More and more smartphones are getting into the market around the world and bigger displays are embedded into most of them. Some of the big names in smartphones are Samsung and HTC and both of them already produced a smartphone with 4.3-inch display, perhaps the biggest display in the market for now. In the other hand, Apple still maintains the 3.5-inch display on their iPhone which is now in the 4S generation. This is the fifth generation of the highly-acclaimed iPhones that was launched in the last quarter of 2011. However, iPhone 4S might be the last iPhone with 3.5-inch display, where the next generation will be upgraded with bigger and better displays.
This is a crucial step forward by Apple where they finally follow the steps made by other smartphone makers. With a bigger display on iPhone 5, they can be on the same level with Samsung and HTC again and this will boost their competitiveness. This is most probably the retaliation by Apple when iPhone 4S failed to satisfy a lot of critics in the smartphone industry.
This rumour is not based on a hollow ground. There are reports from Hitachi and Sony where they have already started producing 4.0-inch display for Apple. Even though it is still smaller than the Samsung Galaxy S2, this will be great news for Apple fans. Having a large display did not mean that the users are satisfied with it. People who use Samsung Galaxy S2 sometimes find it hard for the phone to fit into pants especially the tight jeans. There are also situations where they will need to use both hands to hold the phone while typing message to prevent it from falling. This is maybe the reason why the rumoured iPhone 5 will only have a 4.0-inch display.
However, there are no reports whether the display made by both Sony and Hitachi will be tougher than the previous generations. This is because iPhone displays are really prone to break whenever it falls on a hard surface, unlike the Samsung Galaxy S2 display which is made from the toughened Gorilla Glass. Aside from the larger display, there are also reports where the iPhone 5 will have a metal casing to make it sturdier if it ever falls. The iPhone 5 is expected to be launched during the summer of 2012 so let us just wait and see whether Apple can get back their competitive edge in the smartphone industry.