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Next Apple iPhone To Have a 4 Inch Display?
dkd903 writes "According to reports from Macotakara, Hitachi Displays Ltd and Sony Mobile Display Corporation has started shipping the screens for the iPad 3 and a 4-inch LCD screen for an unnamed iOS device. It would be fairly safe to assume that the 4-inch display will be for the next iPhone – the iPhone 5."
I have something 4 inches to show you...
Can we just agree that Apple hardware articles are flamebait by default, especially the ones about the mere possibility of new Apple hardware, and stop frickin posting them?
Why do people keep referring to the next iPhone as the iPhone 5? Let's count together shall we?
Original iPhone: iPhone 1
iPhone 3G: iPhone 2
iPhone 3GS: iPhone 3
iPhone 4: iPhone 4
iPhone 4S: iPhone 5
Next iPhone: iPhone 6
Now, if Apple decides to call the next iPhone the iPhone 5, then I'll gladly eat my words, but until then, c'mon now.
I like a phone I can use with one hand easily. This whole post was typed with my right hand only, on my iPhone 4.
There's a spot in User Info for World of Warcraft account names? Really?
God, we've been talking about the iphone 5 every week for over a year now. I know blogs are desperate for page views, but this is getting old.
Four inches should be enough for anyone.
except... if the next one is 4", then that would make the "current iScreen" 4", so they'll be happy. Don't you know how Apple works?
A new iPod? Don't the current iPods run iOS as well?
Couldn't resist...
I don't think it's crazy for Apple to make a larger iPhone if they see a demand for it. But I do think it would be crazy if they eliminated to pocket-sized version. Many men keep their iPhones in a pocket, and without a cover, it just barely works - depending on the pocket. A phone with a 4" screen would just not be easily pocketable. Sure men could get purses too and carry their phones in there. Then the increase in size wouldn't matter so much. But most won't, if the only advantage they gain is having bigger phone to use.
This is making me think that Apple plans to split their iPhone market and introduce two simultaneous model lines, one bigger and one smaller. Yes, it's a little bit inelegant, but I'm sure they did their focus group research and decided that there is demand for this.
Didnt' we just spend the last 6 months saying the iPhone 5 was going to have this screen? Or at least the iPhone 5 was definetly going to be released in October? Isn't this all getting to be a bit too much Apple speculation? At least the Apple iTV is a whole new project so maybe we can just speculate on that for a few months.
Ask the guys left, right and in front of you. If you have an iPhone then statistically they will have an Android, based on salesfigures. iPhone is about 3 years delayed in features and not a real OS.
He's hardly dead and already they start meddling with the _absolute truths_ according to the Messiah.
I'm a massive Apple fanboi and proud to admit it but, seriously, we're already posting articles about the iPhone 5? Really? It's literally a year away and we're already discussing it? Give it a damn rest!
Not to mention the rumour is that the screen is for a _NEW_ iOS device. If you're going to rumour-monger, at least get the rumours right...
Garbage like that is what gives good Apple fanbois like me a bad name...
So you say you were disappointed but that it wasn't Apple's fault. Wow, even the pope has less loyal followers.
Hitachi promotes a touch screen that's pressure sensitive. Are we finally going to see an iOS device that uses a stylus for note taking?
I sure hope so. I've been waiting for years for such a device.
Look at some of the things that aren't polarizing
Except it's impossible to have an article about a new device with an LCD panel without it being polarizing, because polarizing is how LCDs work. In order for it not to be polarizing, it'd have to be AMOLED or something.
It almost sounds more like a pocket sized iPad
They should change the name, then. Maybe something more evocative of being pocket sized... Like iPod. Yeah, that'll get 'em lined up. Oh, but it's got a touch screen, too. Have to work that into the name, too, to make sure they know this isn't their un-hip older brother's iPod. We need to ask Marketing what to call it.
iNtroducing: The iPod Fondle!
You're confused. You're comparing a phone model with an OS.
iPhone is the most popular smartphone.
iOS ships on more devices than Android.
I thought we were done with those, but, /. post.
every rumor,
every idiosyncracy,
every non-newsworthy, trivial, bieberite thing about it,
is a front page
The integrity of the process (yeah, I know, have I read /. lately) is in jeopardy. Please stop, before Netcraft gets involved.
Yep. I look forward to the front page stories about new alleged rumoured possible screen sizes for HTC, Nokia, Sony etc... oh wait, those won't get published. Because they're irrelevant and boring. Like this story.
Read Pynchon.
Apple is all about a consistent user experience. Changing the screen size of the iPhone is going to cause a lot of trouble for people used to the iPhone keyboard at its current size. Also, Apple seems to be of the opinion "if you want a bigger screen, buy an iPad!"
I tend to agree with John Gruber of Daring Fireball that all of these rumors of larger screen iPhones are just bullshit, except for one detail: a larger screen would mean a larger phone body, which would allow for a larger battery, and would give even longer battery life. Battery life is the name of the game in mobile devices, and the larger display would give Apple an opportunity to get an additional leg up on their competition. It would also be helpful to have more battery capacity if they were upgrading the iPhone to 4G, which seems to need a lot more power.
While I tend to find Gruber's arguments about maintaining the dimensions of the UI by maintaining the dimensions and resolution of the display convincing, the change in dimensions of the iPhone interface going from a 3.5" to a 4" screen doesn't seem to be much of a concern. The greater concern is that the 4" screen is too large for many people to comfortably access the full screen with their thumb while holding the phone in the same hand (though that could be alleviated by narrowing the bezel around the screen).
So, while I'd love to bet against the rumor mongers clamoring for a 4" display on the next iPhone, I think that it might actually happen. A 4G phone will need a bigger battery, and I think Apple would rather make the phone face larger, than make the phone thicker, and that make a 4" display an easy sell.
just a ghost in the machine.
"It would be fairly safe to assume that the 4-inch display will be for the next iPhone â" the iPhone 5"
Isn't is obvious? The 5" display is for the MacBook Mini.
"National Security is the chief cause of national insecurity." - Celine's First Law
""The IGZO technology is perfect in that it offers near-OLED power consumption while having a lower cost and thinness that is only 25% greater than OLED, based on our checks," said Jeffries analyst Peter Misek."
So let me get this right. It's 25% thicker than OLED and uses MORE power, but it costs less to make. On the face of it, that doesn't seem like a very Appley component choice. On the other hand, getting high quality (Super) AMOLED screens means dealing with Samsung, something which Apple doesn't seem to want to do at the moment for silly grudge purposes. So the question becomes, "Does Apple want to sacrifice product quality in exchange for a small savings and sticking it to Samsung?"
If Steve Jobs were still around, I'd say "Yes."--he had a well noted penchant for carrying a grudge to extremes. I'd like a bigger screen as much, or more than the next guy, but I'm not 100% sure how plausible this whole story seems to me in a post-Steve Apple era. On the other, other hand, it might have more to do with the fact that Samsung is too big to bully, and Apple likes to have total control over it's supply chains.
The device you are looking for is a Samsung Galaxy Note. I've been waiting for something like it ever since my Palm Vx passed away years ago ;(
You can buy a capacitive stylus and it will work just fine if all you want it for is *note taking*. The only reason you need true pressure sensitivity is for art purposes--where you can control the thickness of a line, for instance, by how hard you press. There are any number of companies who are currently extremely eager to sell you a stylus for an iPad or iPad 2--just look for them and you'll find them.
There's a submit story link on every page. Want better content? Click it.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
Yes, a stylus.
Are you telling us that people here in the 21st centurey should not be expected to rise above finger painting? For note-taking? We're not all characters from Idiocracy, thanks very much.
Business knows that it needs the stylus to make their fancy new i-devices useful, and all the big manufacturers are all stepping up to provide.
Jobs is dead, so now the world can undergo some much needed cult de-programming and actually 'think different' for real.
I suppose anytime you want to write something in your own handwriting or create some kind of art you do it by fingerpainting. After all, big fat sausage fingers are all you really need, right? Of course if you're like me, you get tired of washing paint off your fingers all day long and listening to bank tellers complain that they can't read the amount on your checks. That's why some crazy people are of the opinion that perhaps there are occasions when fingers aren't ideally suited to all the sorts of tasks you might want to perform on a piece of paper and/or a hand-held computing device based on a paper metaphor.
Old devices had styli because the screens were resistive and needed pressure to register touches. Since pressure is a function of force per area, a smaller area (tip of the stylus vs tip of the finger) needs less force applied in order to register touches. It was a necessity that capacitive screens did away with by making fingertips practical.
But just because they are no longer a necessity, doesn't mean they aren't actually still useful for some tasks. If you want to do artwork and or handwriting on a tablet, a stylus is still the best way to go. Just because a screen is capacitive like your iOS devices screen doesn't mean you can't use a stylus if and when it's the right tool for the job--you just need a capacitive stylus.
If you weren't of a mind to do any handwriting/art on your tablet/phone whatever, then simply don't ever use the stylus. Continue using your fingers and you'll enjoy the same user experience you would with any other device. Having the extra choice won't hurt you.
Look on Ebay for a Newton, sounds right up your alley!
The only reason you need true pressure sensitivity is for art purposes--where you can control the thickness of a line, for instance, by how hard you press.
You say that as if it's a smaller market than basic written note taking.
You're also not thinking about all the potential uses developers will find for such functionality. One off the top of my head would be to press harder to write in bold -- much quicker and more intuitive than toggling the bold button at the edge of the screen.
But the answers are "quad core, SDHC, HDMI 1080p, porn apps, Flash, keyboard, kickstand, smartbook dock, Tegra 3" and of course the golden "choice of form factors and prices".
Help stamp out iliturcy.
Well yea, they dont want anything that Apple isn't offering, until Apple does and then they claim that its the best thing ever and even though others had it first Apple is responsable for making it popular and therefore gets its invented by credit.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
This. Apple will never sell a phone or tablet that uses a stylus.
Help stamp out iliturcy.
Yes, but at least we were informed of a new release of Linux Mint!
Oh, and that Firefox added another integer to their hourly release cycle!
There are going to be lots of stories that don't interest people on an news aggregation and discussion site.
Linux is a computer, right? ;)
You might want to check your terminology before dispensing statistics.
I've had a FIVE inch screen for over a year. But, of course, the iDrones will stand in line for an extra .5"
Sorry, but you all know what I mean. Since the AC said "Why the FUCK would anyone buy an android P.O.S. when the iPhone 5 is just around the corner?", thus comparing Android with iPhone, I stayed in the same line.
Anyway, according to http://www.macrumors.com/2011/11/15/android-tops-50-share-of-smartphone-sales-but-apple-still-dominating-profits, your numbers are incorrect. "Popular' in my book means 'best sold', and every sold iOS there are 3 Androids, hence my example.
So, to paraphrase the AC: Why the FUCK would anyone buy an iPhone P.O.S. when an Android is already better NOW than the next iPhone?
For the record, tell that to the AC
;-)
And there are more Linux's installed than Mac's
I still have no idea why people want a 4" screen (size) as opposed to screen resolution. Isn't the whole beauty of retina display because of the high screen resolution?
Are you sure it's for a phone?
Maybe Apple is planning an iPad Mini ? Or say a "book style" unit with 2 separate 4" display panels, intended for use as an e-reader.
In any case, with a display larger than the iPhone, but without the iPad 2's bulkiness.
Ah, so now it's the quantity = better side of the coin, now that we're not comparing Windows to Linux installs ;)
I kid, I kid.
iOS most certainly does not ship on more devices. The iPhone is the most popular single device but Android is in use far more overall.
http://mashable.com/2011/09/26/android-sales-2-to-1-iphone/
AnimePapers.org: Anime Wallpapers Handled With Care
The iPad display is already capable of pressure sensitivity. Ten-one design/makers of Pogo sketch showed off a demo of using pressure sensitivity for sketching and "palm rejection" back in 2010.
The problem is apparently iPad app developer's aren't allowed to access pressure sensitivity information, because no interface has been exposed by the iOS official APIs.
Until Apple chooses to include it in the API, no 3rd party apps will be able to leverage the functionality, because it would require using 'private frameworks' which is against Apple's rules that app store applications must follow for approval by Apple.
Dont confuse resolution with pixel density. Frankly, I doubt we'll see a 4" iPhone, but perhaps there will be an iPadMini.
"Have you ever thought about just turning off the TV, sitting down with your kids, and hitting them?"
It's like we said on the iPad, if you see a stylus, they blew it. In multitasking, if you see a task manager... they blew it.
I doubt it highly.
Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
I like that the iPhone display is smaller than the gigantic Android displays. My hands are not the biggest and I can use the iPhone with one hand. No longer if the screen is getting significantly bigger.
Because some of us have large hands. I can type on an iPhone, but it's actually much easier to type on a 4.3" Android device, even though the Android keyboard isn't quite as good as the iOS one (though it's gotten very close).
Maybe it's for a gaming device controller? They may have built on Nintendo's Wii U idea and combined it with Kinect's voice control.
It would be amazing to control TV with a multi-touch enabled remote control .. Actually even with an iPad would be cool. And of course the Piece de Resistance would be decent natural language voice control.
"TV, record tomorrow's yankees game" "TV, record HBO in the background" "TV, remind me to change stations when Modern Marvels start" "TV, flip back to the game when the commercials end" "TV, discovery channel" ... etc. etc. the possiblilities are endless.
Another resolution I have to design for when doing app designs... *re-edits his templates*
...appear to have a huge OCD display.
The CB App. What's your 20?
Hitachi & Sony working with Apple on 4-inch iOS device, iPad 4 to see new display technology
Hitachi and Sony are reported to have teamed up to supply Apple with 4-inch LCD displays for an unspecified iOS device that will hit the market in 2012. Meanwhile, Apple is also said to be working on a fundamentally distinct display technology for the iPad 4.
Meanwhile, macotakara.jp also cites the same sources as saying that an unspecified Taiwanese company will soon be "providing LCD technology faces" to Apple for a "fundamentally changed" iPad 4 that will be manufactured by a new process.
The only mention of the iPad 3 is a reference to a WSJ article.
FC Closer
Since an iPad is a large iPod, there already is an iPadMini. It's called the iPod.
iOS most certainly does not ship on more devices.
Let's see... Android ships on... (1) smartphones (2) tablets (3) netbooks = 3 devices
and... iOS ships on (1) iPhone (2) iPad (3) iPod Touch (4) AppleTV = 4 devices
Appears that iOS ships on one more device than Android.
The Admin and the Engineer
Relevant link.
Do you actually know any of the people you and the grandparent poster are describing, or are you guys making them up for purposes of trolling? The majority of iPhone users don't even know or care what size the screen is.
A lot of commenters assume the phone would be linearly wider. But the curreni Iphone case could roughly accomodate a 4" screen by eliminating borders on the side. And then we haven't considered a different aspect ratio; a 5" screen may fit in easily.
Wonder which fucking idiot marked you as redundant. People just get all excited over nothing. Bah, a bunch of sheep
and I still switched to Android partially because of the availablility of 4.3" screens, they are SO much better.
Yes yes I know pixel resolution blah, however they are still quite competent screens. Infact I'll go as far as to say, the reason people think the iphone 4 screen is so good (it is) is heightened due to the 3G and 3GS being so bad.
No seriously, plug the specs in to a calculator, the 3G/S screen is AWFUL.
I have 800x480 on my 4.3" screen and yes the iphone looks better at fine stuff but mine still looks fantastic and it's big, nice and big. If I was a public transport user, this is actually an acceptable size to catch simpsons or southpark etc on in the morning on my phone.
While I'm at it,........ the iphone has only ONE button, all the other buttons MUST be drawn on the damn screen. Options, back, etc - all on the main screen. You might be used to it but I've trained myself off it now, I think the one button philosophy is an utter joke. 4 buttons is not unmanagable in the slightest. This frees up even MORE real estate - and it's consistent (hello apple!) because I can find my options (menu) button in the same location /EVERY/ time.
Best technical decision I've made in years. Iphone 3 -> 3GS -> 4 -> 4.3" Android phone, never, ever going back. â(TM)¥
I'm probably nitpicking a much too subtle joke, but it's a bit disingenuous to count the iPhone and Ipod Touch as different devices, since one is just an iPhone without the phone part, basically. And Android also ships on media players such as Egreat R200S, so it's at best a tie between them.
You're still confusing phones and OSs. I said:
"iPhone is the most popular smartphone.
iOS ships on more devices than Android."
You're disputing the second of those statements. The one that deals with OSs. But your link doesn't include iPod touches or iPads. As I said iOS ships on more devices than Android.
Despite the use of the word "device" in the title of the chart, that analysis is only of smartphones, and doesn't include iPad or iPod touch, which are both iOS devices.
Here's the primary source.
http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/in-u-s-market-new-smartphone-buyers-increasingly-embracing-android/
Note that the current iPod touch is a year old and so most closely matches the iPhone 4, rather than the current iPhone 4S. Even then there are differences besides the lack of telephony. Memory is 256MB vs 512MB. The rear camera 0.7 MegaPixel vs 5 MegaPixel. And it lacks GPS and compass.
As a result it has a different PCB and comes in a smaller and lighter package. It is a different device, it's not just the same device with a component missing.
Okay, I have to respond to this. Not trying to flame anyone (so you can keep your flame retardant suit in the closet) but in what ways are the iPhone keyboard better than the Android ones? As the owner of an iPod Touch (with retina display), iPad and HTC EVO 4G, I really want to know. I've heard this again and again and again but never with any accompanying details or specifics. Are you talking about the stock keyboard (and which version, since I've read that the Gingerbread stock keyboard was an improvement over previous stock keyboards)? Are you saying that none of the Android replacement keyboards are better than the iPhone keyboard?
I can give very specific reasons for why I prefer Android keyboards on the whole to the iOS keyboard. (1) Pretty much all the Android keyboards offer better visual hints when it comes to extended characters (e.g., punctuation, numbers and symbols) because they appear next to the primary character on the key, (2) Pretty much all Android keyboards are easier to use for entering complex passwords with upper and lower case letters because, again, you can see immediately when the letter you are typing is going to be uppercase or lowercase, (3) this could be a matter of taste, but in most situations I prefer the swiping type keyboards like Swype or FlexT9 to any tapping keyboard. I can usually type the fastest and most accurately with this input style, (4) I like the autocorrection of Android keyboards like Swiftkey better than what is available in iOS.
Having said all of this, I have noticed that when purely tap-typing, I seem to be slightly more accurate with the iOS keyboard. I'm not sure why this is, but it could simply be due to the spacing between the characters is better for the size of my fingers.
iPhone : a range of devices by one company
Android : an operating system used by many companies to produce many ranges of competing devices some of them phones
iOS : an operating system used by one company on almost all of it's current product range .... These are not directly comparable in any meaningful way....
Puteulanus fenestra mortis
They are comparable so long as care is taken to compare like with like.
iPhone is comparable with a specific phone series from another manufacturer. Such as the Samsung Galaxy (Galaxy A, Galaxy S, Galaxy SII etc.)
Android is comparable with iOS, provided all devices that each OS is shipped on is included, phones, tablets, media players, set top boxes etc.
Incidentally, iOS isn't on "almost all of Apple's product range". Macs ship with OSX. They are related, but they're also significantly different.
You are so right!
That's why I laugh at my friend's 50" TVs. My 19" one is so much better because the pixel density is so higher!
Pixel density for the win. Steve Jobs said it was all that mattered. And Steve Jobs can't be wrong.
Go into your account settings and use those filters!
Ant(Dude) @ Quality Foraged Links (AQFL.net) & The Ant Farm (antfarm.ma.cx / antfarm.home.dhs.org).
If you sell a tablet that uses a stylus, you have a built in repeat market for replacement styluses. You just need to include some built in RFID dohickey to enforce lock-in in your design.
Think Marketing.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
when purely tap-typing, I seem to be slightly more accurate with the iOS keyboard
That's your answer right there. Most people don't spend most of their time typing in numbers and special characters, nor even capitalizing much.
Actually, even the 7" diagonal Kindle Fire is very easy to hold and operate with one hand (which is why I bought it... the iPad is just too big). I don't have large hands so it should also work fine for most people. The Fire also has a 1024 x 600 screen. The 1024 pixel count is the same as the larger screen iPad so you get great resolution which makes it easy to read.
I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
Sure about that?
In that case, Conwon D3 is one example of an Android media player, and a very good one going by the reviews. Android wins again! /jk
Lol. You got modded troll for posting something that is 100% undeniably true.
I agree. I still have a 19" TV I view from my couch 10 feet away. I don't know why anyone would want a bigger screen to see things on or to interact with.
Jobs is dead, so now the world can undergo some much needed cult de-programming and actually 'think different' for real.
I think I might have to post that on Facebook....
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." ~Thomas Jefferson
Plus their conclusion is so obviously wrong. This is plainly destined for the new macbook air mini.
They're all baristas. Not that there's anything wrong with that. (well, apart from the StarBucks ones)
I thought the iPad was the iPodPro...
By the taping of my glasses, something geeky this way passes
Just because macrumors made a mistake, doesn't mean you can use that mistake as your "evidence".
Macrumors wrote iOS when they meant iPhones.
If you are comparing Android the operating system, please compare it to iOS the operating system.
http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-07-15/tech/29997318_1_ios-android-google says 130 mil devices in July 2011
http://www.unwiredview.com/2011/06/06/apple-ios-stats-200-million-devices-sold-25-million-ipads-14-billion-apps-downloaded-and-more/ says 200 mil devices in Jun 2011
Can you teach me how 130:200 can be turned into 3:1 ?
Thank you very much.
That Ten One Design video doesn't say how it's done. I'm guessing it measures the size of the touch area. That's not the same as genuine pressure sensitivity that you can get from something like a Wacom stylus. I'm guessing that's also why Apple are keeping it as a private API -- it probably doesn't work as well as they would like it to.
The problem is people are not careful, often deliberately so ...
Most Apple favouring bias it to one manufacturer and the US, and Apple is top
Most Android favouring bias it to all Android devices and Europe, and Android is top
Puteulanus fenestra mortis