A new report is suggesting that Apple has two brand new iPhones in testing phase and that one of them has a brand new display. According to 9to5Mac, the new models are apparently being used on the Apple campus in Cupertino and have been codenamed iPhone 5,1 and iPhone 5,2. The more interesting of the devices has a 3.95 inch display and an increased screen resolution of 640 x 1136 pixels. This means that the width of the screen will remain the same as that found in the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S.
The implications of the increased vertical screen size and resolution mean that Apple is testing an iPhone with 16:9 screen resolution i.e. 16:9 screen ratio movies can play in their native size. However, and perhaps more significant, the site also reports that in custom builds of the next generation Apple mobile operating system, iOS 6, Apple has added a fifth row of app icons into the home screen. This would mean that icon size in the new device would remain the same as they are now.
Finally, the report claims that the dock connector int he new device has indeed been revamped and now sits somewhere between the size of a micro USB and a mini USB adaptor, which is substantially smaller than the current dock connector. Apple is likely adopting this novel connector in order to reduce the space required for the connector, both at the bottom of the device and inside the iPhone.
It is expected that Apple will be demoing some of the new features in iOS 6 at the WWDC next month, but the new iPhone isn’t expected to be released until some time in Fall. The company would therefore not likely offer a preview of a version of iOS that would reveal the fact that they were testing a larger iPhone so it will be interesting to see how much information they reveal about iOS 6 in June.
In addition, the report on 9to5Mac also suggests that there are two devices that are being tested, so the iPhone with the larger screen might not even make it to market.
Natively Sized…