There have been a number of rumours floating around recently concerning the possibility that Apple is considering bumping up the screen size on the next iPhone, with various discussions concerning how to do so without changing the physical size of the phone and the various complexities surrounding the impact of application development.
Mulling this over in my morning commute today a few points solidified in my head today:
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A taller screen equals a wider screen for better viewing HD video
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Existing app compatibility is a priority
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Decreasing the pixel density is not an option
Which leads me to think that increasing the height is a viable option with the following implementation ideas:
A static canvas
If we posit that retroactive application compatibility is a priority, the additional screen space may be allocated at the bottom of the screen in portrait mode, but reserved for some kind of system function or UI, which means that existing applications won’t have access to a larger canvas to work with, but remain inside the existing 960x480 space.
This means that Apple could use the space for system level apps like Springboard so that it could display an additional row of apps in the home screen, but could display the app switcher list or something more evolved in that space when an application is running in portrait mode. Or even simply just your home row, but available directly at all times.
Switching to landscape mode for system level video applications like Video and YouTube would take advantage of the extra space for a better viewing experience. I expect that the Quicktime APIs would be modified to allow developers to add the option to use the whole screen in landscape mode, but until then, the extra space simply wouldn’t be used by the app.
I’m having an imagination breakdown on how this space would be used effectively in landscape mode outside of video viewing, as the iPhone Springboard mode is exclusively portrait, but I’m sure some bright person can think of some way to effectively use this space in that mode. Or perhaps the UI will simply center itself in the available pixels and behave normally in other respects. Or may be an optional development extension that can be used, but I have my doubts here as this would be a first step towards potentially significant fragmentation.
Making it wider
Here I have a harder time imagining how the UI could evolve easily without requiring significant developer rework. I think that Apple is fully capable of behaving in a rather cavalier manner to any additional work that it imposes on developers in the interest of making the iPhone the best possible product, but adding an additional level of fragmentation is not in the best interests of the customer or the developer, especially given the current approach of keeping older models in the catalog over a 2-3 year period.
On top of that, there simply isn’t very much room to play with here. If you have any kind of iPhone case, you’re probably losing an additional millimeter on each side, even with the minimalist bumper case, which means this space would be both visually unavailable and untouchable.
In order to make any significant changes to the screen width, the form factor will have to change. Which implies that all of the currently tagged iPhone compatible docks and accessories will no longer work with the new model. I have a harder time believing that Apple is willing to sacrifice this key ecosystem compatibility component.