Apple’s next iPhone – the iPhone 5S – is going to come out this year. That much is a fact. Now we just need a launch date, but a new report says that we may be waiting longer than usual for the new iPhone.
Bloomberg is citing a Commercial Times report that says Apple may have delayed the unveiling of the iPhone 5S following a last minute change to the display size. The new report suggests that Apple now wants a 4.3-inch retina display in the iPhone 5S instead of the 4-inch display in the iPhone 5.
If true, this would be the second time in two years that Apple has upgraded the display size of the iPhone after years of sticking to a 3.5-inch display. The last minute upgrade may be a response to critics and consumers that felt Apple’s upgrade to a 4-inch display in the iPhone 5 still wasn’t enough when competing with Android devices that feature 5-inch and larger displays.
Of course, Apple has its own reasons for keeping the iPhone’s display smaller than the competition’s. Earlier this year, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that he thinks a 4-inch display is the perfect size as it provides a level of display quality not yet seen in the iPhone “without sacrificing the one-handed ease-of-use.” Moving to a slightly larger 4.3-inch display shouldn’t affect that “one-handed ease-of-use” Tim Cook loves, but it might satiate those who have been asking for increasingly larger iPhones.
Speaking of larger iPhones, it’s been rumored that the iPhone 6, due in 2014, will feature a much larger screen to better compete with devices like the Galaxy S4 and other larger Android devices. None of the reports have mentioned what the display size might be just yet, but it wouldn’t surprise me to see Apple use a 4.5-inch to 5-inch display in the iPhone 6.
Going back to the iPhone 5S, the report says that we may not see it until the end of the year. New iPhones have traditional launched in either late summer or early Autumn, but a late iPhone launch isn’t unheard of. The iPhone 4S launched in October, and the iPhone 5S may launch around that time as well if it was truly delayed.
Before that, we may see Apple unveil its oft-rumored cheap iPhone intended for emerging markets. Today’s report says that we may see the cheaper plastic iPhone launch by the end of the third quarter. You’re not going to see it launch in the U.S., but it will be interesting to see if the cheaper iPhone cannibalizes sales of the iPhone 5S in markets like China and India.
We’ll just have to wait until later this year to find out.