We’ve heard a lot of crazy rumors about Apple’s upcoming next-gen iPhone, many of which we have chosen not to write about due to lack of credibility, or other reasons. Today, a rumor began circling that Apple may increase the resolution of the iPhone 5S Retina display, packing twice as many pixels into the same space. The report also claims that Apple will “subtly redesign” the body of the device as well.
UnwiredView reports, citing the original report on Weiphone:
Chinese sites are ablaze with a new set ofiPhone 5S rumors today.
They seem to have originated with Wei Feng Network, and say that the new iPhone will come with a much narrower bezel, adopting the iPad mini like design. The display size will remain the same 4 inches, but Apple plans to double the number of pixels the screen will contain. From ~730K now to ~1.5 million in the new iPhone 5S.
This just screams as being extremely unlikely. It’s unclear what advantage this would actually bring, other than annoying developers. The iPhone 5’s current screen already packs a sufficient Retina display – one of the densest smartphone displays in the industry. You have to borrow Sherlock Holmes’ magnifying glass to even see the pixels. The extra cost of doubling the pixels, combined with the fact that the 5S is expected to be an incremental upgrade rather than a full-on redesigned next-gen model, makes this rumor less likely than a lake full of bourbon.
Given the lack of a credible track record from Weiphone, I’m gonna cast this one straight into the “not gonna happen” file. And you probably should as well. Not only does this contradict information from far more credible sources, but as MacRumors rightly points out, there’s really no readily-available way for Apple to make this happen without significant drawbacks.
When sites write nonsense like this, they’re only doing it for the page views – not because they actually have a “source” or any information beyond what the rest of us have. I’d be thrilled to be proven wrong – but all reasonable analysis would suggest that’s simply not going to happen.
