iPhone: Longer Screen And Slightly Wider Makes Sense

I've been trying to figure out just how Apple can make an iPhone with a bigger screen without screwing up the resolution and forcing developers to redo all of their apps to make it work on a potentially and mostly speculative bigger screen for the next iPhone.

A few weeks ago, there was talk that perhaps Apple can make the iPhone taller to accommodate a longer screen.  Obviously, this would break the current 3:2 ratio.  If so, so be it.  I don't see Apple necessarily married to this if it can provide a more meaningful mobile experience.  

What I don't think is absolutely necessary for Apple to do is to change the form factor of the iPhone by making it longer.  If you have an iPhone, take a look at it.  There's a lot of space on the top where the mic and Facetime camera are.  Also look at the home button area at the bottom.  Can the home button be modified a bit - make it smaller and wider or even get rid of it completely.  The whole bottom area becomes touch-sensitive.  Perhaps, Apple may need to make the iPhone slightly wider but I'm okay with that.

So, essentially, you end up with the surface of the new iPhone with mostly the display.  Sure, why not?  This is the trend we are headed after all.  There will be a day when Apple will be able to hide the camera behind the screen and push the earphone further to the top edge of the iPhone.  Chances are, we will never have an iPhone without any bezel at all.  You need to be able to hold your mobile device and what's the point of holding a part of the screen when you're not going to be able to see it anyway.

If Apple does ever go cover the iPhone completely with the screen, Apple will need to find a way to make the glass back multi-touch.  We already have such a device on the market A good example is the Sony Vita that allows the user to control games from the back of the device.

The reason I've gone further in this post about a full-screened iPhone is because that is where I really believe where Apple, Samsung, and others are headed and making an iPhone with an incrementally bigger screen is the natural intermediary step between today's iPhone and this future full-screened iPhone.  

All of this can be achieved without Apple making the iPhone looking and feeling uncomfortably bigger in the user's hand.  At the same time, by not making the iPhone much wider, it still allows for an one-handed use, something that is harder to do with many of the wider body Android devices on the market.

The question isn't if we'll get a bigger screen on the iPhone some day.  It's whether it'll be 3.7", 4", or even bigger.