Okay, I'm not trying to be a dick here. But everytime when I see the rumor about the screen size of iPhone 6, it always remind me how Gruber and Jim Dalrymple, two of the biggest Apple fans on the internet, mock the screen size of Samsung Note before.<p>Note became instantly popular in Asia area and I always thought there are big market for big phones. I even argued with Jim on his G+ saying there are someone who genuinely likes it, they could not believe.<p>Yes, of course, the 4 inches iPhone is perfect. THERE IS NO OTHER SIZE COULD FIT BETTER IN HUMAN"S HAND. Right? Right?<p>How times change.<p>refs:<p>1 Why Apple should sidestep the ‘Phablet’: <a href="http://www.loopinsight.com/2013/03/12/why-apple-should-sidestep-the-phablet/" rel="nofollow">http://www.loopinsight.com/2013/03/12/why-apple-should-sides...</a>
2 Samsung Galaxy Note and a Radio Flyer wagon: <a href="http://www.loopinsight.com/2012/02/08/samsung-galaxy-note-and-a-radio-flyer-wagon/" rel="nofollow">http://www.loopinsight.com/2012/02/08/samsung-galaxy-note-an...</a>
3 Galaxy Note is so big it’s in a timezone of its own: <a href="http://www.loopinsight.com/2012/02/15/galaxy-note-is-so-big-its-in-a-timezone-of-its-own/" rel="nofollow">http://www.loopinsight.com/2012/02/15/galaxy-note-is-so-big-...</a>
4 Samsung’s Galaxy Note Is the Most Useless Phone Jonathan Geller Has Ever Used: <a href="http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/02/15/geller-galaxy-note" rel="nofollow">http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/02/15/geller-galaxy-no...</a>
5 Samsung’s Super-Sized Galaxy Note: <a href="http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/02/15/techblock-galaxy-note" rel="nofollow">http://daringfireball.net/linked/2012/02/15/techblock-galaxy...</a>
I hope Apple segments their phones and makes smaller screens as well. I want something small enough that it practically disappears in my pocket. My ideal phone would be the size of a 4th-gen iPod Nano.[1]<p>Business-wise, large screens make a lot of sense. Most people want them. They're great for people with poor eyesight, especially older people who won't admit they need bifocals. Women usually carry purses, so comfortably fitting in a small pocket isn't an issue. And of course, larger screens look better side-by-side. A lot of consumers are enticed by the immediate appeal of a larger screen. They forget they'll have to lug around a heavier phone that is harder to hold.<p>I've looked around, but I haven't been able to find any smartphone that's as small as an iPod Nano. If anyone has suggestions, I'm all ears.<p>1. <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IPod_Nano_4G_black_crop.jpg" rel="nofollow">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:IPod_Nano_4G_black_c...</a>
If @3x is a thing, wouldn't 1080p be kind of an Occam's Razor resolution for a 4.7 device?<p>Besides the fact that 1080p is common and marketable, it would be the perfect resolution to mirror to an AppleTV.<p>And having both the 4.7 & 5.5 phones be @3x would motivate developers more to add @3x assets. If the 5.5 phone is the only @3x device in Apple's lineup for a while, it might be tempting not to invest.<p>And then a 4K (3840x2160) at @3x might be perfect for a 12.x inch iPad. That would mirror perfectly to 1080p or 4K TVs. It would be 16x9, which is hard to imagine, but mirroring to projectors might be more important for a 12" iPad than the smaller ones? I could really see it used in presentations and education.<p>I say go with the standard resolutions when in doubt, even though there is no real Apple precedent.<p>(edit to add content)
I know I'm in a small minority here (at least, judging by the years of clamor for larger iPhones), but I almost always use my iPhone one-handed, so I'm very skeptical about any larger display. Currently, when holding it in a relaxed position, my thumb can reach a bit to the left of or above the current display, but not both - there would probably be a difficult to reach zone in the top left corner. A larger size would also make my grip less stable.<p>To be fair, I don't have that much actual experience with larger phones, but I did switch to a Galaxy S4 for a few weeks last year, and while it wasn't completely unusable one handed or anything, the unwieldiness of doing so was one of the things that made me happy to get my iPhone back. But it looks like I'll soon be left behind if I want to continue using iOS...
A thought just occurred to me: if the subpixel geometry is based on multiple of 2 on a "3x" pixel device (say, moving from rgb to "pentile"), that would allow for "sharp" rendering of "2x" assets if everything was arranged appropriately.
Just a random anecdote, but I was in a T-Mobile store a couple of weeks ago, and I overheard some random woman looking at phones. When she saw the iPhone, her immediate reaction was: "Ew, oh my god, the screen is so tiny! That's awful!"
So what is then the rationale for the "bigger" variant not being also 326 DPI? That would give something like 1562 x 878 display for the 5.5 inch one. Less pixels, therefore faster. The difference between 326 and 461 DPI is most probably not discernible for most of the people.<p>Another advantage: not needing one more target resolution of the resources. And another: no need for the new scale for the pixel masks by production.
This article would be awesome with some mockups. Gruber's next "and another thing" in these incredible what-ifs could be some DF artwork. (BTW does anybody else drop their large-screen phone a lot or is it just me? I really love the extra screen space but holding onto it is not as easy as it was with a smaller phone)
I think now that retina is widely adopted, Apple no longer needs to worry about 2x, 3x, etc.<p>Even if the phones are 1.457x or whatever, I bet iOS8 will just do its best to scale elements as needed- Since the resolutions are so high already, a scaling error of a fraction of a retina pixel is totally not noticeable.