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Toshiba 4-inch 720p display for Apple?

by Michael Grothaus May 16th 2011 at 9:00PM

Toshiba announced the lineup of products that will be displayed at its booth at SID 2011. Among those products will be a 4-inch 720p display for mobile phones. Rumors have been floating around for a while now that Apple was investing in a Toshiba-owned manufacturing facility for Retina Displays, and a 720p display on an iPhone would certainly qualify as Retina. As the press release points out, Toshiba's displays will feature other new technologies, including high-contrast (up to 1,500:1), high-color (up to 92 percent NTSC) and wide viewing angle (up to H/V 176º/176º).

However, if Apple is indeed planning on using a 4-inch display in an upcoming iPhone, it probably won't be the next one. Most of the rumors point to the fifth-generation iPhone, presumably set to debut in September, keeping the same form factor as the current iPhone 4. There's also the app scaling factor Apple would need to take into account, and devs might not be happy about having to release their apps for two different sized screens. That being said, I wouldn't be surprised to see Apple using a 4-inch 720p display in a sixth generation iPhone. Rumors have been floating around for a while now that Apple is working on an iPhone with an edge-to-edge screen, and the company could conceivably use a 4-inch display in such a device without increasing the size of the iPhone's body.



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Toshiba announced the lineup of products that will be displayed at its booth at SID 2011. Among those products will be a 4-inch 720p...
 

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Aerodynamic

It's amazing how we underestimate Apple. They've proven so many times that what others said was impossible was not only possible, but when it was finally unveiled, obvious!

Apple can't deliver a 4 inch HD screen with great battery life? Seriously? Think Small was VW's ad slogan, not Apple's.

May 17 2011 at 5:17 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jay

I do think Apple will make the screen bigger, but I don't think the'll change the resolution at all until they can squeeze a 1440x960 screen in there. That way developers will simply need to add an "@3x" version of their graphics.

May 17 2011 at 10:21 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mystic

16:9 has no business in phones, tablets, or PCs. Keep that crap to TVs.

May 17 2011 at 12:22 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to Mystic's comment
b15hnk

works fine on my pc

May 17 2011 at 8:10 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Brett

Phones and tablets I can agree with, but tons of people use their PC to watch movies. I see nothing wrong with a 16:9 laptop or desktop screen, and prefer the 16:9 over the 16:10 widescreens for this.

May 17 2011 at 8:20 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Level 5

I doubt it. The technology would be overkill. If the PPI is already higher than the human eye can perceive, what does increasing it really accomplish? Without a bump in screen size, not a whole lot. Now if Apple were in fact bumping the screen size up to 4.0", then it makes sense, but even then, devs would have to add another workflow, not sure if they're willing to do that. Unless of course iOS5 has some resolution independence trickery up it's sleeve. THAT I would say, makes the whole thing likelier.

May 16 2011 at 11:13 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Level 5's comment
SIP

Look at this Photoshop'd image:

http://www.hardmac.com/news/2011/05/17/4-toshiba-display-in-the-iphone-5

See anything wrong? The higher resolution should allow for more viewing area, so the icons should be smaller, not bigger. It could also create room for another column/row of icons and maybe match up with the iPad.

May 17 2011 at 8:22 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Ncburkes

No 4" display? No NFC? No 4G LTE?

I waited years for Verizon to get the iPhone, and Apple releases the iPhone 4 limited (in function). So like the majority of VZN customers I figure I can wait a few months for an iPhone 5. But the iPhone 5 is not coming until Sept? And it's essentially an iPhone 4 part 2?

Android here I come, on VZN . . . With 4"+ screen . . . And 4G LTE (. . . and NFC?) and no wait. . .

May 16 2011 at 11:13 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
3 replies to Ncburkes's comment
dagamer34

Nope, because the resolution is good enough already and anything that doesn't involve pixel doubling makes it hard for developers.

May 16 2011 at 9:20 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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