Countdown to the Apple iPhone 5 Philippine Release - The Display

The Apple iPhone 5 will be officially launching in the Philippines on December 14, 2012. I am an Android user myself, but the latest Apple iPhone, is the best iPhone ever designed. Over the next few days while we wait for the official Philippine release I will explain why from the perspective of an Android "fan" it is the best iPhone ever.

I have read and heard plenty of comments from tech writers and iPhone users that the new larger screen is just taller and not wider, hence, according to some... disappointing. Sure, I would have preferred to see a 4.3 to 4.5-inch HD (720 x 1280) display, but first we should remember that the 3.5-inch iPhone has sold well for many years, and has been kept at roughly the same size. The iPhone 5 has a larger display without adding to the girt. The buyers of iPhone like the current size, and the new iPhone will suit them well. The majority of those really wanting larger displays would have migrated to Android a long time ago. The Apple iPhone's market share is substantial. It makes sense to make a device to that caters to its current customers. 

If Apple ever came out with an iPhone with a larger display, the transition to that should be gradual, or better yet, Apple should come out with iPhone's in two sizes.

What about the resolution? Unlike Android, Apple's iOS and iOS apps, cannot scale to multiple resolutions. If you notice, as they scale up in resolution they have done in by multiples of two. From a 320 x 480 display in iPhone/iPhone 3G//iPhone 3GS, to a 640 x 960 display on the iPhone 4/4S. The Apple iPad went from 768 x 1024 to 1536 x 2048.

By doubling the resolution app compatibility is maintained and it is easier to port apps to the new resolution. With the iPhone 5's new 640 x 1136 display it really adds another  640 x 176 extension to the existing screen. Old apps will display some black spaces, till they are updated.

The key benefit to going to 640 x 1136 from 640 x 960 is that, the formers is 9:16 while the latter is 2:3, in terms of aspect ratio. A 9:16 aspect ratio (or 16:9 landscape) is the same as the aspect ratio of 720p and 1080p video which means the iPhone 5 will use the entire 4-inch screen when displaying HD video, while the old 3.5 inch Apple screen does not.

In our next post, we will look at the dual core processor and battery life.