Previous reports have said the Apple iPhone 5 will feature an improved version of Siri, the voice-activated AI system that was only released as a beta in the iPhone 4S, as well as a bigger screen. Last November, Hitachi and Sony reportedly began shipping 4-inch LCD panels for final production of “new iOS devices” believed to be the next-generation iPhone. Upgrading the iPhone’s 3.5-inch screen to a 4-inch display would require a rebuilt Retina Display, but a bigger screen would help Apple compete against phone makers that make bigger screens, such as Samsung, while also providing a more immersive iPhone experience.
Before Apple unveiled the iPhone 4S on Oct. 4, the Internet was flooded with photos of a thin, large-screen iPhone 4. The photos were widely believed to be doctored until one Chinese site discovered “mold engineerings” of an iPhone 4 with a noticeably larger screen. The renderings depicted an edge-to-edge design for the iPhone’s screen, which looked to measure about 3.7 inches. Component industry trackers believed that the images represented Apple’s wish to compete with rival devices with bigger screens.
Apple wants its next generation of mobile devices to look beautiful, and the company is reportedly working on giving its devices greater pixel density. Bigger screens with more pixels in the Retina Display mean higher resolution for watching movies and viewing detailed images, from PDFs to X-rays to MRIs to 3D architectural renderings. Even text will appear rich and razor-sharp. While the new iPad doubles the pixel density of the iPad 2, it’s likely that Apple would reconfigure the iPhone’s Retina Display, not only to feature more pixels, but also to match a slightly bigger screen. Apple fans and users would benefit from a bigger and more beautiful Retina Display, but this switch could force app developers to learn an entirely new way to write their iOS software.
Given that the new iPad is also the first iDevice to feature LTE, it’s a near-certainty that the high-speed network will also come to the next iPhone. Apple originally hoped to include LTE in the iPhone 4S, but Tim Cook nixed that idea, as “first generation LTE chipsets force a lot of design compromises.” Apple would have needed to increase the phone’s thickness to accommodate a larger circuit board and a bigger battery, as it did in the new iPad.
“The iPhone 4 PCB [printed circuit board] is already incredibly small, not leaving any room for an extra chip to enable LTE without shrinking the size of the battery,” said Anand Shimpi, a chip expert and CEO of Anandtech.
Fortunately, Qualcomm recently unveiled the fifth iteration of its new chip, which supports TD-SCDMA, TD-LTE, HSPA+, EV-DO, embedded GPS, and LTE on TDD and FDD networks worldwide. The chip works with Android and Windows 8 devices, but by targeting so many different carriers, there’s a high degree of likelihood that this will be the same chip inside the iPhone 5.
The fall could be a busy season for Apple, which could release the iPhone 5 alongside a smaller, 8-inch iPad, which is also expected to debut in October. The original report from Apple’s Taiwanese supply chain was later confirmed by The Wall Street Journal, which said Apple is working on an 8-inch iPad.
On Jan. 24, Cook released Apple’s record-breaking Q1 2012 earnings, announcing $46.33 billion in overall earnings, $13.1 billion in profit and $17.5 billion in cash for the quarter that ended Dec. 31, 2011. In the last 14 weeks of the year, Apple sold 37 million iPhones, 15.4 million iPads and 5.2 million Macs.
“We’re thrilled with our outstanding results and record-breaking sales of iPhones, iPads and Macs,” Cook said. “Apple’s momentum is incredibly strong, and we have some amazing new products in the pipeline.”
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