Apple Rumours: next iPhone will have twice as many pixels & Apple is looking to introduce a 12.9″ iPad Maxi

[Nicktrance]

 

Not to be outdone by all the new phones being relesed with 1080p displays, these rumours state that Apple plans to implement a better display with higher pixel density on the next iPhone.
 
Rather than changing the resolution to a higher standard resolution as manufacturers usually do, or doubling the horizontal and vertical resolution (as they did from 3GS to 4) they plan to double the total amount of pixels in the display (so *sqrt2 to each side), which would result in a resolution of 906 x 1606 (from 640 x 1136) and 1,454,000 pixels.
 
According to a quick calculation that results in a PPI of 461(if they keep the current 4" screen size), which is enough to put them back at the top in this PPI "war".
 
Considering how not all apps are optimised to make use of the current iPhone 5 display and apps simply can't scale automatically in iOS, this might have a negative impact on app experience (for a short while at least) but the rumoured new redesign of iOS might help with the experience everywhere else.
 
Source: http://www.gsmarena.com/rumor_the_screen_of_next_iphone_will_have_twice_as_many_pixels-news-6110.php

 

 

Since this isn't the first time Apple has done exactly what they said they'd never do (e.g. increasing the size of the iPhone or releasing an iPad mini) it doesn't come as that much of a surprise that they are rumoured to be working on a larger iPad.
 
 

Korean site ETNews thinks yes and claims Apple plans to launch an iPad Maxi (no, it’s not going to be called that) in the first half of next year. The publication also suggests that Apple is already talking to parts suppliers that will make the screens. 

The iPad Maxi will allegedly have a 12.9″ display, close to 13.3″ Ultrabooks. Windows 8 tablets have moved into that screen size as well, so Apple might be looking to compete with them.

 

Source: http://blog.gsmarena.com/rumor-has-it-apple-is-looking-to-introduce-a-12-9-ipad-maxi-in-the-first-half-of-next-year/

 

Both of these are just rumours so take them with a grain of salt...

 

Do you thing a bigger tablet is a compelling device? And do you thin the increase in PPI will matter much in the new iPhone or is it just for bragging rights/e-peen?

[Whiskers]

I highly doubt it.

 

The iPhone 4 had the optimum pixel density for a screen its size. Any higher than that and the user cannot discern a difference - the pixels are simply too small to see individually. Having more of them makes no difference unless the physical size of the screen is increased too.

 

They should focus their efforts on other areas of the screen instead. For example, increasing the contrast ratio, or the maximum brightness, or decreasing the energy requirements. Increasing the PPI is a pointless thing to do which will only work as a marketing gimmick - it has no actual impact on the user experience other than a placebo effect.

 

Think of it as detail versus distance. When you're looking at a highly detailed object from far away, you cannot make out all of the detail. If you were to look at an identical but less detailed version of that object, you will not discern the difference between the two. The closer the object is to you, the more detail you can see - but there is always a limit. It's sort of why video games use LOD (Level Of Detail) systems - it's a way of decreasing the processing requirements of the scenes without negatively impacting the graphical fidelity to the user - it's a waste of resources to render a fully modelled and textured character in-game when they are so far away from the player that they will appear as nothing more than a blob either way. Not that these systems always work well, though.

[KaareKanin]

I think increaasing the dpi on the iphone won't do any good, it's already high enough. And if they plan to do it the way you described, It'll probably fragment apples lineup with respects to app development and non optimized apps will probably look very bad. They should focus their efforts elsewhere 

 

If they decide to launch a bigger ipad, then the days of apple telling customers what they need seems to be very much over. 

[911^NEmeSis]

Yeah I mean there only so many pixels you can have until it's literally not needed. Probably just another "premium" thing people need as an excuse to buy the next iPhone.

[Lyons]

I have zero faith in this happening. They already screwed their devs over by changing the aspect ratio of the screen, they won't double the res, especially after making such a big deal about it the fist time. I also doubt the larger ipad... 3 different size ipads? No. However, now that Steve Jobs is gone, they could do anything... (not in a positive direction). This is just crap to stir up media attention now that the iphone 5 is so much worse than the S4 and One. The mobile market is moving away from Apple.

[pGuerrerox]

I dont care about the iphone screen ppi or whatever,  

 

but

 

a 12.9" inch device, that I would love to see. I love 12 inches laptops. Hope to see a tablet with a real keyboard (like Asus's transformers line up) from apple!

[Nicktrance]

I dont care about the iphone screen ppi or whatever,  

 

but

 

a 12.9" inch device, that I would love to see. I love 12 inches laptops. Hope to see a tablet with a real keyboard (like Asus's transformers line up) from apple!

 

I think you'll have to make do with a bluetooth keyboard. That said there are some pretty good ones for the iPad like the Logitech ultrathin keyboard covers (although those are quite pricy...). Although I wouldn't be surprised if Apple goes back on it's words and releases something similar if the whole hybrid concept ever kicks off.

[Fonil]

So wait a Maxi Ipad? No one else think's thats not a great idea for a name. 

[arkon]

I'd bet app developers would be pissed if they did any of this.

[Emperor_Piehead]

The only thing that would be worthwhile imo is they put a kabini cpu or ulv haswell cpu in it and a decent battery other than that don't see much in it.