe]

"Steve Jobs was famously adamant that the iPhone’s 3.5-inch display was the right size, but if the consumer consensus continues to believe that bigger is better, Apple will have to comply – something that an Apple under Tim Cook might not have so much of a problem doing"

http://www.electricpig.co.uk/2012/03...the-galaxy-s3/

And ive read from more sources that he have claimed the same thing. 3.5" is the right size.
Myself, i want to see a IPhone with a 5" screen!. Then i can sell my ipad, and only use my phone :-)

[ElFly]

But Jobs always said that 3.5" is the perfect size...

Jobs also said that PowerPC was better than x86.

[macuser1of5]

Jobs also said that PowerPC was better than x86.

It was!

under specific lab conditions

[alysonwheel]

I've always been confused when people say they can hold their iPhone in one hand and reach almost the entire screen with their thumb; whenever I tried it it seemed like the expanse of bezel at the bottom (with the home button on) was in the way. Then I saw the illustration on the first page and realised I've been holding my iPod and Android phone wrong for years.

[kinggroin]

I wonder if they'll bump the resolution to 720p.

If you mean 1280x720p, probably not. I don't for see a 16x9 idevice anytime soon.

[Divvy]

Didn't we have this thread already?

Like twenty times?

[Tobor]

Didn't we have this thread already? Like twenty times?

It will be fifty times before October when the phone is released.

[Davidion]

...good? I never understood the "problem" with a slightly bigger screen size, unless you have some strange hand deformity.

ICS actually handles "back" differently now. Icon of the app is always present in the top left corner to move back one level in the hierarchy within the app (like ios). The back "button" now takes you to the previous operation (like going back to the YouTube app from messenger). When it works, its a navigational godsend. When it doesn't , there's no telling where the back button will feel like sending you.

Are you FUCKING kidding me? Goddammit google...

[Angst]

Are you FUCKING kidding me? Goddammit google...

It's like magic, you never know what's going to happen next :P

I still haven't figured out how the back button works in ICS...

[chrislowe]

Jobs also said that PowerPC was better than x86.

when I was a programmer, i remember that Motorolas cpu was actually better. They way that the registers worked was like heaven compared to the x86 just to say one thing.
But its not always the best tech that wins.

[kinggroin]

The market can't have spoken when the top selling smartphones are dominated by 3.5 inch screen phones. That doesn't make any sense.

They aren't necessarily dominating BECAUSE they are 3.5" though.

You'd also have to prove the same for the bigger screen androids.

In any event, it doesn't mean the market has spoken in regards to screen size and iPhones. I sure keeping it at 3.5" and adding a ton of wanted software features and bumping the hardware would still make it the best selling smartphone.

[Brettison]

Key to remember here is just because they are supposedly ditching the 3.5" size doesn't mean it's going to be ZOMG huge. There is IMO a happy medium between the small iPhone 3.5" screen and the Galaxy Nexus or One X being 4.7".

I personally think 4" in the perfect give and take size wise in that it's a little bit larger than all of the sub 4" phones you get a tad bit of extra usable screen space for displaying as well as a larger touch area. Yet at the same time you don't get into the area that's north of the 4.3" screens where it's sooo big it can be hard to maneuver depending on your hands and/or how you normal hold and use a smartphone. Plus a 4" phone that's almost bezelless really isn't THAT much bigger than the current iPhone form fact. It just makes more of the front of the phone the screen verses other stuff.

[gcubed]

i hope its not "larger" then 4 inches. 4 would be perfect. 3.5" is perfect for children and carnies.

[Greyface]

I would recommend selling all Apple Stock immediately if this happened.

... the 9.7" iPad already does messages and (video) calls out of the box.

[Brettison]

I could see this - moving on (however small it is) the Galaxy Note space. Make a 7" iPad and build in phone capability, which should add negligible cost.

Fuck I know people made fun of the Dell Streak when it came out, but considering I normally use my phone to text verses call I can deal with my phone being big ass when I have to call someone on it. I'd be down.

[Tobor]

... the 9.7" iPad already does messages and (video) calls out of the box.

But it's not sold as a phone, called the iPhone. He's talking about a 7" iPhone.

[Dynamite Shikoku]

Does this mean game devs have to redo all thieir shit again for new resolution?

[dark10x]

I would hope they maintain the same aspect ratio with a new screen. 16:9 is simply not well suited to phone use, I've found.

[Greyface]

But it's not sold as a phone, called the iPhone. He's talking about a 7" iPhone.

and...

7.7" or bust

[kinggroin]

Does this mean game devs have to redo all thieir shit again for new resolution?

No, because there won't be one.

If its 4" inches, the res will say the same and still fall under their definition of retina.

You guys are making this scenario to be a lot more complicated than it would.

[Good Job Bob]

Didn't we have this thread already? Like twenty times?

This is WSJ, though.

If they say it, it's true.

[andycapps]

Good, this will be my first iPhone after coming from my EVO and I don't want a smaller screen. No problem reaching anything on my existing phone either with one hand.

[SteveWD40]

Does this mean game devs have to redo all thieir shit again for new resolution?

That's my fear, it's tiresome, especially as many devs are lazy and just won't bother, I still have a few iPhone apps that have low res icons / no retina.

[andycapps]

That's my fear, it's tiresome, especially as many devs are lazy and just won't bother, I still have a few iPhone apps that have low res icons / no retina.

Any app that's popular or a dev that's worth a damn will redo their apps for the next thing. They'll bitch and complain, but they'll adapt and put out new versions. There will be millions sold of whatever Apple puts out. Also, some are thinking they'll keep the horizontal measurement the same and just extend the phone vertically. Less scaling they'd have to do, maybe? Also, wouldn't take up that much more room in your pocket than the existing one.

[lunarworks]

If Apple's making the phone "at least" 4", they'd better keep at least one 3.4" phone. Not everyone wants a large screen

I was browsing phones at Future Shop the other day and my girlfriend came over to have a see. I was playing with the Nokia Lumia 900, and she said "that's ugly". I asked why, and she said she didn't like the way it looks and "it's way too big". I asked her what the ideal phone size is, and she said my iPhone was the ideal size. (She has an old Nokia Symbian phone right now.)

[aktham]

Just give me AMOLED screen on the next iPhone and I'm in there.

Edit: phones should be getting smaller, not bigger IMHO.

[Divvy]

I was playing with the Nokia Penis 900, and she said "that's ugly". I asked why, and she said she didn't like the way it looks and "it's way too big". I asked her what the ideal penis size is, and she said my penis was the ideal size.

Sorry, could not resist.

[Good Job Bob]

Just give me AMOLED screen on the next iPhone and I'm in there.

Not happening.

[SimleuqiR]

Just give me AMOLED screen on the next iPhone and I'm in there. Edit: phones should be getting smaller, not bigger IMHO.

How much smaller? Zoolander small?

[giga]

Reuters confirms, and additionally states that it'll be 4" exact, not "at least 4".

(Reuters) - Apple Inc plans to use a larger screen on the next-generation iPhone and has begun to place orders for the new displays from suppliers in South Korea and Japan, people familiar with the situation said on Wednesday. The new iPhone screens will measure 4 inches from corner to corner, one source said. That would represent a roughly 30 percent increase in viewing area, assuming Apple kept other dimensions proportional. Apple has used a 3.5-inch screen since introducing the iPhone in 2007. Early production of the new screens has begun at three suppliers: Korea's LG Display Co Ltd, Sharp Corp and Japan Display Inc, a Japanese government-brokered merger combining the screen production of three companies. It is likely all three of the screen suppliers will get production orders from Apple, which could begin as soon as June. That would allow the new iPhone to go into production as soon as August, if the company follows its own precedent in moving from orders for prototypes for key components to launch.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...84F0MA20120516

[Tobor]

One thing we can all agree on, It's going to be a long wait until the announcement in September.

[Hoo-doo]

Let them do away with the bezel if necessary. I don't really want a bigger phone, but I wouldn't mind a bigger display.

[lunarworks]

Just give me AMOLED screen on the next iPhone and I'm in there. Edit: phones should be getting smaller, not bigger IMHO.

Over the years I was eagerly waiting for OLED screens to appear. Pure blacks, brilliant colours. New technology. Awesome.

Now that they're here, every single phone I've seen with one has a screen that's way too "warm", and all the colours are blown out.

[nomster]

I don't care as long as its LTE. I've been holding onto this slow piece of junk for too long.

[Good Job Bob]

Figured it'd be 4 inches.

[chaosblade]

4.3-4.5 seems like the sweet spot to me. My 4.7" Titan isn't bad, but it just feels a tad bit too big. After using it, 4" seems a little small though. So something right between them would be great.

Not that I'm really interested in an iPhone, but it's good that they're making the screen a bit bigger. At 4" I don't think anybody will have any complaints after using it unless they have abnormally tiny hands.

[Treefingers]

4" is a good size.