The new iPhone that Apple Inc. AAPL -0.37% is expected to unveil this year is likely to have a larger display than its current models have, with the company ordering bigger screens from its Asian suppliers, people familiar with the matter said.
The new screens measure at least 4 inches diagonally, the people said, compared with 3.5 inches on Apple’s latest model, the iPhone 4S. Production is set to begin next month, the people said. Analysts have predicted that the next iPhone will come out in the fall.
Apple declined to comment.
Reuters is reporting the new screen to 4 inches, when measured form corner to corner.
The question is this: Why would Apple want to change the iPhone display?
The cynic in me thinks that it is a necessity if Apple wants to include LTE in the next iPhone. LTE might mean Apple has to increase the size of the display to increase the size of the battery behind it.
Of course, this might be Apple responding to the market. The majority of smartphones are bigger than the iPhone (due to the reason listed above, in most cases), and maybe Apple doesn’t want their product to look wimpy or puny next to the newest Android phones.
(I really don’t buy my own argument completely, though.)
Whatever the reason, reporters who usually get such things right seem hard set on the fact that the next iPhone will be physically larger. As long as its still comfortable to use — and I’m sure it will be — I don’t see a big problem with it.
Not that Apple asked me.