Citing “people familiar with the situation,” The Wall Street Journal claims that Apple will be launching a 4.5-inch and a 5-inch display iPhone this year due to mounting competition from flagship, big-screen Android handsets.
The publication also states that both handsets will sport a metal casing and that the iPhone 5C, launched this September, will be discontinued.
The iPhone is now the only flagship smartphone on the market with a sub 4.5-inch screen. Samsung’s Galaxy SIV boasts a 5-inch full HD display, as does Sony’s Xperia Z1 while LG’s most premium of premium handsets, the G2, offers 0.2-inches more.
When challenged about this display shortfall, Apple has always pointed to two factors. First, that a bigger screen uses more power and battery life is just a critical to a good handset as being able to watch a video. And second that a phone should be simple to hold and use with a single hand.
That’s why when Apple did bump its phones’ screen sizes up from 3.5-inches to 4.0-inches it did so by making the handsets longer, rather than wider.
