Forget screen sizes: What screen resolution might the iPhone 6 have?
// Apple
After weeks of reports that the next iPhone will have a larger screen — possibly in the form of two different but bigger models — I'm starting to believe it. And I wouldn't be surprised by the development. I called for 4-inch iPhone in early 2011 because I saw more and more people around me squinting to see videos on the then-3.5-inch iPhone display. I see a similar trend now having jumped on and off the "phablet" bandwagon since September of 2012.
Assuming the rumors are true, the next interesting question is divining what resolution Apple will choose for a larger iPhone screen? At first glance, you might not care. But developers surely do. They won't want another screen resolution to develop iOS apps for without some type of easy migration path. Don't believe me? Look at programmers complaining about Android's many screen shapes, sizes and resolutions to see what Apple wants to avoid.
Here's an illustration from OpenSignal on the Android situation showing various screen sizes found on Android devices:
I suspect Apple will avoid that situation; as best it can, that is. There has to be compromise somewhere. After all, you can't add a larger display to a phone and keep the same overall size the same unless something else changes.
For example, a 4.7-inch iPhone 6 — I'm picking an arbitrary size here — won't be the same overall size as the iPhone 5s unless Apple removes (or significantly modifies) the Touch ID home button. And if Apple were to simply boost the screen size without changing from the current 1136 x 640 resolution of the iPhone 5s, the pixels per inch drops to 277 ppi, i.e.; not quite a "retina display."
Those are just two examples of what Apple has yet to figure out, although if reports are accurate and at least one larger iPhone model is nearing production, Apple likely already made a decision. It would be difficult to make a summer or fall launch date if not.
Apple's been down this (resolution) road before
The company faced the same challenges when boosting the resolution from the iPhone 3GS to the iPhone 4; both of which had a 3.5-inch screen. Apple simply doubled the resolution both horizontally and vertically, gaining higher pixel density while offering developers an easy path for their apps: Pixels were simply doubled. Later, when Apple moved from a 3.5 to a 4-inch screen, it simply added extra pixels horizontally for developers to use. The company couldn't use a scaling technique for the change. As a result, the iPhone 5 and 5s have "taller" displays.
I don't think Apple can take the same approach if the iPhone 6 is indeed larger. By larger this time around, the phone display will likely be a little wider. After all, simply adding horizontal screen space would make the phone much taller than wider and at some point, it could get too tall to use comfortably. Plus, the display would be even wider from left to right when in portrait, which wouldn't help for watching video.
To meet the needs of developers while also increasing the size of the iPhone, my best guess is that the iPhone 6 would have a 1440 x 960 resolution. That's a 150 percent increase from the 960 x 640 resolution of the iPhone 4. I'm not using the 1136 x 640 iPhone 5s display resolution as a baseline because to me that was a one-off choice to make the 4-inch display work until Apple was ready to make a bigger change.
A resolution of 1440 x 960 keeps the 3:2 aspect ratio of the iPhone 4 / 4S and at 4.5 inches, would have a pixel density of 384.59 ppi. Bump the screen up to 4.7-inches — another rumored size — and the PPI only drops to 368.23. Either way, such displays would provide more pixels per inch than any current iPhone, which Apple can use as a selling point. (Note: A 5-inch display with this resolution also has a higher than retina display pixel density of 346.13. That's plenty clear for a handset: I'm still not seeing the need for the alleged 2560 x 1440 "2k" screen and the 525 PPI expected in upcoming Samsung's Galaxy S5.
One caveat: There actually would be one benefit for Apple choosing to use 1136 x 640 to build from: It's a 16 : 9 aspect ratio. I still don't think Apple will scale from that resolution but I point out the aspect ratio as a compelling reason for it to do so. Scaling up at 150 percent would mean a resolution of 1704 x 960, which seems a bit odd to me. Then again, 1136 wasn't a well-known standard for pixels, either.
Why not just go for two times the pixels and fun?
So why wouldn't Apple just double the screen resolution of the iPhone 4? That would mean a screen with 1920 x 1280, which is surely feasible; there are several Android phones currently available with 1920 x 1080 displays. But I don't think Apple needs to boost resolution that high. On a 1440 x 960 display, iOS apps will surely look fine, so why incur the cost of a 1920 x 1280 display? I'm not saying this is out of the question, but I think it's overkill.
Regardless, an iPhone 6 with either a 1440 x 960 or a 1920 x 1280 resolution is still going to need the screen to expand vertically as well as horizontally. I suspect Apple will do everything it can to minimize screen bezel and save room above and below the display to keep its next phone as small as it can be while adding the larger screen at the same time. Motorola's Moto X is a fine example of this, using a 4.7-inch display with a footprint that's not much bigger than the current iPhone.
Again, this is speculation and educated guesswork on my part. It's all arguable, of course. I don't have any concrete plans or knowledge of what Apple will do for the iPhone 6, or if it will even be called the iPhone 6. The company has been able to keep developers and users happy as it grew the iPhone to its current size, however, and I think it will do the exact same with the next edition.
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