Bigger display – 4.6 inches – for the next iPhone?

22 Mar 2012

The iPhone 4S

It is still crazy to think the new iPad sold 3m copies in three days – a feat that took the first iPad 80 days to accomplish. But no sooner has the new iPad been released than new rumours about the next Apple iPhone have emerged, including talk of a larger, 4.6-inch display.

The current iPhone display is 3.5 inches across all generations. Bigger screens are the topic de jour all right, with the Samsung Galaxy Note boasting a 5.3-inch display and the forthcoming HTC One X coming with a 4.7-inch display.

The new iPad tablet computer’s Retina display boasts 40 times higher picture quality than current HD TVs. The latest iPhone 4S boasts a high-quality Retina display that is definitely brighter and sharper than predecessors and it could be likely that Apple believes a larger display would make the next iPhone truly remarkable.

Reports from Asia overnight suggest Apple has placed orders for 4.6-inch displays from its major suppliers in the region, namely Samsung and LG.

Apple’s next iPhone – will it be the iPhone 5, the iPhone HD or simply the ‘new iPhone’ – is likely to debut in September or October and if it is to accommodate new technologies like the A5x processor and a larger battery, a slightly larger display makes sense.

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com