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No—stop it. Close that tab. Stop reading that. The Apple rumor de jour—a 4.6-inch iPhone 5—is the same reheated broth some filthy cook serves yearly. It wasn’t true last year, or the year before. Here’s why it’s still BS.
Reuters, usually a staid, reliable entity when it comes to not spreading gleeful crap rumors, dove headfirst into this one:
Apple has decided on the bigger 4.6-inch display for its next iPhone and started placing orders to its suppliers, the Maeil Business Newspaper said, quoting an unnamed industry source.
Oh, well in that case! That’s about as trustworthy as someone stumbling, blacked out, from a dive bar bathroom and handing you a crayon-drawn list of iPhone 5 features. But beyond the complete baselessness of the report, there are good reasons why this thing rumor is hot, sweaty air, regardless of source.
“Retina display” is the phrase of the day at Apple. Its meaning is fluid, but its connotations are clear: beautiful screen! Apple’s gadgets keep getting prettier displays, and a bump up to 4.6 inches would create some serious problems. The iPhone 4S is sitting pretty at a DPI of 326. But bloat the screen up by 1.1 inches, and your density drops to 250 DPI—that ain’t retina display. Even if Apple threw in a 720p resolution on the next phone, it’d still be a net decrease in pixel density from last year’s model. A big no-no.
Oh! And then every single app in the entire store would have to be redesigned. Another, giant, flaming no-no.
Jobs decided the iPhone would be 3.5 inches six years ago. Every single iPhone has been 3.5 inches. Every single iPod Touch has been 3.5 inches. Apple, even under the competent Captain Cook, would make customers and investors alike nervous once they started to stray from the Jobsian Plan for The Universe.
As it exists now, the iPhone (2G, 3G, 3GS, 4, 4S) fits perfectly in your hand, whether you’ve got bigger than usual mitts or baby hands. The entire screen and home button can be struck by your thumb alone. It’s just big enough for movies, perfect as a camera rangefinder, and perfectly comfortable for casual reading. It’ll also fit just fine in your pants, no matter how skinny. There’s just something optimal about 3.5 inches. We know it, and Apple knows it. For a company with such monastic dedication to consistency, this isn’t a factor the company is likely to start screwing with—especially with an inch-plus increase. So what’s Apple’s incentive? Why alter a form that sells millions upon millions every single year?
To say the least. Let’s reiterate: this rumor has come out of a Korean newspaper with no Apple track record to speak of, citing an “unnamed industry source” about a “second quarter” launch that makes no sense. Apple is going to release a new iPhone 7-9 months after the last one? Nuh uh.
As our pals at FWD pointed out, as phone manufacturers come out with ever-expanding displays, we’re approaching a Phone/Penis Singularity. Just like computers used to slap each other back and forth over speed, phones now race to out-big each other, with the hilarious grotesquery of the Galaxy Note being one logical result. Will it stop there? Probably not! The HTC Titan is a delightful exception, but bigger has by no means proven to be better. Conceding anything close to this would put Apple in a pissing contest, rather a city on a hill.
Photo by Techblock
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I switched from the iPhone 4 to the GS2 and I’ll never go back after trying out the Iphone 4S. The screen is way too small, having a 4.3 inch screen is just so much better and tbh I’d even go up to a 5inch screen depending on the size of the bezel for a mobile. You just cannot do anything on a 3.5 inch screen and controlling games takes up most the screen compared to a bigger one.
Also the iPhone 4S has the horrible IOS which locks you into iTunes which I hate and find slow as hell on Windows, I’m not going to use OSX because it just doesn’t have the functionality of Windows, doesn’t have the games that Windows has and the hardware is lacking.
I also hate how slow the iPhone is to update apps, so used to the GS2 being instant. I hate how it doesn’t have flash player, I can watch BBC iPlayer in Desktop mode on the GS2 and cannot on the iPhone, the app sucks so don’t wanna use it.
The camera flash isn’t as good, they don’t let you change the battery which IMO is vital for long travel. The signal is never as good on the iPhone, I get way better signal on the GS2. Just everything is slower, harder to use and lacks functionality because Apple never let you do anything.
For the people who say Jailbreak, well you have to wait months for it to be released and at that point you might as well have Android.
I bought the iPhone 4 because everyone rated iPhones so highly, soon found out that Android is just so much better. I can update roms whenever I want and they still let me use the store. I can run any modded Rom and be able to use the market. I can run emulators to play playstation or N64 games and I’m free to use the phone how I want to and use codecs like Flash and use Micro SD cards.
Apple are all hype, their products are shit.
I’m sorry, I think my eyes have deceived me. Did you just say that apple products are harder to use?
Because they’re not.
Let me put it like this. My parents aren’t very techy people. My dad struggles to even navigate his android, yet when I hand him my iPhone, he can do everything he needs to, without calling me over every other minute.
There’s a reason why Apple products are said to “just work”.
Although, I can see why you think why the GS2 is better.
Agreed, i’ve had Galaxy Nexus for a week now and it just blows anything else I have used out of the water. Being able to browse websites fairly normally, without needing to pan, pinch and zoom all the time is a breath of fresh air.
I think for most other tasks a 3.5″ screen is probably okay, but browsing web pages really needs that bit extra for it to be comfortable.
I didn’t really give it much thought on my old phone, it was how it was, it worked, it was just very fiddly zooming to read text and click links. Until you have actually tried it for any length of time it’s hard to see how the other side live. Something Apple fans will never know, because they don’t have that CHOICE.
I can use it one handed with zero problems and it fits just fine in my jean pocket.
I think the point about screen size is valid! A bigger screen on an iPhone would be desirable. However in every other way the iPhone is superior, the quality of apps, the os, the lot.
As for not having a choice?? Everyone has a choice, I choose apple after using many devices, the choice I make is for what I find to be the better device.
Referring to apple users as they, only makes you sound ignorant, android user are not on a pedestal looking down iOS as you would believe.
No choice within the iOS ecosystem, to which they are tethered.
The Apps issue is fairly redundant now, anything useful has been released for both platforms in more or less the same form. There is probably a few games for iOS that don’t and won’t exist on Android. But the reality is, anything that sells well will be ported anyway.
Also, since when has the word ‘they’ been derogatory? You know, them, those, the others, not me.
Each to his own, I am an Android user who prefers iOS and the iPhone will be my next phone.
The main reason I find Android sucks is the apps. There simply isn’t the quality or selection of apps on Android as there is on the iPhone. There just isn’t, it isn’t opinion, it is fact. I became an Android user over two years ago knowing this full well but I thought that Android would catch up, and it hasn’t.
Some of your reasons are pretty weird: “I can watch BBC iPlayer in Desktop mode on the GS2 and cannot on the iPhone.”
Why would you want the desktop site thats a pain to navigate on the phone? If you visit BBC iPlayer on an iPhone (you do not have to use the app) you get the same content but the navigation is designed for the phone. Also the videos play smoother and use far far less battery because they are h.264 and use hardware acceleration.
Also about jailbreaking – you rarely have to wait long, the new iPad was jailbroken in a few hours after launch. And guess what? You have to wait for Android phones to be rooted. I waited a long time for root for mine.
I agree, the mrs has an android phone, I always struggle to find decent apps, in comparison. To iOS they suck!
All the major apps that are useful are on Android and Android is far out selling IOS devices so it’s only a matter of time before the focus switches. I’ve never used many apps when I had an iPhone anyways, everyone goes on about the games but the controls are so bad on a touch screen, especially on the small screen. I mean the only games worth playing are things like Angry Birds and Cut the Rope and they’re on everything.
The only apps I needed to use on IOS are ones that I have to use because flash player isn’t supported in the browser. Also ones to overcome the limitations of the phone to make it more useful.
The main problem I have with IOS is I’m never given the choice. I cannot transfer files straight over from my PC, once you have any media or data on the phone, you cannot get it off again. Obviously there is no flash player which makes the internet a crap experience as you have to download so many website apps as a result. iPhones also only support 2.4ghrz which is annoying if you do not own a dual band router. I also hate the bleed through on the iphone’s screen where as many Android devices are OLED which is far superior. When the black levels are so black it looks like the bezel, over time you think of the bezel as part of the screen, it’s amazing.
Now for Android.
- I can play Gameboy, N64 and Playstation emulators etc.
- Downloaded torrents
- Can play any codecs I want
- Have the choice in hundreds of handsets which means I can get something that I want, instead of being stuck with one small model.
- Can update roms myself and choose which ones I want.
- Can easily install apps without having to have iTunes.
- Can customise my whole phone to how I like it.
etc etc.
It’s just so much better, so much more usable and now ICS has been released it’s much faster and nicer to look at too. My mum has an iPhone and had a go on my GS2 and she wants to get one now. She finds it easier to use because it lets you transfer data directly from device to device which the iPhone doesn’t.
My GF has an iPhone as well and yet she uses my GS2 to stream TV while doing her make up, which she would never and probably could never do on the iPhone.
Who needs iplayer on a little screen, what sort of a dumb fuck watches tv that’s not even live on a phone anyway, i would rather wait until i got home to watch, stick bbc iplayer on a tablet or pc or tv by all means but a phone? I prefer to watch tv on a large screen, maybe 4.6 inch is large enough for you! I wouldn’t have thought this would have be a deciding factor. And what about catch up tv, that’s live tv, not crap you can watch later, does android have an app for that?
Don’t wanna be locked into iTunes, jailbreak! The ipad was jailbroken on day 1, how is that months? Want to buy non apple apps then go to Cydia, simple.
My 3year can use iOS, let’s be honest usability does not get any easier than swipe left and right and click twice to run! How much easier would you like it?
If you like emulators you should check the mame emulator on cydia, 5000 roms, not to forget icade support!
As for flash, just download cloud browse or sky fire.
Don’t think the arguments you state stack up for most folk, maybe that’s why apple sell more devices..
Have you actually used cydia ? Crashes all the time and is laggy as hell…
Never ever had a problem! Try adding more application sources.
lol skyfire is not the same as having native flash built in, half the time it doesn’t work and it’s slow with poor quality when it does. Lots of people watch stuff on their phone, you’ve just never wanted to on that horrible tiny 3.5 inch screen. If I’m out on the train or something I can put the Sky F1 “FLASH BASED STREAM” on some website streaming it and I don’t have to pay the crazy prices Sky want for it.
At the point of jail breaking it, just get an Android! Stop having to take all these steps just to be able to use a phone how you want. There is nothing special in the hardware as it’s all made by Samsung anyways.
I don’t usually get involved in Apple vs Android battles but flash on a phone is stupid. Everyone knows flash is hugely CPU intensive for a phone and drains battery in no time. Nearly all video sites now have non-flash support meaning the only use for flash would be badly designed and obsolete brand pages and flash games (which are almost always designed for keyboard and mouse). Arguing that lack of flash in iOS is bad is just plain stupid. Flash is old, pointless technology and is on the way out.
(And I’m sorry if it means you won’t be able to PIRATE tv channels any more)
tl:dr Flash sucks
Yes, Flash is old technology and on the way out, but it is far from as dead as some might wish and until it is, having flash on your phone is still useful. Also “Nearly all video sites now have non-flash support” care to back that up with a link to some proof, or is that just your opinion. Please note, for the purposes of this,iPhone/iPad support does not count as “non-flash support”.
Well I don’t have numbers but youtube, dailymotion, vimeo, BBC iplayer (and BBC news) to name a few. And yes, by “non-flash” I mean they do work with iOS.
Most subscription vid services (netflix, Sky go, LoveFilm) don’t even use flash and use silverlight on PCs. There are apps on iOS for all of them, not sure what the android coverage is.
iPlayer was a really bad example, It provides compatible streams for iOS devices, but insists Android devices use flash. Also if you holding up silverlight as an alternative to flash you are defeating your own argument since it is even more proprietary since it only works on Windows and OSX
I’m not holding up silverlight as an alternative – I’m saying that the fact that Android can run flash doesn’t mean it can watch those streams as they don’t use flash. I’m reinforcing the point that content distributors are moving away from flash so arguing that Android is better because it has flash is plain wrong.
Well it doesnt drain my battery on ICS. Besides u can easily remove the battery and put a more powerful one in, you can also carry batteries with you.
“At the point of jail breaking it, just get an Android! Stop having to take all these steps just to be able to use a phone how you want.”
You root your Android phone, which is a similar idea to jailbreaking. Jailbreaking is far easier than rooting. You can’t compare a rooted Android phone to a non jailbroken iPhone.
And flash sucks, it does. It is installed by default on my phone (and cannot be removed without rooting, so much for choice) and I have never ever found a single website where it is anything more than barely usable. Any videos are choppy and the controls are unusable because they were designed for a mouse and not a touch screen. Adobe know this and they have announced they won’t be supporting it for the next major release of Android.
I remember reading something on MacRumors with a screenshot of how on the iPhone you can reach every corner of the phone without moving the phone in your hand or using the other hand.
For me the current size is fine. With the Retina display there is no need for a bigger screen. I’m fine watching videos on a small screen and if I want to watch it bigger I’d use a Desktop or my iPad.
Found it. Not MacRumors though:
http://gadgetsolute.com/why-is-iphone-4s-screen-just-3-5-inches/
It’s a comfortable size.
Agree, this is by far the most plausible answer for it’s current longevity, and was probably a deciding factor in the cost/performance evaluation.
I expect that once the bezel can be eliminated completely, the dimension will swell to fill the same width i.e. about 1cm on the diagonal.
When they do that, I hope they lose the areas to the top and bottom as well; leaving ‘just’ a screen.
I have an HTC Titan which has a 4.7″ screen. I had to change the way I held it but I can still reach every corner with one hand and I don’t have particularly huge hands. My iPod touch now feels like a toy to use though..
“It’s just big enough for movies, perfect as a camera rangefinder, and perfectly comfortable for casual reading.”
It’s just big enough that your thumbs get in the way when playing games…
But I hope it stays the same, Apple need to sort out iOS before they go tinkering with the hardware.
I thought you guys just told us that the galaxy notes were selling better in Australia just today. Why so harsh?
Maybe that’s due to a ban on galaxy tabs… Maybe!
You know why we get these rumours every year? Because it’s what many iPhone users want. For all those who will now protest that this is not true I say this. 1 day after having a bigger screen you will never want to go back.
Problem: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/mar/21/smartphones-android-ios-apple
Those UK figures are a worry for Apple, and fairly reflective of the world market, other than the US. And as the article states China is to become the biggest smartphone market later this year.
But look at that graph, iPhone have been on a downward tend for 12 months, other than a small glitch when the 4S hit the market, but the vast increase in iPhone sales only had a small impact on the Android sales, meaning this was just the Apple faithful upgrading, then it when back into rapid decline mode after that.
Some market experts are not predicting that in the next 10 years everyone will have a Droid in their pockets.
So why the decrease in sales? I can only think of two big issues to account for it, closed technology, that the majority of normal smartphone owners don’t care about, geeks do but normal people don’t. The other issue is screen size, everyone cares about that, a lot more than pixels-per-inch.
So it all very well making and selling white bread when the market trend wants white bread, but what do you do when the market wants brown bread? You have two options carry on regardlessly hoping the trend will change and your sales don’t drop off the radar, or start making the things people are wanting and buying.
A famous people once said, ‘If you don’t cannibalize yourself, someone else will.’ And Apple are still selling a fair amount of 3.5″ phones but for 12 months now that 3.5″ phone needed to be cannibalize by a bigger one, because Android phones are cannibalizing it already.
It is all every well looking back and saying this is how it was, but it isn’t any more, and as someone once said about Jobs, ‘You don’t walk into the future by looking back.’ I think we can safely assume that once the SIII hits the UK and if the iPhone remains 3.5″ they will have less than 10-15% of the market in the UK, and only one reason for that – screen size.
Tbh when I look at my GS2 OLED screen compared to the iPhone 4S the colours are so much nicer, no screen bleed and it’s bigger, making it easier to use. To me that is far more important that PPI and you never look close enough at a phone to care. I never see any jagged edges you get on a device with low pixel density on the GS2, you’d have to look under a microscope to see the difference.
I agree the GS2 screen is stunning, we respond to colour and contrast not pixel counts. The way that black case perfectly matches the screen black is special, you find it hard to tell where black pixels end and the black case begins, one of the best pieces of solid phone design ever.
I love the big screens, it makes them so much more usable and functional, that is reflective of UK phone sales. I don’t care for thinner phones, don’t get me wrong everyone loves a slim sleek build, but if I need to make a call between a millimetre slimmer or more battery life I’d always go for the battery life.
It is strange how people don’t get it, and it isn’t hard to see or understand. Apple are losing market share and the main reason is screen size, Apple can continue to lose market share with a under-sized screen in a big screen market, or change and perform well. If the next iPhone has a 3.5″ screen then the next iPhone will be nothing but a marginalised product, and anyone that thinks that is debatable is purely deluded.
And this isn’t about which is better, Android of iOS? I don’t see much in it, they are both very good. But for logic let us say iOS devices are better. OK, so we then need to ask, why are android smartphones sales increasing and iOS smartphone sales decreasing? Answers on a postcard to: PO BOX 5TU P1D – the lucky winner gets a brain cell to use.
I am not convinced the general public is buying Android phones because of the larger screens. I personally prefer larger screens but people like my girlfriend hate them. My friend bought the SGS2 and his first comment was the screen was a bit too big. A far more likely explanation is that there is a larger variety (there are hundreds of Android handsets) and Android contracts are generally far cheaper.
But I agree that I would like Apple to offer more options regarding screen size etc though that’s not typically how they work.
Some Android phones are cheaper, many of those contracts more affordable, with much more variety for every pocket, but that doesn’t account for the Samsung Galaxy SII being the best selling smartphone in the UK for the last 12 months, as we are really talking the same sort of money for a contract. I can understand some people having a problem with the size of a SII, but most people don’t and the sales reflect that.
The fact is people said the SII was too big but it sold in droves, voted best phone and number 1 seller all over the place, people said the Note was stupid, millions shipped and number one seller downunder, it just goes to show people can say what they like but mostly they don’t know shit about anything.
That Galaxy Note in the picture has a 5.3″ display, you know
The rumored Galaxy SIII with a 4.7″ display is not that big:
http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s_iii_alleged_official_photo_and_specs_leak-news-3999.php
That said, a 4.6″ 4:3 display would be rather big! I would say around 4″ would be suitable without having to increase the dimensions of the phone that much especially if they used smaller bezel.
RE: The Terrifying Ghost of Steve Jobs
If Steve Jobs created a plan that he expected people to stick to, regardless of market conditions and sales figures or he left people in charge who are too scared to inovate because that would mean moving away from what he had done, then he deserves non of the plaudits the world has given him. I for one do not believe either of these things is true.
I think sooner or later Apple will increase the screen size, simply because users waht a bigger screen.
It’ll be a good move for Apple to do it now, to show that they listen to their users, but this is Apple so expect them not to do it for a few years, by which time their market share will be so small it doesn’t matter anymore.
The only thing Apple still have left is their name, and they are squeezing all the juice they can from it. They are lucky that China still thinks so highly of them, they will do very well in China, and while the Chinese market is still growing at a fast rate, Apple will ignore everyone else.
“Oh! And then every single app in the entire store would have to be redesigned. Another, giant, flaming no-no.”
Yes, because Apple really has a reputation for putting what its users want first rather than just deciding what they want to do and having their loyal fanbase follow them – complaining or not.
Apps are Apples golden goose, there is no way that they would force a redesign on them unless is was absolutely necessary..
Why not? The release of the iPad forced developers to modify apps to fit a larger screen size. I can see it happening with another iteration of the iPhone too.
No it didn’t. Old apps from the iPhone still worked fine. It was a doubling of resolution. If you went to 720p it would require weird scaling so everything would be distorted and end up having lines taking up half a pixel and such. Something very un-Apple like. Or at least thats how I understand it..
That’s what I mean – that’s what would happen on a larger iPhone.
Not to mention another redesign for the new iPad.
I have no idea why rumours like this are still reported on, let alone believed. It is the same for the 7″ iPad. Apple products are nothing if not predictable. 4.6″ phones and 7″ tablets go completely against everything that Apple see in these products. It just makes absolutely no sense at all.
I think the rumour wagon for the iPhone 4S and the iPad 3 both showed us that there is a bit gap between what over paid “analysts” want and what Apple’s plans are.
I agree that at some point they are going to realise that they have refined the iPad and iPhone to such a point that software updates are all that they could actually do to them, and then we might see some changes in hardware design. But that is a long time away yet and until then Apple has a solid base which is instantly recognisable and they would be stupid to depart from it.
Sam let’s hope if it’s not 4.6 inch it at least 4 inch as this report would suggest. Also the iwallet feature sound very interesting don’t you think?
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/316996/20120320/apple-iwallet-iphone-5-feature-mobile-payments.htm