It's not the size of the iPhone screen that could fragment, it's the resolution
Despite case-leaks to the contrary, TiPb heard fairly consistently that we we shouldn't expect a redesigned iPhone this year, and it turns out we heard right. Business Insider, however, is saying that there was a redesigned iPhone on tap but Apple pulled the plug months before.
Steve Jobs was unhappy with the bigger screen because it "fragmented" iPhones, Apple's big argument against Android is the way all the different phones from different manufacturers fragment that operating system.
Which is odd, because screen size doesn't "fragment" phones, iPhone or Android. It's screen resolution that does that. A 3.5-inch iPhone at 960x640 pixels is pretty much the same to develop for as a 4-inch iPhone at 960x640. It's only if that 4-inch iPhone jumps to something like 1280x720 that developers have a problem.
Apple has several prototypes per generation and I'd be shocked if they hadn't and aren't still testing devices with different screen sizes. If Apple does ever choose to pull the trigger on a bigger iPhone screen, they'll no doubt have a plan for it, whether it's slightly reducing the density or boxing the content (like iPad does with iPad apps) to maintain the pixel count.
Even if Apple stays with 3.5-inches, believing it to be ideal for single-handed ease of use, they can't change the resolution arbitrarily without causing massive issues with pixels falling off the grid.
BI's source goes on to say this iPhone prototype had an aluminum back, like the iPad, would eventually use liquid metal in "nano-chromatic" colors, and had a wide, capacitive Home button.
Source: Business Insider
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Better fix that typo. I would expect that 960×640 and 960×480 are quite a bit different to develop for. :)
Better fix that typo. I would expect that 960×640 and 960×480 are quite a bit different to develop for. :)
Apple may believe 3.5 is the ideal size, but pretty much everyone else doesn't. 4-4.3 is the sweet spot for screen size. The 3.5 inch screen is the sole reason I wasn't interested in the 4S. Once you've used a bigger screen, the tiny iphone screen looks pathetic.
Actually, that's only your opinion. I've used 4.3" screens, and the phone is too big for me. I prefer the small phone for my pocket, the tablet for when I want something bigger, and the laptop for bigger, higher resolution and more power.
If you're so bothered by the "small screen size", you must've hated the "dumb phones" before smartphones came out.
yes he is right ..just use samsung galaxy nexus for a while and you will fell iPhone is far better than big screen ..
a mobile is a tiny device ..up to 4' screen for a mobile device is ok.But when you cross beyond that it looks like an tablet.
You can't hold the device with single palm for long time while talking..
Best option is 3.5-4' screen ...beyond it it just looks like a tablet ...
I'm not bothered by the smaller screen. But when Apple does decide to release a 4 to 5" screen iPhone in two years, I will jump on that. :-)
well, I bought the 4S which I really enjoy by the way but I agree that the 3.5" screen size is starting to look to small. But an increased resolution is needed with the increase in size otherwise it won't look as sharp.
"boxing the content (like iPad does with iPad apps)"
Don't you mean iphone apps?
Excellent design but what happened to Apple are they trying to compete or destroy I don't know what to say ..... http://www.saqibimran.com/ the post says every thing but if it launches i would like to by it....!!!!
Your opening sentence is hilarious, seeing as most of your writers fully believed that there'd be two iPhones released this year. Way to backpedal there, even though you're really not saving face...
He's not backpedaling at all. Rene said all along that he believed there would only be the iPhone 4S. Furthermore, this article simply states that the rumors concerning one iPhone (as opposed to those concerning two) happened to have turned out correct. They received reports for both possibilities, you're acting as though he'd written "Neener! Neener! We were right all along..."
most users don't even know what fragmentation is. It's not a big deal except to techies.
i won't be buying the iPhone 5 if they come with a fukin tablet as a phone... ugh nobody know how i hate big screens on the phones.... they just look pathetic...
You're saying it now, but when Apple releases bigger screen iPhone you will be buying it.
Agreed. Am I the only one who would prefer to keep the 3.5" screen but at the same time remove some of the bezel around it. The iPhone has too much bezel on top and bottom. Slim it down even more. THAT'S Apple's style.
Actually no, it isn´t. Apple makes some of the largest bezels in the industry, both on its phones and tablets. Go argue with Jon Ive.
I know they currently have some of the largest bezel in the smartphone world. I was saying it is apple's style to make their products more slim than their previous models. I cant believe how much bezel apple has right now on their 5th iPhone model.
I have to disagree with this post. The screen size of the phone IS a factor of fragmentation. Sure, they could slap a 4 inch panel with the same resolution of the current retina display under the glass and run iOS as is. But it won't be to scale. Theres more space to take advantage of. Apple's probably done some intense PR studies to find the "sweet spot" for displaying the UI at a certain size. Having a bigger screen, with the same resolution, in essence, is just like blowing up an image. Icons on the home screen will be out of proportion, UI elements such as navigation will be comically large. You can't just enlarge the pixies and expect the same results, you need to completely reformat the OS to be to scale and take advantage of this new space. To test this, take a screen shot on your iPhone and try to view it, in actual size, on a computer with a lower PPI ratio. It's way to big, right? This is exactly what would happen if they "just made the screen 4-inches". No way Apple would ever let this slide. Now please, stop complaining about screen size.
-- " Having a bigger screen, with the same resolution, in essence, is just like blowing up an image. Icons on the home screen will be out of proportion, UI elements such as navigation will be comically large. You can't just enlarge the pixies and expect the same results..."
Nothing will be out of proportion or comically large if you keep the same aspect ratio.
OG Droid... 3.7" 800x480 screen
Galaxy SII...4.3" 800x480 screen
Everything looks the same... the only difference is it's bigger.
Apple is certainly capable of making 2 different sized screens with the same resolution.
TVs have been that way for years. You're aware that there are 32" and 60" TVs with the same resolution, right?
Now if you're worried about maintaining the iPhone's "Retina" properties... that's a different story altogether.
But a 4" iPhone screen at 960x640 would still look amazing.
What Brye is saying is that on a phone you have to touch the UI elements on the screen. All of the virtual buttons will become bigger and not the size that Apple feels is best to interact with. So "the only difference is it's bigger" causes differences in the way users use the phone. Best example of this is say a developer makes a game for the new iphone 5 with the same resolution but bigger screen. He makes a "start play" button that is 1/5 of the width of the screen which is typical. Then a person with an iphone 4 downloads the game and wonders why he'she cannot start the game because the button is only 1/6-1/7 of the width of the screen.
Who said Apple feels that the best interaction is with small buttons? People assume a lot these days, and tend to read too much between the lines. If Apple really felt that way there would be no iPad.
Moreover, 1/5 is still 1/5, no matter the size of the screen. The resolution is the same, it would be smaller on one, and bigger on the other, but it would be 1/5 on both.
1/5 is still 1/5, but the absolute size makes a difference. A button that is just the size of the meaty part of your index finger is about right for a touch target. (IMHO, but Apple seems to have roughly gone for this.) If the button is 150% larger, it is not necessarily less usable, but it is also no more usable. It may be a matter of taste, but I would bet Apple's design team would consider oversized buttons awkward, as well.
So increasing the size of all elements at best a push. You have increased your production costs, and given nothing of value to the user in day-to-day use. (Videoheads might like the larger screen for Netflix, etc, though.) If Apple were to keep the buttons the same size, but found something interesting to do with the extra space, that would be interesting, but the only way to accomplish that would be a different pixel resolution, and then you'd have to deal with the fragmentation issues Rene suggests.
If a button is 1/5 of the screen on the iPhone now... it would still be 1/5 of the screen on a larger iPhone. That button would just be slightly bigger.
As long as the aspect ratio remains the same... everything gets bigger... equally.
If your apps looks good on 3.5" screen... it will look just as good on a 4"
It would just be a little bigger.
Take a look at this picture for an example:
http://i.imgur.com/0gAWu.jpg
It's really a matter of effectively using the space. Sure, it would look perfectly fine, and still be usable, but you physically have more space to use on the screen. More space to put more details, controls, text, whatever you want. The whole premise of making something larger is to get more "usable" space out of it. It'd be like making a small, compact car bigger with the same exact dimensions. Wouldn't make much sense, right? No way Apple would enlarge something for the sake of being larger.
I completely understand Apple's thinking on this... and I'll be getting my first iPhone soon regardless.
But what I'm saying is... size is everywhere. You can get phones, laptops, tablets, TVs, cars, trucks, homes, etc in every size imaginable.
Hell... Apple has 4 different iPods in a variety of sizes and shapes.
But Apple only makes 2 sizes of iOS devices... 3.5" and 9.7"
I wish there were a couple more...
I completely understand Apple's thinking on this... and I'll be getting my first iPhone soon regardless.
But what I'm saying is... size is everywhere. You can get phones, laptops, tablets, TVs, cars, trucks, homes, etc in every size imaginable.
Hell... Apple has 4 different iPods in a variety of sizes and shapes.
But Apple only makes 2 sizes of iOS devices... 3.5" and 9.7"
I wish there were a couple more...
My Iphone JUST fits in my pocket, I had the 3gs and now the 4S, if they were any bigger they would be of no use to me, disabled on oxygen, I need my phone with me and now Siri can aid me during emergencies as well as the excellent design of the phone and the standby mode, and my 4S has no battery problems I hope they don't change it to a larger size.
@blue5ft3
That doesn't explain why so many 4" and 4.3" phone are purchased every day...
It's really a matter of effectively using the space. Sure, it would look perfectly fine, and still be usable, but you physically have more space to use on the screen. More space to put more details, controls, text, whatever you want. The whole premise of making something larger is to get more "usable" space out of it. It'd be like making a small, compact car bigger with the same exact dimensions. Wouldn't make much sense, right? No way Apple would enlarge something for the sake of being larger.
Yea that makes no sense; under that logic if I watch a blu-ray on my 32" 1080p TV and then go and switch to my 52" 1080p TV the movie will look different? It doesn't work like that.
The reason the iPhone image looks much larger if you take a screen grab of from the iPhone and then view it on your PC is because the pixels of your monitor are taking up a physically larger area. If you have a monitor that is 1920x1200 that iPhone screen grab will take up all but 40 of your vertical pixels. Of course it's going to look huge on your screen.
Left out a 2; 240 not 40 pixels or 80% of your vertical screen which in some cases could be very large.
Just imagine using that resized screen grab as your phone, seems like a waste of space right? It's all about scale and application.
Seeing as this article is about different screen resolutions causing fragmentation, what does getting / not getting security updates have to do with differing screen resolution? They're not related.
Besides, I don't see the iPhone staying at 3.5" screen size for long. It will have to increase just to stay competitive. Questions is when they do increase screen size, what resolution will it be at?
I guess he went over your head. Fragmentation McFly.
The others went higher to have a perceived competitive advantage over the main reference smartphone out there...the iphone. Apple won't have to do anything to its size to compete as you put it. If they increase the screen size, the quality drops. Though there's a bunch of idiots out there that don't seem to care about quality and ppi. Maybe Apple needs to advertise its retina screen some more.
I've seen some larger phones and have used them. It was never about usability. It's just that the screen looks like crap. Who cares if it's larger if the quality looks like you're looking through a screen door? You want this crap? I know the masses are thick (see the megapixel wars for cameras) but let's hope Apple ignores the ignorant cries for a larger screen and chooses quality instead.
i like this. So what happens if Apple does a 4-4.3 inch iPhone and quadruples the pixels AGAIN? Wouldn't that make redoing UI elements easier? That was what they did when they went retina, seemed to be a smooth transition.
That's almost as bad as the 2x resolution for iPhone apps on the iPad, haha. ALMOST as bad, but not totally.
The fragmentation which Steve Jobbs predicted and made him worry, was about getting or not getting the 'retina' experience' with an iPhone. Without a higher resolution, the 4.0 inch screen-owners wouldn't get that same visual.
The screen is one of the reasons I came back to the iPhone.
I didn't want a 4" + screen, If i did I'd buy a tablet. Phones are getting too big nowadays and the size of the iPhone is IMHO perfect.
Plus those who have poor battery life with the 4s think how worse it would have been with a 4" Display.
I don't see them bumping screen resolution for the reasons stated here. You'd have to revamp the UI elements. 960x640 at 4 inches is still higher res than qHD on Android at 4 inches. I think 4 inches is the sweet spot however the retina display on my iPhone 4 makes 3.5 just as easy to use.
4" for me is the sweet spot for a smartphone screen. It's all I want & I would come back to iPhone. I'm a big guy with big hands & the current 3.5" screen just gets lost in my palm. The 4.3" screen on my Android is a little too big but I manage. I'm waiting for Apple to take my money.
Personally I like the current screen size. I have an iPhone 4 and an iPad 2... The reason I have both is because I dont believe that there is a "one device" that does everything. I need different devices because my usage of them is different.
My iPad is great for web browsing, reading books and Newspapers, and I use it a lot in my photography business when I want to show of my portfolio to clients. BUT... I dont particularly want to carry it around with me 24/7 it's a perfect item for the uses I have for it (where my iPhone 4 screen would be too small) but too big to be convenient all the time.
My iPhone fits my other needs perfectly... Firstly, IT'S A PHONE. Let's remember that when I went shopping and bought the thing I was looking for a MOBILE PHONE. For me the whole point of the mobile phone is to enable me to be connected to friends, family and clients from anywhere. It has to be able to fit comfortably in my pocket (without me having to go out and buy new clothes with bigger pockets!!!), be reliable, and be easy to use "one handed". I dont want to be using two hands just to use my phone.
The extra bells and whistles that came with buying an iPhone are superb and I really love my little gadget. I did try other units too (Samsung Galaxy SII for example). I found that while the bigger screens were nice to look at the unit became just that bit too big for my pocket and to use one handed.
Personally I think Apple have got the right balance of screen size and resolution. If a new iPhone came out with a bigger screen, but otherwise similar spec to my current unit I have to say it wouldn't tempt me.
Very well put! Thanks
Ok, my 0.02$
If you up the size with out upping the resolution then you don't gain any more information. You've just made a phone for old people.
If you change the resolution, then you break all the art assets.
Neither of these are impossible. But they don't yield enough market share to add confusion to the product like. Really looking at android phones is like trying to choose a Linux . Who wants that headache.
Yes and that why people that want a larger iPhone screen should be offered one of those big page magnifiers they make for the old folks for reading books. Problem solved for them, the ones wanting a larger screen can look through a magnifier.
The current screen is perfect, the ergonomics of the phone, ie the feel of the phone in the hand is perfect, it still feels like you are holding a phone to your head and not a tablet and it doesn't look like a cheap piece of tat that you don't have a guarantee that it will receive an update to the operating system and app's might not display correctly when they are used because the author wrote it using a particular resolution screen in mind when they wrote the app.
I like the ergonomics for the most part, though due to hand size I find myself forced to use landscape for texting with 2 hands. However, I think there is a way to make the screen slightly larger, remove bezel. Judging from patents though, I don't think this is how they are going to go. I think they are going to instead go with touch commands on the bezel. Honestly, the only reason I want a larger screen is because of lack of text reflow on web pages and for when I watch videos/movies/podcasts.
With the quasi-required bumper or case, the iPhone 4 is as large as some of the 4" Android phones out there, and not one or the other feel to large to hold.
I feel much of this argument is to justify Apple actions without even knowing the reasoning behind. People just assume that Apple wanted the 3.5 for its ergonomics, and not battery consumption or supply constraints. Perhaps LG or Toshiba could only supply 3.5 retinas at the time, who knows.
What I know is that if the next iPhone has a 4" display everybody will praise it and say that it is awesome and magical size.
You will find that even if they use a 4 inch screen even though it seems that the pixel size will not change noticably it does make a difference, not a great deal but it will be noticable, especially when compared side by side with the current 3.5 inch screen.
It is surprising how easily people pick up on a difference in the physical LCD/LED pixel size, even the slightest change is easily picked up on during use.
I don't think everyone will be universally happy, you can please some people some of the item but not all of the people all of the time.
A 4 in screen would be perfect. If they can keep the same resolution it should be no problemo.
Rumors exist. That's a fact.
Because he's Ethan.
Because he's Ethan.
I came across a post http://tinyurl.com/c3kbx4e that says it had a hands on with the new iPhone 5.... The specs are awesome, I can't wait....
"Liquid Metal"? "Nano-Chromatic"? What is that???
I would buy an iPhone with a bigger screen, but I'll be waiting until October 2013 to do that. Meanwhile, there will be no liquid metal for you right now. :-)
The funny thing is that, before Apple created the iPhone with it's 3.5" Screen, we had bigger screened Windows Mobile Smart phones at much lower resolutions. Now all the Android OEM's are on the 4" to 4.3" bandwagon. The Nexus is at 4.5" and there will surely be 5" screen phones next year. The mini-tablet age is upon is and will meet up at the 5" screen mark within two years, for certain.
But I don't need or want that on a "phone" an Ipod or tablet, great! But I use my phone mainly, as a phone
But I don't need or want that on a "phone" an Ipod or tablet, great! But I use my phone mainly, as a phone
Rumors are like farts...it don't take much effort to let one out & it usually stinks.
My mom who just died Saturday and my 92 year old gram used Iphone's they were not stupid and did know how to put their glasses on, and to make the article bigger, what is it pinch and squeeze, whatever the gesture to enlarge something.
wsyecmyg