I personally am unhappy with the current screen size. I would like to see Apple go larger but not too large. My preferred screen size of the next iphone would be between 4.3 and 4.5 inches. Here is how they can do it without rocking the boat for all the developers out there that have already created a resolution size of 1136 and 640.
Option 1: create the screen 1/8 inch wider and .22 inches taller. This would be a .125 increase in width and .22 increase in height. (to keep a 16:9 ratio) They can still keep the pixel resolution the same at 1136 x 640 but just barely make the screen larger. This would make the screen dimensions 2.125 x 3.722. This would create a screen size of 4.28 (almost 4.3) and a PPI of 305. Yes, they would decrease the PPI this way, but technically a larger screen would allow viewing from further away and they could still call it a Retina Display. (Or just drop the name, who cares?) A 305 PPI is still respectable and is exactly what the Samsung GS3 currently has. (and you dont hear anyone complaining) The pixels would be a bit larger and perhaps the screens would be less expensive to make. Going this route would make everything on the screen 12% larger. They keyboard, the app icons, text on a website, games, buttons, everything would be 12% larger. I dont think this is a bad idea at all. And they can please most smartphone buyers that want something a little extra. They would still sell a ton of them if they could just get over the PPI reduction and no developer would have to do a single thing. If only the screen got larger and everything about the phone stayed the same, the total exterior dimensions of the phone would be 2.435 w by 5.09 h.
Option 2: create a screen that is 1/4 inch wider. This would make an increase of .25 inches to the width and .44 inches to the height. (to keep a 16:9 ratio) The screen dimensions would then become 2.25 wide by 3.94 tall. Screen size measured diagonally would be 4.5 inches. (which is a beautiful size by the way without getting unwieldy) They can keep the amount of pixels the same at 1136 x 640 but make the pixels larger. The PPI would now be 288ish. (still not bad, but below the desirable 300 mark, yet keep in mind that the iPad 3 has a PPI of about 250 and it looks great) Going this route would make everything on the screen 25% larger. Buttons, apps, games, text everything would be 25% larger. (that could either look great or cartoony, without having a prototype, i couldnt tell ya) A 4.5 inch screen could compete with many 4.7 and 5inch Android phones of the day. (not that Apple has to compete, but i think that many of their customers would want a larger screen and this is the easiest way to deliver) This would result in the overall exterior dimensions of the phone being 2.56 w by 5.31 h. And Apple could work with the bezel of the phone to even reduce that size, especially at the top and bottom. The iPhone 5 did reduce the top and bottom bezel by 1/8 of an inch over the 4S.
So there you go, thats my two cents. Honestly, i would be happy with the first scenario with the iPhone 5s and perhaps the 2nd scenario with the iPhone 6. Of course, they could just add more pixels horizontally and vertically but this would cause for a lot of undesirable black bars at the top and bottom of the new phone until developers made the adjustment. (is it the end of the world, no, but they didnt radically change the screen resolution on the iPhone 5 for a reason, and my argument is just furthering that logic)
Whatever happens, i would like to see a 4.3 or 4.5 inch screen on the phone. I dont care about 4.7 or 5 inch screen sizes, but to me having the keyboard a little large and with a little extra room would be great, watching larger movies is also welcome as well as games. And lastly, larger text on a website is much much welcome.
Please tell me what you think!
Option 1: create the screen 1/8 inch wider and .22 inches taller. This would be a .125 increase in width and .22 increase in height. (to keep a 16:9 ratio) They can still keep the pixel resolution the same at 1136 x 640 but just barely make the screen larger. This would make the screen dimensions 2.125 x 3.722. This would create a screen size of 4.28 (almost 4.3) and a PPI of 305. Yes, they would decrease the PPI this way, but technically a larger screen would allow viewing from further away and they could still call it a Retina Display. (Or just drop the name, who cares?) A 305 PPI is still respectable and is exactly what the Samsung GS3 currently has. (and you dont hear anyone complaining) The pixels would be a bit larger and perhaps the screens would be less expensive to make. Going this route would make everything on the screen 12% larger. They keyboard, the app icons, text on a website, games, buttons, everything would be 12% larger. I dont think this is a bad idea at all. And they can please most smartphone buyers that want something a little extra. They would still sell a ton of them if they could just get over the PPI reduction and no developer would have to do a single thing. If only the screen got larger and everything about the phone stayed the same, the total exterior dimensions of the phone would be 2.435 w by 5.09 h.
Option 2: create a screen that is 1/4 inch wider. This would make an increase of .25 inches to the width and .44 inches to the height. (to keep a 16:9 ratio) The screen dimensions would then become 2.25 wide by 3.94 tall. Screen size measured diagonally would be 4.5 inches. (which is a beautiful size by the way without getting unwieldy) They can keep the amount of pixels the same at 1136 x 640 but make the pixels larger. The PPI would now be 288ish. (still not bad, but below the desirable 300 mark, yet keep in mind that the iPad 3 has a PPI of about 250 and it looks great) Going this route would make everything on the screen 25% larger. Buttons, apps, games, text everything would be 25% larger. (that could either look great or cartoony, without having a prototype, i couldnt tell ya) A 4.5 inch screen could compete with many 4.7 and 5inch Android phones of the day. (not that Apple has to compete, but i think that many of their customers would want a larger screen and this is the easiest way to deliver) This would result in the overall exterior dimensions of the phone being 2.56 w by 5.31 h. And Apple could work with the bezel of the phone to even reduce that size, especially at the top and bottom. The iPhone 5 did reduce the top and bottom bezel by 1/8 of an inch over the 4S.
So there you go, thats my two cents. Honestly, i would be happy with the first scenario with the iPhone 5s and perhaps the 2nd scenario with the iPhone 6. Of course, they could just add more pixels horizontally and vertically but this would cause for a lot of undesirable black bars at the top and bottom of the new phone until developers made the adjustment. (is it the end of the world, no, but they didnt radically change the screen resolution on the iPhone 5 for a reason, and my argument is just furthering that logic)
Whatever happens, i would like to see a 4.3 or 4.5 inch screen on the phone. I dont care about 4.7 or 5 inch screen sizes, but to me having the keyboard a little large and with a little extra room would be great, watching larger movies is also welcome as well as games. And lastly, larger text on a website is much much welcome.
Please tell me what you think!