In corroborating previous rumors by Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal, sources claim the upcoming iPhones have 4.7 and 5.5-inch screens coated in sapphire, the expensive gemstone Apple uses to protect its Touch ID fingerprint sensor on the iPhone 5s and iSight camera lenses on iOS devices. And, the screens will be flat, not curved…
The Hong-Kong based newspaper claims that display of the next iPhone will be flat, and won’t be curved. Last November, Bloomberg had reported that Apple was working on larger iPhones with a curved glass display.
Increasing the sharpness of the display by squeezing in more pixels wouldn’t just improve clarity, it would add more pixel data for your content and apps to work with, in turn requiring developers to update existing applications for new resolutions.
“The design ‘freeze’ for the iPhone 6 – after which no changes will be made – is set for April this year,†the article reads.
The story goes on to caution that using the expensive sapphire crystal, second to diamond as the hardest material, means “a dramatic increase†in the cost of making an iPhone.
An iPhone with a bigger screen has been one of the most requested features, and it looks like the next iPhone will finally be coming with a display or displays larger than 4-inches. That said, I also expect Apple to continue offering a 4-inch iPhone variant as well, since a number of people prefer the current size. It will be interesting to see how Apple will price the iPhones with larger displays.
