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 …

[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.

[James O'Brien]

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.

[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.

[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.

[James O'Brien]

@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.

[ByeLaw101]

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!

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: @AC 17:22

Methinks raw nerve

[ed2020]

"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.

[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.

[Euchrid]

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

Too right... sadly.

[Bill B]

"well-placed anonymous sources"

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

[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.

[Jonathan White]

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

[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.

[Seanie Ryan]

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.

[csumpi]

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.

[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.

[Solomon Emmanuel Goldstien]

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...

[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.

[K]

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..

[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.

[Tom 38]

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.

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

[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!

[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.

[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.

[Asgard]

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.

[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.

[Graham Wilson]

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.

[Philippe]

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.

[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?

[MrXavia]

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...

[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.

[Steve Carr 1]

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!

[Dave 126]

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

[Anonymous Coward]

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

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

[amanfromearth]

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

Stop picking on the midget you commentards.

[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.

[JDX]

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

[Anonymous Coward]

Catblock(*)

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

[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.

[annodomini2]

Re: Gotta admit

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

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Gotta admit

you won't want to go back.

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

[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.

[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.

[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...

[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.

[Dave 126]

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).

[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...

[Graham Dawson]

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

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Big screens

"Open Channel D" - Man from U.N.C.L.E.

[Anonymous Coward]

Typo in article

"Steve Jobs, who died late last year after not battling cancer but instead hoping a nice cup of tea would fix it" - corrected it for you.

[Euchrid]

Oh, yeah?

"Steve Jobs, who died late last year after battling cancer, was reluctant to have a range of different screen sizes because it could make apps and web pages render badly, and the temperamental CEO was famously keen on whittling down product lines."

Well, that's what he said publicly... but Jobs said a lot of things weren't going to happen but they did. For example, he pooh-poohed flash-storage music players a few months before Apple released one.

I suppose, he could have said, 'Well X is really cool... quite of a few of our competitors already offer it and it's something that we're going to do sometime in the future.’ but that rather looks like Apple was lagging behind.

It might be the case that Jobs no longing helming Apple has meant that the company is now only working on a larger-screen iPhone, but unless you’ve got something to back this up, it’s just speculation. Actually, make that speculation of the worse kind as it’s based on taking Jobs at his word.

BTW where was it established that the source for this story was “well-placed”?

[Dave 126]

Re: Oh, yeah?

Correct. He was once asked whether the next iPod after the iPod Photo would play video. His response: "Yeah sure, and it will also make toast"

[Euchrid]

Re: Oh, yeah?

Hee, nicely remembered.

[jai]

"Fanbois are already frothing..."

[citation needed]

and is that frothing in anger, or frothing in the pants in anticipation?

[chipxtreme]

When the iphone went from pathetic display to "retina" display they simply doubled the resolution to make everything easier for developers/etc. If they make a 4" or above screen in the iphone 5 then surely they have to either double the resolution again or face the prospect of losing the "retina" status?

I know one thing a phone with a 3.5" screen to me is just a toy. Looking forward to the Galaxy S III with a real man's screen :)

[Andy 115]

surely they have to...

Not really...

My money is on a screen the same width, with the extra diagonal distance made up by it being longer.

Existing apps will map pixel-pixel with black bars either side and / or with space for new (as yet unannounced) UI provided by iOS 6.

This would also (AFAIK) make the screen more suited for playback of the videos taken by the iPhone (less cropping / smaller black bars)

The place where this extra screen height would be really useful is when replying to a long text (with an equally long reply) , when you start the reply you can still scroll the original message, as your reply grows the original message shrinks to the point where you can no longer scroll it (i.e. to check that you have covered all the points you were replying to) - I'm sure there are lots of other instances where having some extra screen height for when the keyboard or other UI is displayed on screen would be a huge advantage.

[Anonymous Coward]

" ....its big-screened Android phones, which are selling like hot cakes.."

The main benefit, not being seen with an iPhone.

Droid handsets just look better, are customisable, do all the iPhone can do and more, are more open and not tying you down to Apple for EVERYTHING.

At a party lately, a few friends had iPhones just laying on the sideboard. When a text message arrived, they all scambled to the phones asking "which is mine?" I had to smile, with a big grin. Of course I laughed loudly and scoffed that no one knew who's phone was who's cause they all looked exactley the same (ie. DULL). HELLO Customisation??

"Apple arguably created the market for modern smartphones" WTF, were you born in 2006? if not you either have selective or no memory. (Don't you just hate wild claims from iFannybois)

Why are people arguing about the best screen size?? One size doesn't fit all! (Sorry Jobsy) A 3.7/4" screen for my hand is perfect. Anything larger and it’s like the "fast show" phone *for me*. Yet my mate has a SGSII and with a near 5" screen the phone is perfect size for his hand!!

W O W, Not everyone finds same screen size comfortable SHOCKER!!

The whole argument, 'cause deceased demanded all phones have a 3.5" screen size.

Even *your god* can be wrong! And by the looks of it, how wrong he was!

[Anonymous Coward]

OOH, bunfight...

Er, hate to burst your bubble, but if you laid a bunch of Galaxy S3s side-by-side, they'd all look exactly the same too. What with them all being, y'know, THE SAME.

The statement "Apple arguably created the market for modern smartphones" is correct on two counts.

1) It can be argued - the poster did not claim they DID create the market, just that it could be argued that they did.

2) Modern smartphones - not all smartphones, just modern ones. Yes, smartphones/PDAs existed before the iPhone,a s did video calling, but only geeks wanted them. The iPhone was the first smartphone that "normal" people actually wanted. I'm not sure anyone ever queued for a smartphone before the iPhone came out - except maybe the Nokia N80, there was big demand for that bad boy.

Posting anonymously because I've made a pro-iPhone comment in the past and I don't want to be labelled as a fanboi.

[Euchrid]

“The main benefit, not being seen with an iPhone.”

That depends on the user. From what I’ve been told by friends that manage phone shops, or work in retail, cost has been a big factor for going with Android for a lot of customers. When it became possible to get a iPhone 3GS for next to nothing, there was big demand – one friend who works a T-Mobile store said “they sold themselves”. Not everyone may not want to be seen using an iPhone, but rather a lot of people do.

“Droid handsets just look better, are customisable, do all the iPhone can do and more, are more open and not tying you down to Apple for EVERYTHING.”

The person I know who waxes most lyrically about the look of the iPhone 4(S) is someone who used a Android phone and loves it – he feels that the former is a design classic. Not everyone will share the same opinion on what looks ‘better’.

As for Droid handsets doing everything the iPhone can, that’s not true – what about music production? The simple fact that Android and iOS handsets have different strengths and advantages – people’s needs vary.

“At a party lately, a few friends had iPhones just laying on the sideboard. When a text message arrived, they all scambled to the phones asking "which is mine?" I had to smile, with a big grin. Of course I laughed loudly and scoffed that no one knew who's phone was who's cause they all looked exactley the same (ie. DULL). HELLO Customisation??”

Erm, if the same friends all had the Samsung S3 (as an example) wouldn’t the same thing have happened? (As mentioned above.)

[Anonymous Coward]

BAAAAA!

The same ole bleeting. Hot air and no substance. I bet you have an iPad too!

Careful the herd don't wonder off and leave you stranded now.

[Euchrid]

re: BAAAAA!

Sadly, it doesn't work making unsubstantiated comments and then attacking others of doing that.

However, you do get points for sheer bloody-mindedness or trolling (I upvoted your last post because I did get a chuckle) for sheepishly insisting one platform is superior in every way for every user, and then accusing others of being a fanboy when they the suggest that might not be so…

[Anonymous Coward]

Not 5, iPhone 6!

1) iPhone

2) iPhone 3G

3) iPhone 3GS

4) iPhone 4

5) iPhone 4S

6) ?

The next one is either iPhone 6 or the 4th generation of iPhone. iPhone 5 makes no sense either way. My money's on 'The new iPhone'

[Philolai]

Thanks

Saved me having to type that out. Weird how often it's referred to as the iPhone 5.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Not 5, iPhone 6!

Then the 3G was the second phone and wouldn't make any sense either.

Maybe the new one will be the 4G and the one after that will be the 4GS.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Not 5, iPhone 6!

Demonstration of the level of intelligence at play!

(Flame away ladies)

[AF]

Re: Not 5, iPhone 6!

I agree the next one will be "The new iPhone".

You're dead wrong on iPhone 6, though. As you point out, 6 makes no sense - where's the 5? Apple are on a two-year cycle for phones, because that's what the customer is on (two-year or 18-month contracts). No point releasing a new model each year; half your customers can't buy it. Instead, they release a new phone, then a year later they release an updated version of the same phone, then a year after that it's a proper new one again. So, whilst I doubt it will be called the 5, the "6" isn't due until 2014.

The confusion is basically down to Apple not properly thinking this through at the beginning - releasing a non-3G phone first tripped them up, and the negative publicity they got for that meant they had to shout out that the next one really was 3G, hence the name. They were never going to go with iPhone 2 for obvious reasons.

What they forgot was that people were so used to referring to things like "the 4G iPod" that people now assumed that "the 3G iPhone" was the third, not the second; after that they could only go to "iPhone 4", as going from "iPhone 3G S" to "iPhone 3" would have been even more troublesome.. And the two-year cycle meant that the next one after "4" would be "4S", just like the "3G S".

So - iPhone 6? No. iPhone 5? Would make sense. but just "the new iPhone" is more likely - it will bring it in line with the new naming for iPads (which should never have been numbered either) and thus matching all their other products.

It's like all the referrals to "Xbox 720" - the next console will have a name, not a number, and referring to 720 completely misses the point(s) of why it was called 360 in the first place.

[Richard Cartledge]

The current size was chosen as the ideal size for one handed use, not because of technical limitations.

Telephones such as the Samsung Galaxy SII have screens that require two hands or very long thumbs.

[Anonymous Coward]

You can tell that you haven't used a Galaxy S2. Yes, if you were to try to tap away at the screen, it would be difficult. Samsung has a revolutionary entry method called Swype, which allows entry of text with a single finger, even if holding the device one handed in landscape mode.

Then again, I have pretty big hands.

/Ladies, they know what I mean.

[Richard Cartledge]

I have used one, but never owned one. As far as I can see, swype is for typing quickly, not for tapping parts of the screen that are to far away for one's fingers. If you like big phones that's great and the SII has a great screen and form factor.

For me, I even find the conventional iPhone screen a little too tall for one handed use and would be better positioned 7mm lower on the device's front.

[Julian 3]

Its Heresy!

Its heresy! We should stone Tim Cook to death for this! Saint Steve will be turning in his grave.

[raving angry loony]

Sued?

Given that Apple sued others for using a rectangle, I wonder if others (coughSamsungcough) might sue Apple for daring to copy the concept of a larger screen? After all, if you're going to misuse and abuse patent law, might as well get silly about it. Oh, wait, they already have.

[Caesarius]

Is it just me or...

... can anyone else hear Tom Baker's voice booming out

"You have a WOMAN'S phone, my Lord!"

[The Baron]

Re: Is it just me or...

No, I heard that too. I was trying to think of an amusing "I'll wager that phone's never..." - possibly involving a Flash gag - to follow it up with, but I couldn't come up with anything. Must be pub o'clock.

[Anonymous Coward]

Phones as fashion items?

Phones used to get smaller and smaller, now they're getting larger and larger. Maybe they're just fashion items and change sizes like women's hemlines and heels raise and lower. At some point phones will be too big and few people will buy the bigger ones, and the trend towards making them smaller could eventually return (maybe helped by fashion, i.e. if tiny purses become popular again women won't want huge phones, if small pockets become popular in men's fashion then 5" phones won't fit, etc.)

When Apple first introduced a 3.5" iPhone it was huge compared to the screen of every phone that came before it - and the size of the phone itself was larger than almost everything too (it was thinner than all the flipphones but much wider and taller) I guess everyone has forgotten the early rumors about Apple doing an "iPhone nano". It sounded reasonable at the time since there were so many who thought it was gigantic compared to the phone they had, now the idea of going smaller than 3.5" sounds laughable.

This idea that a change in size could never have happened with Steve Jobs alive, or that there's no way Apple would ever have two sizes of iPhone is crazy. Jobs hated large product lines, that much is true. When he came back to Apple they had something like 15-20 different Powermac models and he whittled it down a just a few. But not to one. He never said one size fits all or they would not have multiple MacBook Pro sizes, two MacBook Air sizes, three different iPod form factors, etc.

[raving angry loony]

On another note, Apple has a remarkable history of making really bad decisions when Steve Jobs isn't there. Except this time he's not coming back. Guess time will tell if they've become "too big to fail" or are in the early stages of digging their own grave.

At this point, various experiences with their company over the last decade have had me go from major Apple fanboi to "Apple? Fuck 'em sideways with a rusty chainsaw.". I for one won't be purchasing their products any more. They've become as evil as Microsoft in my opinion.

[Euchrid]

@ raving angry loony

Quite a lot of those bad decisions can be linked to John Sculley's appointment, which of course was Jobs' idea. Jobs’ first stint at Apple also involved him making mistakes and he was a very divisive figure in the company, who loved a 'divide and conquer' approach.

There’s always a question about how a company copes with a big leader – it reportedly took Disney executives the best part of two decades to stop asking themselves ‘What would Walt do?’ Although we can look back to Apple in the period that Jobs wasn’t there, the company is completely different (as are the markets it’s engaged in) today. It’s been argued that Jobs remoulded the company and picked a strong management team – with the latter, it’s a lot stronger than Apple 15+ years ago. But time will tell, as you say….

[Anonymous Coward]

How the Apple-Cultists play the game:

Yesterday: "The iPhone is better because there's only one version of the screen, everything looks "just right. On Android, its all mixed up"

Today: "The retina display is amazing, it doesn't matter than we now have a number of different resolutions"

Tomorrow: "The new iPhone is so much better because it has a bigger screen"

[Euchrid]

If you look at very Mac-Centric forums, like MacRumors, you'll find people that have been complaining that the iPhone's screen is the size it is. Plenty of people - and I think it's fair to say that often the majority of posters on iPhone threads - state that Apple has 'fallen behind' Android manufacturers.

Then again, most forum posters seemed to think that the iPod was a huge mistake when it was announced and that what Apple really needed to grow was a mid-range tower.

[Anonymous Coward]

Steve Jobs death?

Is the Reg going to title every Apple story with "Steve Jobs' death" from now on?

[hypercommunist]

FILTHY LIES

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/05/steve-jobs-reportedly-worked-closely-on-larger-screened-iphone/