Larger iPhone 6 to Have 5.5-Inch WQHD Display, Curved Design

Japan Display Inc. (JDI) may have just spilled the beans, as it showed off what might be the larger iPhone 6′s 5.5-inch display, while other recent concepts attest to the phone’s curved design. Days after the world learned that Apple’s iPhone 6 might come in two sizes (5.5 and 4.7-inch respectively), JDI announced that its new 5.5″ WQHD display with a 1,440 x 2,560p resolution will be used in “leading-edge smartphones.” Since JDI has acted like Apple’s supplier of displays, chances are that the newly announced one will be among iPhone 6′s major selling points. Paul Semenza, a senior VP at NPD DisplaySearch, stated the following, after learning about JDI’s announcement: “Typically apple wants ‘first dibs’ on the new part, so it’s a little surprising that JDI is announcing this now… We don’t expect to see the iPhone 6 until second half 2014.” Semenza also talked about the rumored smaller iPhone 6: “There is also a possibility of another spec – a 4.7-inch 1,600 x 900 [display]. As always, Apple runs parallel development programs, to test out which is the best approach or just to try to confuse the rest of the world.” The world is definitely confused about the directions Apple is going with iPhone 6, especially since the diagram that popped on a Chinese website (pictured below) suggests that the smartphone will come with a 5.9-inch display. With such a size, Apple almost dives into phablet territory, something quite hard to believe, given that the iPhone 5S has a 4-inch display with a sub-HD resolution. Regardless of the size of the new iPhone 6, I’m curious whether Apple will really adopt a resolution that makes sense, such as the WQHD. Mac displays have had this resolution for a few years now, so maybe it’s time for the iPhone to make the jump, as well. I wonder if Apple is planning to sell differently sized iPhones as two versions of the same expensive product or if the smaller one will come in a plasticky case, much like the iPhone 5C did. Given how much the 5C ended up costing in some European countries (about as much as a Samsung Galaxy S5 or HTC One M8), I think Apple should definitely stick making what they call “premium smartphones,” with a metal case and all that.