Now that the new iPad is finally upon us, it’s time for the rumor mill to turn its ever-hungry gaze to another target: the new iPhone (note: that’s “the new iPhone,” and probably not “iPhone 5”). For the moment there are few real details about the sixth-generation iPhone, but there is plenty to speculate about.
One rumor that’s being reported now is that the next iPhone will sport a 4.6-inch display. This one comes from a South Korean newspaper (by way of Reuters) that claims that the displays are being ordered from Korean suppliers (i.e., LG and Samsung).
Rumors of an iPhone with a larger display are nearly as old as the original iPhone. Through 5 generations of iPhone, though, Apple has stuck stubbornly with the same 3.5-inch screen. Numerous Android-based iPhone competitors sport larger displays. The Galaxy Nexus, released last year, has a 4.65-inch display. Shortly after the Galaxy Nexus released, The Verge compared the two:
With very little actually known about the next iPhone, the rumor mill is going to be full of speculation for several months as details slowly emerge. A few things are near-certainties, though. For one, you can bet that the next iPhone will come with 4G. After all, it’s almost unthinkable that Apple would release an iPad with 4G only to follow it up with a 3G-only iPhone. A quad-core A6 processor is also highly likely; the A6 was apparently in the works for the iPad, but couldn’t be put into production in time. It’s also a fair bet that Siri will be brought out of beta, or at least improved considerably, when iOS 6 launches alongside the iPhone. The release date is still very much in the air at this point, with some expecting a summer launch (the first four iPhones launched in the summer) and other expecting a September-October launch (the iPhone 4S launched in October 2011).
What do you think? Would you like to see a larger display on the iPhone? What other features would you like to see? Let us know in the comments.