iPhone 4's retina display gets critiqued, dropped

By on Jun 10, 2010 at 9:51 AM
General June 10, 2010

iFixYouriBlog iPhone 4G Drop

There are several interesting articles on the net about the iPhone 4′s new retina display. The first discusses the merits of the retina display itself, and the second discusses the glass that covers said display. Hit the jump for all the dirty details.

First: the retina display. As PC World explains, “a retina display is one whose resolution meets or exceeds the maximum resolution [that] the human retina is capable of resolving, assuming perfect vision.” Here is the math PCWorld used — courtesy of Dr. Raymond Soneira from Displaymate Technologies — to determine if the retina display is worthy of its name:

The resolution of the retina is in angular measure – it’s 50 Cycles Per Degree. A cycle is a line pair, which is two pixels, so the angular resolution of the eye is 0.6 arc minutes per pixel.

So if you hold an iPhone at the typical 12 inches from your eyes, that works out to 477 pixels per inch. At 8 inches it’s 716 ppi. You have to hold it out 18 inches before it falls to 318 ppi.

The Doctor concludes, “…the iPhone has significantly lower resolution than the retina. It actually needs a resolution significantly higher than the retina in order to deliver an image that appears perfect to the retina.” Does it have a true retina display? No. Is it a really nice display? Sure. Moving on…

The folks over at iFix Your i Blog got their hands on an iPhone 4 — sans the “circuit board” — that they have used for some endurance testing. iFYiB reports that the chrome stainless steel bezel that borders the iPhone 4 seems to offer less protection to the phones glass-display than previous models; such as the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS. The iPhone 4 was dropped three times, from a distance of 3.5 feet, onto an unspecified surface — on the third flight, the phone’s glass cracked. Now, when you drop a 3.5″ piece of glass strapped to 4.5 ounces of weight from 3.5 feet…breakage certainly can’t be ruled out. iFix explains that the new display will suffer from more screen breaks and that the new design, with flush glass, will “come back to bite” Apple in the future. Time will tell.

What do you think? What are your preliminary thoughts on Apple’s new display specs and design?

[Read - PCWorld] [Read - iFix Your iBlog]


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  • Dumb Article

    This article is so STUPID!! How about DON’T DROP THE PHONE!!
    I know it is a hard concept for some but seriously get a life… Its made out of glass you retards!!

    • bob

      dont drop the phone….

      LIKE ANYBODY DROPS A PHONE ON PURPOSE
      YOU FREAKING MOROOOOOON

      I’ve dropped my HTC Touch a hundred times and guess
      what.. NOTHING BROKE
      HOW FREAKING MAGICAL IS THAT??????????

  • http://iphoneandyou.wordpress.com mmh

    iPhone 4 is not a big a update as iPhone 3gs was. It’s just a 3gs with better display n 5mp camera

    • bob

      same stupid software
      same stupid steve
      follow me… I’m magicallllll.. oooowwww

    • Cold Dead Fingers

      Difference from 3G-3GS
      600MHz processor
      3.2-mp cam
      More storage
      More memory

      Difference from 3GS-4
      A4
      5-mp cam with HD video capture
      LED Flash
      Gyroscope
      Duel mics
      Improved speakers
      Retina display
      Front facing camera (video calling)
      Improved amtenna system

      • pinguino1

        Sooo, What’s new? any other Good phone has that and more. They are just improving and catching up.
        Still it will take a LOT more from them for me to even considering it

      • izzle

        do you mean dual mics?

        i wouldn’t want my microphones fighting.

      • aatkco

        Excuse me but iPhone 3GS has a 800-MHz Processor downclocked to 600Mhz to save battery ( 3G and 2G also downclocked from 600 to 412 ) and iPhone 4 has A4 ship which supposed to be 1Ghz and i think it will be downclocked to unknown speed .
        iPhone 3GS Ram : 256
        iPhone 4 Ram : Unknown till now.
        About the screen I’m really confused is it that specs Steve revealed or less and which better Retina or Amoled .
        Final Decision : I didn’t like the iPhone 4 a lot, That’s my opinion.

      • kaiba222

        u must know something. the iphone does NOT use ram, it uses some other stupid system that Jobs created for the stupid iphone, thats why even the iphone 4 cant do “real” multitaksing like an Android phone. i really like my 4.0 inch Super AMOLED display better than the 3.5 inch “retina” display of the iphone 4.

  • cell phone fanboy

    I have to say, this is a pretty stupid post, made by an incredibly geeky person who has nothing better to do.

    Dont worry Andrew Munchbach, I’m sure when the iphone hits stores, you’ll have plenty to talk about.

  • mj

    I’m amazed a phone made out of 90% glass made it to 3 drops. You guys need to relax with this whole ” omg steve jobs lied to me” guess what???? Glass breaks!

    • Jake

      Gorilla glass would outlast this by a very very long time.

      • Faxmone

        Gorilla Glass and the iPhone glass in question are both aluminosilicate glass ceramics. Gorilla glass is alkali-based, not sure about the iPhone glass. Neither one is “comparable to sapphire crystal” like the promo video said, however. That was a load of shit.

    • pinguino1

      like magical

    • Faxmone

      But they did lie. They said it was “comparable to sapphire crystal”. Sapphire is a 9 on the Mohs scale. It’s extremely hard. Aluminosilicate glass ceramics are around a 7. That’s not bad, but it means sapphire is still 4x harder.

      Where I come from “comparable” is not a synonym for “1/4th as much as”.

  • Marco

    Ouch… Apple did this on purpose! I have dropped phones before… Drop a phone with glass front and back… and you are SCREWED! Great way for Apple to cash in on your accident. They will fix it for you for a charge! More money in the pockets of Jobs and Co…

    PS The engineers at Apple knew about this issue and that is why they designed BUMPERS to help with the drop…

    OUCH…

    So many iPhone users are gonna hate Apple after iPhone 4 ;)

    • Richard Butler

      and since the iPhone is insurable through Asurion as are the phones at AT&T, not much of an issue. Prices range, currently depending on model of iPhone and deductible opted for, and the owner must enroll within 30 days of purchase of the phone, it’s certainly something to look into. The “bumpers” around the edge may help protect the integrity of the antennae, but a glass front and back almost demands one make the investment–just keep $700 in a special iPhone bank vault for immediate replacement. The nice thing is that we only have to worry for a year sine we can get the latest and greatest iPhone once per year if trends remain the same. Too bad the Apple Care Protection Plan won’t add glass breakage for a nominal fee!!!

  • iamajimm

    What about insurance? Still a nogo?

    • izzle

      att just came out with insurance for the iphone. i don’t know what it covers but it’s $13/mo… do the math…

      $13 X 24 month contract = buy a new phone when you break it!

  • Brye

    Stop making an argument. Do you see anyone else making a phone with that sort of pixel density or using engineered glass in a phone? No. And seriously it’s GLASS. Apple never stated that the thing wouldn’t crack, it said it’s more scratch resistant.

    • alphadawg

      Motorola is using Gorilla Glass from Corning, so YES other are using engineered glass. Also Apples does state:

      “30 times stronger than plastic”

      That would give any normal person the confidence that this thing could take a few drops. If plastic phones crack and break when dropped and this is 30 times it should be awesome. Apple has implied extreme strength in their own advertising.

      Remember they did pay out money because of how easily iPod Nano scratched – and it was plastic and I would expect this. I think they are in for a world of hurt with their current claims as they do mislead the consumer.

      • Brye

        Read carefully, they stated it would be 20 times stiffer and 30 times harder than plastic. Harder. Meaning it’s more scratch resistant and tolerant to normal use.

      • Jason

        This was a good point here…and to further your argument that directly implies something HARDER is less prone to flex durability. Cracking will be increased drastically

    • Tom

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_displays_by_pixel_density

      Sony Ericsson X1 had 312.
      Toshiba Portege G900 had 313.
      LG-LU1400 has 333.

      But hey, you could keep drinking that Cool Aid of yours.

      • Justin

        LG-LU1400 = 2.8″ display

        Toshiba Portege = 3.0″ display

        Sony Ericsson X1 = 3.0″ display

        iPhone 4 = 3.5″ display

        im sure you’re smart enough to know what that means, right?

      • Richard Butler

        Kool-Aid

  • Cold Dead Fingers

    This doesn’t bother me one bit. It doesn’t say anywhere in Apple’s Apple Care policy that accidental damages will be covered, yet, vie broken 3 different Apple products (2 iPod, 1 MBA) and Apple has replaced them for free. Yes I believe apple knew about the problem and that’s why they introduced the bumpers, is that so bad? Imagine if when Microsoft announced the xbox 360 and they knew about the rrod so they the buyers the option to buy industrial cooling fans so that the system wouldn’t overheat. How many people would have said no to that? I paid $270 to fix their fault, here, Apple gives you an option to buy for $29. I’d take the bumper. It’s a small price to pay to make sure your phone is safe, and buying any othe case is the same deal.

  • Caffesilvia

    This “retina display” branding is an OBVIOUS after-the-fact PR salve. Here is what happened: Apple produces a very large volume. To do so economically, it had to set up the supply chain and formalize the design for this phone a long time ago. In the meantime, smaller, more agile competitors (HTC) started producing screens that were much bigger and more beautiful than what Apple had planned to release. Apple then said “oh shit, we’re locked in to a 3.5″ screen now for the iPhone 4 and it isn’t going to be top of the line when released.” Some PR genius said, “but we can market the screen’s small size as a FEATURE by focusing on resolution instead of display area.” And so the concept of a retina display was born – not by engineers but by spin doctors.

    • RUben

      thanks caffes you said it right and clear,i would just add this,THE IPHONE G4 !!!!!JUMP THE SHARK!!!!

    • pinguino1

      You got it man. We all know the “magical” words they use. They work very well, when they are mixed with cool-aid it changes the meaning of “Already used by the competition” into “revolucionary”

      • Victor

        When you have the most popular phone on the planet and you sell more of them than anyone else, there will be a lot of haters-the kind that say people who own these phones are drinking cool-aid of some sort. Everyone will always think their product of choice is better. This is why we have choice. Would we not have these discussions if we all had droids? Or if we all carried EVOs? I believe apple makes good products with a premium price tag. With that price tag comes outstanding service in most cases. For that reason, I buy their products. Am I a fanboy for that? It’s all about preference. Thats it.

    • Travis

      Just how big of a screen do you want? How about an 8″ screen? Yes, that would be even better than HTC!!

      • kaiba222

        then that would be a tablet dumb ass.

    • Justin

      ehhhhhhh maybe.

      but i’ve used an HD2… its too big. 3.5″ is the sweet spot for a /phone/ i think. carrying the HD2 around is like using an ipad for a phone.

  • aquababie

    regardless of the type of glass the iphone 4 uses, it’s still glass. that means it will break. if they said the glass would never break, then they would be lying. this gutless phone dropped the phone 3 times on purpose. the glass was weaken by the falls.

    and besides who pays this much for a phone and won’t spend $20 on a case?

  • ReekinHavok

    Looks like it was dropped onto hammers…multiple times…

  • Olegreg

    So I was looking at the pics and I’m wondering how come the phone doesn’t have the volume buttons, ringer switch, and sim card tray? Looks like and early prototype that they got ahold of and tried to say it was bad glass..so if it is a prototype and it took 3 drops from 3.5 feet to break seems pretty good to me.

  • zee

    Hey apple is a screw up they lie or over exaggerate their products. i mean have they heard of super amoled. it kills apples display…..
    im all in for windows phone 7 now. screw you apple for messing the phone i waited so long for.

  • zee

  • zee

    watch this and tell me if you like or no……

  • dave

    fixit makes more money with broken iPhone screens…I wouldn’t mind a screen drop test from a blog that doesn’t make their living fixing broken screens…

    Posted from BGR Mobile (iPhone) at: Cuyahoga Falls United States

  • Poor Young Soul

    This story makes my liver ache.

    • Laz

      That’s fucked up lol.

  • Sam

    i guess thats why apple made the bumper

  • Alex

    Regardless, it’s still a beautiful device. I guess those bumper protection will do the trick, although I refuse to put on any case and hide the beauty of this phone. I guess users will just have to handle their iphones with care. If you think about it, any phone will crack, break or scratch when you drop it. So I don’t know why PC World singled out the iphone. As for its retina display. It still offers the highest display resolution out there. I don’t know why they should take it literally. This attempt to discourage people to buy the iphone will not stop me or others from getting one. But it only shows how some media people can be a bunch of jerks.

    • kaiba222

      They singled it out because Steve was saying how awesome it was, and how it would never break, this proves him wrong, thats why.

  • Ron Mexico

    Fuck you for posting up garbage and propaganda you fuck faces. Just to claim Ohhh the glass will break u fucks smashed the phone. Hater ass niggus

    • kaiba222

      I must say, you have no combat, if your going to post something, do it intelligently you dumb fuck.

  • Christopher

    The 3G and 3GS seems far more ergonomically pleasing than the 4G. On the issue of the 4G’s possibility screen breakage… The angled edges on the 3G and 3GS are curved. For lack of a better term, let me help you visualize this. If you drop an iPhone 3G/3GS at a 80 – 45 degree angle on a soft surface you’ll see that the phone almost slips and breaks some of the phones fall.

    With the 4G if dropped on the side — as the sides are flat — the phone will bounce and take more of the impact from the fall on the side.

    Not a huge fan of the 4G shape, but hey, video chat finally reaching the US, and for one of the leading smart phones, not too shabby.

    • kaiba222

      Its not “4G” its only 4. Get it right.

  • http://twitter.com/wadefulp WadeF

    I don’t really care for the “30 times harder than plastic” marketing. 30 times harder than what type of plastic? Is 30 times harder than plastic as hard as normal glass? Harder? Not as hard? Is this screen not as hard as glass, but 30 times harder than plastic so it can take more shock than glass, but not scratch as easy as most plastics? If I take a piece of glass and rub it on my iPhone 4′s screen, will it scratch it? Or will the iPhone 4′s screen be able to scratch glass?

    I’m not overly confident in their super glass without more information about it, so I’ve ordered bumpers, which I probably won’t have until nearly a month after I receive my iPhone 4 (6/23 for phone, 7/17 or something for bumpers). I ordered some screen protectors as well.

    • kaiba222

      none because they will both be flat against each other with no sharp edges.

  • ChrisM

    Just dropped mine out of my lap onto concrete this morning from 1.5 ft. (obviously just forgot about it) First drop, shattered from the middle on the left side to a tree branch style across the right side of the screen.

    I had dropped my 3g at least 3 times from a height of about 4 ft. each time – barely scratched it each time.

  • Eric

    Yeah mine has cracked and extended warrant won’t cover

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