If the recent flurry of rumors and reports surrounding Apple’s sixth-generation iPhone add up, we can expect a top-to-bottom redesign when Apple finally unveils its next-generation smartphone later this year. Several leaked images of what is supposedly the housing for Apple’s next iPhone hit the Web last week showing a taller, thinner aluminum case that could easily support a larger display. While the authenticity of the images has not been confirmed, they do support earlier claims from both The Wall Street Journal and Reuters, suggesting the next-generation iPhone will include a new display measuring at least 4 inches diagonally. Now, an analyst with a solid track record has issed a research note that paints a more complete picture of the upcoming iPhone’s new display.
“We expect iPhone 5 to feature a 4.08-inch in-cell IPS panel screen with a display resolution of 1,136 x 640 and 500-nit brightness,” KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo wrote on Wednesday in a note to clients. He also stated that despite the inclusion of a new larger display, Apple’s upcoming iPhone will utilize a battery that is roughly the same capacity as the one found in the iPhone 4S.
According to the analyst’s sources within Apple’s supply chain, the new iPhone display will measure 50.9 millimeters wide by 90.3 millimeters tall, and Apple has contracted Toshiba Matsushita Display, LG Display and Sharp to supply the new panels. Kuo also reaffirmed earlier reports that the next-generation iPhone will utilize in-cell touch elements in its display.
Kuo notes that Apple chose not to use a larger 4.3-inch display because it would require a larger battery and it would not support comfortable single-handed operation.
The analyst also says that Apple’s new iPhone housing will be thinner than the glass and aluminum case utilized by the current-generation iPhone 4S and the iPhone 4. Recent reports suggest Apple’s next iPhone will launch in September or October alongside a new “iPad mini,” and BGR reported last December that Apple intends to launch a completely redesigned iPhone in the fall.