The Verge published today another article about the new iPhone 'five'. I am not a big fan of this news, if it's a true leak and the new iPhone will look like that. But there's so many things that are wrong with this whole situation.
The name
We read tens or hundreds of posts about the iPad 3 before Apple released the new device this March under the simple name new iPad. It makes so much sense - especially for future-proofing Apple's strategy. Who will want to buy an iPad 6 in 2015? I think it makes a lot of sense to call it the iPad and then specify the year it was released in. Works for Macs, should work for iPads. And I think Apple will use this strategy in the upcoming iPhone, too. My guess is - Apple is releasing the new iPhone this fall. So I don't really get why the tech journalists still use the name iPhone 5. (Plus, extra confusion is added when you remember that the iPhone 4S was too called '5' before launch last year).
The design
I love the design of the iPhone 4S. I own one and it's still the best looking phone out there, even though the design is two years old. But I don't think the new iPhone (yes, using the new terminology) will have such a similar looks to the 4/4S. Apple already got under attack after releasing the 4S (people wanted a change in form factor and the visual concept), but they agreed that it's just a tweaked 4. I don't think they can get away with releasing such highly anticipated device with the good ol' design.
The screen
Cut the crap. I DON'T BELIEVE THE WHOLE 4-inch SCREEN iPHONE BULLSHIT! I might be wrong. I probably am. I am also an iOS developer. Even after releasing auto-layout in iOS 6, Apple can't change the aspect ratio. Technologically, they can, of course. They're the most valuable company in the world. The developers would get pissed off, though. It's enough to tweak the apps for 4 types of devices:
- up to iPhone 3GS: 320 by 480 at 163 pixels per inch
- iPhone 4/4S: 640 by 960 at 326 pixels per inch
- up to iPad 2: 768 by 1024 at 132 pixels per inch
- iPad (3rd gen): 1536 by 2048 at 264 pixels per inch
Seriously, try adding another aspect ratio and the quality of customisation for each device will get worse. The developers just don't have the time and money to spend their time on tweaking their apps for each device category. Which is also the reason why most Android apps just suck (the fragmentation doesn't allow devs to have their app look great on every device out there). Maybe not content-wise, but definitely visual-wise.
The end
I just really hope this is not the next iPhone. I want to see something new. Jony Ive needs to show us that he hasn't been chilling for the last two years. It's your turn, Apple.