back to article Steve Jobs' death clears way for rumoured 4in 'iPhone 5' screen

The next Apple iPhone will have an enlarged 4-inch screen, according to well-placed anonymous sources. The iPhone screen has measured 3.5-inches diagonally since the fruity tech titan's co-founder Steve Jobs brought out the first Jesus mobe in 2007. But Apple is now scaling up the size of its pocket fondleslab, moles told …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I guess if the iPhone5 only comes with a 5" screen - rather than there being multiple versions with different size screens - then this is just an evolution of the design rather than an expansion of the range, and Mr jobs' vision still holds relatively true.

    1. James O'Brien
      Paris Hilton

      How?

      How does St. Jobs vision hold true? If it was really evolution why didn't it evolve a couple years ago? Not to mention this is the same person who also said that a smaller screen would make users have to file their fingers down to use it. Sorry but I just dont see how his "vision" can be all that great if Apple are only now getting around to it. I've been rather happy with my EVO for a while now.

      1. ThomH

        Re: How? (@James)

        I think the AC was referring to Jobs' vision of simple, stratified product lines. Sure, they keep the older models around, but I think the point is that the initial presentation is straightforward, there are no mystifying tables of tick boxes for people to traverse in PC World, Carphone Warehouse or wherever and the thing itself can become a desirable object in the group consciousness of consumers without caveats.

        That's a policy he implemented almost immediately upon his return to Apple, starting with the Mac, and is probably a large part of what saved the company. I think they'll stick to it. If the iPhone gets larger, I'd expect the iPod Touch to get larger too and for no current generation smaller variants to remain available. No doubt they'll brand it a transition and cite the moves to PowerPC, to OS X and to Intel as evidence that they're not diluting, just advancing. Apply your own pinch of salt.

        Obviously there are a bunch of ways that an iPhone screen size change and an iPad Mini would directly contradict previous Jobs keynotes. He used to do that himself, but the observation is nevertheless valid.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I hate the way phones are getting bigger. Just like people they are getting larger.

      Little men appear to like big cars, maybe there is a similar psychology with big phones.

      Are they used to fill that big empty space in their trousers?

      I miss the days of iconic phones, the startac, the 8210 and even the N95. Now we need a briefcase.

      I hope Apple don't go oversize, truthfully you look a.prat talking into an A4 folder sized phones. It's just not cool.

      1. James O'Brien
        FAIL

        @AC 17:22

        Ok so your saying little men appear to like big cars? And you can judge my size by my post? I wouldnt say I'm little I just chose Androids platform over Apple for several different reasons, the top two of which are I am not fond of being one of the cool people based off what device (or clothes I wear, car I drive, movies I like etc etc) I am using and two I have an intense hatred for how closed Apple is.

        So I'm a prat because I prefer a phone that actually fits my hand nicely and doesnt feel too small? Me thinks someone believes their shit doesn't stink either.

        BTW you show me a (mobile)phone with the dimensions of an A4 piece of paper (8.3 × 11.7 in) and I will retract that last comment But I digress as that won't happen for a looong time if at all.

        1. ByeLaw101
          Devil

          Re: @AC 17:22

          "BTW you show me a (mobile)phone with the dimensions of an A4 piece of paper (8.3 × 11.7 in) and I will retract that last comment But I digress as that won't happen for a looong time if at all."

          The Samsung Galaxy Tab is a phone as well... not quite A4 but it's getting close!

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: @AC 17:22

          Methinks raw nerve

  2. ed2020
    Thumb Down

    "Fanbois are already frothing after news that a mini iPad is in the works."

    Most of the frothing over Apple rumours around here seems to be from El Reg hacks. It might be mildly interesting if these rumours were attributable but when they're merely assigned to "well-placed anonymous sources" (whatever that means) it doesn't even register on the lower ends of my interest scale.

    1. J. R. Hartley

      Re: "Fanbois are already frothing after news that a mini iPad is in the works."

      Well the mental image of fanbois frothing actually made me laugh when reading the article. Love it Reg.

    2. Euchrid

      Re: "Fanbois are already frothing after news that a mini iPad is in the works."

      Too right... sadly.

    3. Bill B

      "well-placed anonymous sources"

      or "they were at the bar and bought me a drink"

  3. Jeebus

    So is there anything his death hasn't opened the doors of then?

    Seems like it's been a really good thing, what with all these new opportunities and products coming about.

    1. Jonathan White
      FAIL

      I have a feeling every change Apple makes to any product for about the next... say five years maybe, some useless hack will spout up 'they can do this now Steve Jobs is dead, because he vetoed it when he was alive'.

      5" iPhone - only possible now Steve is dead

      7" iPad - only possible now Steve is dead

      'close' button a slightly different shade of red - only possible now Steve is dead

      1. DrXym

        I think its more likely that every change Apple makes in the next 5 years will be accompanied by some BS that Steve was personally involved and approved the final design.

        Sort of like how Gene Roddenberry managed to be credited for some (awful) TV shows long after he kicked the bucket.

      2. Seanie Ryan
        Mushroom

        plus 1

        have to agree about the "X possible now steve is dead" comments.

        Seems to be a flavour of the month statement from this Birdy News Site.

        At least they have calmed down on the one CAPITAL word in the headline to make an article appear more gripping when its probably dull.

        and this fanboi is definitely *not* frothing about bigger phone screens or smaller tablet screens. I like to be able to pocket my phone and use my tablet.

      3. csumpi
        Megaphone

        How about:

        - get rid of the shared menu bar in osx

        - option to disable workspace switch animation

        - itunes and app store as optional, not default installed

        - real buttons for the touchpads

        And please:

        - round the edges of the unibody macbooks. they hurt.

    2. Armando 123

      One thing ...

      "So is there anything his death hasn't opened the doors of then?"

      Sponsoring a NASCAR team. Just can't see them doing that.

      They did, however, partly sponsor the 1996 Indy 500 car of Arie Luyendyk that set the still-standing lap record of 237.9. But then most Indycar fans brush their teeth, so there y'are.

    3. Solomon Emmanuel Goldstien
      Devil

      Jeebus said - "So is there anything his death hasn't opened the doors of then?

      Seems like it's been a really good thing, what with all these new opportunities and products coming about."

      Since his death did not

      A) Open The Gates of Hell and unleast demons to kill us all

      B) Mark the start of The Zombie Apocalypse

      I suppose it will at least give apple a bit more leeway in introducing more products...

  4. GaryJK

    They're just responding to consumer demand. Apple arguably created the market for modern smartphones but it will be the consumer who dictates it's future.

  5. K
    WTF?

    Used to love my iphone

    But switched to the SG2 when it hit the streets... I think Apple are missing the point here, people like the bigger screens. Moving to a 4" screen is still playing catch up, if it had a 4.2 or 4.5, I'd probably have moved back..

    I guess Apple are now Evolutionary, rather than Revolutionary..

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Used to love my iphone

      You think that following the rest of the pack in slapping a bigger screen makes something revolutionary?

      Interesting.

      1. Tom 38
        WTF?

        Re: Used to love my iphone

        No, you just can't read. He said adding a larger screen makes Apple evolutionary and not revolutionary.

        In other words, the opposite of what you took away.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          FAIL

          Re: Used to love my iphone

          No, YOU can't read - he was complaining that Apple was going for a 4" when others are on bigger sizes already.

          What was he was expecting for "revolutionary", a 6" iPhone? The whole argument is stupid.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Used to love my iphone

            for some reason he also seems to think that a 4" screen isn't good enough, but a 4.2" screen would be acceptable.

            I'm not sure how anyone could think that 0.2" would make such a great difference, not even my girlfriend!

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Used to love my iphone

            "What was he was expecting for "revolutionary", a 6" iPhone? The whole argument is stupid."

            Maybe if Apple had gone to a 4.5 before anyone else, but they've been playing catch up for a while now.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Used to love my iphone

      Does make for a very large phone though - some of us prefer a small one in our pockets. Apple should do 2 different phones - one with the same size screen and one with a larger one.

      1. Asgard
        Coat

        Re: Used to love my iphone

        @AC: "Apple should do 2 different phones - one with the same size screen and one with a larger one."

        So for this "larger one", you want a phone bigger than an iphone, but smaller than an iPad? That would make it an iPhad!. Sounds ideally suited to the fans.

    3. DrXym

      Re: Used to love my iphone

      Make the screen too small and it becomes fiddly. Make it too big and it doesn't fit in your pocket. I think 3.5" is too small. I have a 3.5" display and it can be very fiddly at times especially some games which require a precision which touch on the phone cannot support. The sweet spot has to be between 4.0" and 4.5" but other factors like the size of the bezel also need to be addressed.

    4. Graham Wilson
      Flame

      Re: Used to love my iphone - Heroin works that way. One has to upgrade daily.

      ...to more and bigger amounts.

      About 18 months ago, a colleague here in my office won a brand-new-in-box 16GB iPhone 3G-S as a door prize at a seminar he was attending. He showed so little interest in it that it took a week of asking him to bring it in so I could have a play with it (being in IT, one's expected to know about such things).

      After a coupe of weeks or so of familiarizing myself with it, I put it back in its box where it has remained until this article prompted me to dig it out, now it's on my desk as I write.

      It really worries me. Whilst no one here has yet succumbed to addiction to any brand of smartphone let alone this iPad--like the pharmacist who is always surrounded by tempting narcotics--the temptation is always there.

      Whilst its owner will never be interested in it, the rest of us techies could be tempted, so we've entered into a pact--a unanimous agreement of monitoring each other: if any one of us gets too interested in the device then the others have agreed to grab it at the first opportunity and run over it with one of the warehouse forklifts!

      You think I'm bullshitting? Well I'm not. Shame El Reg doesn't allow images to be uploaded or I'd post a few photos of me putting it back in its pristine black box with pretty icons on top.

      Laudanum was one legal, and that the beginning of the 20th C. so was cocaine, it was even in Coca Cola--and it took a few years for everyone to realise how truly addictive the stuff was. Same with smartphones, problem is that even the regulators are addicted, so we can't expect the problem to be fixed anytime soon. We've people texting whilst driving, texting whilst crossing over busy highways and getting killed--then there was the bloke who fell down a manhole last week. The world's gone mad with smartphone phone addiction--futzing and time wasted has easily doubled, and that's the least of it.

      Smartphones are the greatest marketing coop of all time, they leave Bill Gates at his peak for dead. There's never been another product in history that's as addictive and as corrupting as this 'electronic heroin', not only is it so seductive that most of its users haven't a glue that they're hopelessly addicted but to top it off it's totally legal worldwide.

  6. Philippe
    Thumb Down

    I hope it's no more than 4 inches

    I've always tought the ideal size for a smartphone is 3.7-3.9 inches.

    Anything beyond that cannot be used with one hand and makes you look like a fool when used as a phone.

    4 inches is too big but at least I hope they stick with their 4/3 form factor.

    Those 16/9 or worst 16/10 screen are pointless.

    1. wowfood

      Re: I hope it's no more than 4 inches

      4 inches is too big to use with one hand?

      *looks at his 4.3 inch smartphone.*

      *looks at his size s hands*

      *starts using smart phone one handed*

      Jesus christ how small are your hands?

    2. MrXavia
      Meh

      Re: I hope it's no more than 4 inches

      Depends on your hands, my 4" Galaxy is fine, but a but small for my hands really...

      I am looking forward to the SGS3 4.8" screen, that will fit my hands much better...

      Yes for a girl the iPhone is a great size, I always said the iPhone is a perfect girls phone but for a man with man sized hands, a 4" screen is the smallest that is really practical for a touch screen device, and bigger is better...

      Different sizes for different people...

      1. DrXym

        Re: I hope it's no more than 4 inches

        Ladies have handbags to stick a massive phone into. Men have to shove it in their jeans or coat pocket. Make the phone too big and it won't.

        1. Steve Carr 1
          WTF?

          Re: I hope it's no more than 4 inches

          Odd - my SGS2 fits my pockets no trouble at all. Maybe you just need bigger pockets?

          Now, a SGS3 looks even more tempting... just need to get one past the finance committee!

    3. Dave 126 Silver badge

      Re: I hope it's no more than 4 inches

      We all have different preferences, and would choose different compromises between screen size and ease of keeping it in a pocket. Heck, we have different tastes in trousers, have different size pockets and and differently sized hands. (mine is for a cheap 3.2" screened mobile that slips in pocket, but can give me basic internet if I really need it... my opinion is amenable to change, however)

      Curious, though: If 4:3 (16:12) is your ideal ratio, why then do you prefer 16:9 over 16:10? It isn't Friday yet! ; D

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I hope it's no more than 4 inches

      Are you a woman or do you just have womanly hands?

      1. amanfromearth

        Re: I hope it's no more than 4 inches

        Stop picking on the midget you commentards.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Couldn't find the strength to read this drab article, but the Catblock(*) cat that replaced the ad on the article was lovely.

    Here it is for my fellow tired commentards: Cute cat

    Think I'll suggest a Catblock extension that replaces entire Reg articles containing some keywords like "fanbois", "Anna Leach", etc by pictures of cats. Make it all much nicer.

    (*) subscriber version of Chrome/Safari Adblock that shows cats instead of ads, also appeared on the April fools day but now much improved.

    1. JDX Gold badge

      Or you could restrain yourself from clicking on the links and - with a herculean effort - sharing your opinions.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Catblock(*)

      There was me assuming that your "(*)" was the view of your cat walking away from you...

  8. MikeyD85

    Gotta admit

    I was thinking I might have to go to Apple if they were the only people doing 3.x" devices. I love my Desire S' 3.7" screen. It just fits nicely. I don't need any bigger as I don't really watch much video on it. I just can't get used to the size of phone like the GNex.

    1. annodomini2
      Thumb Down

      Re: Gotta admit

      Use a One X for a week, you won't want to go back.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Gotta admit

        you won't want to go back.

        Until you find out about the new Sense's "aggressive" multitasking.

    2. Andrew James

      Re: Gotta admit

      I'm using a Desire S myself. And had a Desire before it. I do like the screen size, but sometimes want something a bit bigger.

      The One X though - i loved the idea of it at first but then i checked one out in a shop and its just too big and cumbersome... and i'm fairly tall and well proportioned so havent got the smallest of hands. That said, i could get used to it and then probably wouldnt be able to consider anything much smaller.

      Still... I'm having whatever the next iPhone is. I've not had one myself yet and i figure i should at least try one for a year and see how i cope. They hold their value well so can always trade it in if i miss the options you get in Android too much... or if Siri gets on my nerves.

  9. Adam T

    Big screens

    Watching Vampire Diaries last week, couldn't help but laugh at the lass who plays the main character holding a (was it a Note?) up to her head during a phone call. Never has there been a more silly phone since the Nokia N-Gage.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Big screens

      The note is more of a baby tablet than a phone I thought...

      For those who need a small tablet but don't want a phone to ,personally i'd use a bluetooth headset...

      1. Andrew James

        Re: Big screens

        To be fair though there is a lot of ridicule can come your way walking round the street with a bluetooth headset on and a phone in your hand.

      2. Dave 126 Silver badge

        Re: Big screens

        For the Galaxy Note, Samsung could make the stylus and Bluetooth headset one unit. If all these bloomin smart phones have HDMI output, then having the stylus/headset function as a media remote would also be handy.

        (Waiting for someone to make a phone-connected watch that doesn't look too pants... if only because it would help me locate my phone more easily).

    2. JPD

      Re: Big screens

      LOVE my note - I have big enough hands to use it one-handed and i'm never without a BT stereo headset (had to hold it up to my head a couple of times...not remotely cool) :)

      The screen is amazing for video, email and book/paper reading...really useful.

      Also, it's the first device since my original HP iPaq that's started lots of conversations...

      Overall VERY happy with the device...

    3. Graham Dawson Silver badge

      Re: Big screens

      My brother (sa hi david!) has a note. I mentioned the idea that it might look silly to answer such a large phone and he sort of stared at me for a bit, like he didn't quite understand what I had said, then said something like "who gives a crap?" And I can see his point: if you buy a phone purely based on how you think it will affect other people's perceptions of you then perhaps you are not making the most rational of decisions to begin with.

      Having said that, I am quite keen on getting the padfone just so I can answer calls with that stylus. I want to see how people react to me talking to a pen.

      Rational? Me? :D

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