iPhone HD Speculation Increasing?

Earlier this month, TiPb threw it's hat in the ring of next generation handset speculation by predicting Apple would announce an iPhone HD in 2009. It just made sense to us, and apparently it's beginning to make sense to others as well.

What happened? New York Times writer John Markoff dropped a rumor bomb:

The [unnamed search engine] company spotted Web visits from an unannounced Apple product with a display somewhere between an iPhone and a MacBook. Is it the iPhone 3.0 or the NetMac 1.0?

Jesus Diaz over at Gizmodo seems to be thinking what we're thinking as well:

here in Gizmodo we are thinking about an iPhone HD with an updated 800 x 480 pixel display, probably coming in 2009.

So, is this just another wunderkind spoofing his or her web browser for lulz and chaos? Or is Steve Jobs already carrying around the prototype iPhone HD in his pocket, practicing the Keynote Boom! for WWDC 2009?

Rene Ritchie is one of the most respected Apple analysts in the business, reaching a combined audience of over 40 million readers a month. His YouTube channel, Vector, has over 90 thousand subscribers and 14 million views and his podcasts, including Debug, have been downloaded over 20 million times. He also regularly co-hosts MacBreak Weekly for the TWiT network and co-hosted CES Live! and Talk Mobile. Based in Montreal, Rene is a former director of product marketing, web developer, and graphic designer. He's authored several books and appeared on numerous television and radio segments to discuss Apple and the technology industry. When not working, he likes to cook, grapple, and spend time with his friends and family.

21 Comments

Wow if true I will have to be getting a new iphone! I had mine for only 3 months so far!
Yea, he's got that prototype in his back pocket along with a Netbook design, an$800 Mac Book and $25 Billion in cash. He's got a deep back pocket. :-)
Ron Miller
By Ron Millerhttp://byronmiller.typepad.com
yeah it makes sense... i think a change of display is only warranted because their MAIN upgrade to the iPhone will be a video camera...
So you could very well see..being able to record video on your iPhone and a better display.. higher res.
Imagine recording videos then uploading them to youtube?? woot!
An HD screen? And, what will power this screen...? The iPhone 3G battery? It's already such a long lasting power source... I'm sure an HD screen won't draw any more power than the current screen does.
/sigh
Additional features are worthless if you don't have enough power to use them reasonably. Play games, no more power for the phone. Use the internet as an actual internet gateway, not enough power left for games or phone. Long phone conversations, not enough power for the internet or games.
My job requires travel (read: lots of airport waiting time and bored in-flight time). It's ridiculous that I need to sit by an outlet with my phone plugged in to ensure I have enough power for the flight. Folks with laptops, sure. But a cell phone?! C'mon!
Until battery life is acceptable, e.g., 2-3 days on a charge with normal use, I'm not even remotely interested in additional features. (Though, picture messaging would be nice.)
iPhone 3G
"The world's most amazing and addictive, yet feature-lacking mobile phone."
Hell, I'd just be happy if they allowed me to search for events in the calendar, items/notes in the system, and add copy/paste.
Fix the one you're selling, before making a new one.
Neat looking phone, cool browser, worst PDA in years.
coop
The Bold and Storm already have greater than iPhone pixel count and density, and the HTC Touch HD shipped with 800x480p, which is what we're talking about for mobile HD.
I agree with coop and mr.burgundy, apple needs to fix what thy have out now. This phone blows, plain and simple. Sure it has a touch screen and a "full internet browser", but that's where it ends. The battery is a joke. I have to charge it constantly just to get it through the day. Not to mention the lackluster 3g. $10 more a month for a service that kills my battery. And now there is speculation of a hd screen? Deliver what you promised apple. Until then I can't wait for the bold to come out. Right? Who's with me?
Battery: I have never had a cell phone that did not require charging every night. I use my iPhone for hours as a phone and more for the internet. I only have to charge each night. I have never lost charge on a cross country flight.
Cut and Paste: You can download this feature from the App Store along with many other third party innovations.
You are just talking about rumors in any case. And, any innovative company has to be looking forward at all possibilities.
Do you guys work for Microsoft or RIM?
do I work for microsoft? Funny. I'm a huge apple guy. I have a powerbook, I edit using final cut on a 4 month old mac pro, and have had almost every iPod, give or take a few. But this phone is garbage. I have gone to the store to have it looked at, received a "new" one twice. And it still sucks. I left home at 7am this morning and had only 10% battery by 1:30pm. So no I don't work for microsoft nor rim, I am just a pissed off consumer who got tricked into thinking this phone would do what it advertises. And we shouldn't have to leave to third party developers to produce what apple should have done months ago.
If Apple is going HD for the next iPhone release they're going to have to come up with a better 'killer app' than posting video to YouTube. That post to YouTube is going to take a lot of time unless AT&T upgrades their network or you get to a WiFi connection. So that two strikes against. I'm still waiting for a legitimate reason for other than to stay a step ahead of or keep up with the Jones. Granted, Apple is not going to give us one at this point but so far none of the rumor sites have conjured up a good reason why the next release needs HD and have it work on the existing network and with an iPhone with 15-20% better batter life thanks to battery, chipset and software improvements.
apple copying htc
I just got my iPhone and I think that the battery issues are a small price to pay for all the features this exeptionnal product offers. If there's an HD iPhone out next year I'll buy it without any hesitation.
I really really wanted the iPhone 3G, despite its lack of features and bad battery. It was the best touchscreen phone to get at the time.
But then I discovered that HTC was going to launch the Touch HD. Sorry Apple, but HTC will take the lead. Sure, iPhone still has the best touchscreen och intuitive interface, but the Touch HD is a monster when it comes to features and specs. The same size as an iPhone, but a 3.8" WVGA screen! Then there's the better GPS (install TomTom), it's unlocked, superior camera (huge improvement from the Qtek period) etc etc etc...
The only thing about the Touch HD is that the touchscreen doesn't have the same glass feel like the iPhone has. The solid feel of the iPhone is hard to match. Anyway, the Touch HD will be the superior phone. :)
HTC devices are dull after just a few minutes of playing with, i had the Touch and S640 last year and was not that impressed. Ah, the Diamond seems nicer ? Pff, the touch screens lags, after you've gone deeper in the menus, you're back to that old Windows Mobile interface, battery life is not more than a day (a bit better than the Iphone but not much...). And RIM ? Come on, what a joke... I had the Pearl and the Curve last year also... The interface is buggy, not a lot of feature compared to Win me or Iphone, applications are expensive, etc... The only thing i liked about the RIM devices was their battery life and good sound quality but besides that...
Tha't my take on this. Apple should definetly polish their current line up, make it more solid, less buggy on the 3G side of things and, mostly, open up their OS so that we don't need to Jailbreak it as we are doing now. A Jailbroken Iphone is a normal phone to me, i should not need to do this procedure to get access to the filesystem !
Miroul
I <3 apple
I hate how Apple does this kind of thing. They have all the hardware capabilities on the iPhone, but they don't allow the capabilities with their software. I bet you there'll be a massive hoo-ha about the 3rd gen iPhone having video.
I think that Apple will probably use the same methods that they are using in there new 17" macbook pro. they are definitly gonna be doing a lot with the screen and with the camera so they are definitly gonna need a better battery, so i can definitly see them doing this.
We have predicted the next generations of iphone to use a different type of battery although maybe more $, but this will help power the 800 x 480 HD pixel display. Also the fropnt facing video camera for video chat, needless to say it will be 32gb. It will only be a tad bit larger but the extra space is necessary. Any predictions when the new phone will be announced?...oh wait i already know
I hope they dont come out with a new iPhone this year. I just got my 3G in August... I want my contract to run out before I get a new phone...
One Word OLED
What a great way to discuss

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