Latest iPhone 6 Rumor Doesn’t Add Up

The iPhone 6 is one of the most exciting smartphones of 2014 and part of the excitement comes from the growing number of rumors that the iPhone 6 will arrive with a larger display.

A new iPhone 6 rumor claims Apple is working on two iPhone 6 models, which is not that hard to believe given other rumors. It also claims that the iPhone 6 will arrive in a 4.7-inch and a 5.7-inch version, which again is possible.

The rumors starts to lose touch with reasonable expectations when analyst Sun Changxu starts to talk specifically about the iPhone 6 resolution and the iPhone 6 release date in a report published by digi.tech.qq.

In the report Changxu claims Apple is working on an iPhone 6 with a larger 4.7-inch display but that the resolution will remain stuck at 1136 x 640, the same as the iPhone 5 and iPhone 5s. While a change in resolution would require changes from developers to support more resolutions, keeping the same resolution on a screen that is nearly an inch larger does not seem in line with Apple’s previous steps and statements about larger displays. In 2013 Tim Cook told investors that larger, higher-resolution displays are not to the point where the quality meets Apple’s standards. If the large, beautiful displays on competing devices aren’t up to Apple’s standards it is hard to believe lowering the pixels per inch and messing with a Retina display is something Apple would do.

If Apple offered an iPhone 6 with a 4.7-inch display and an 1136 x 640 resolution the display would arrive with a 277 ppi rating, 50ppi less than the iPhone 5s. While this is still higher than the iPad and the MacBook Pro with Retina, the iPhone is held closer to the face during use which is why Apple clings to the current screen size and resolution combination.

Changxu claims a larger iPhone 6 with a 5.7-inch display is on the way later in the year with a higher resolution. While Samsung uses a two prong release strategy with the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note devices, in 2013 Apple launched two versions of the iPhone at the same event. While anything is possible, the fact that Apple stuck with a Retina resolution in the iPhone 5c, a lower quality display on the iPhone 6 would be a shocking development.

For comparison, the man who accurately predicted the iPad 3 Retina display months ahead of the unveiling believes Apple will announce an iPhone 6 with a 4.7-inch 1280 x 720 resolution and another iPhone 6 with a 5.5-inch 1920 x 1080 resolution. These new displays would offer a 386ppi and 401ppi respectively, moving Apple’s resolutions in the right direction.

Read: iPhone 6 Features We Want From Apple

This report also discusses a May ramp up in iPhone 6 production for the 4.7-inch model with a iPhone 6 release in Q3 followed by the larger iPhone release later in the year. There are many rumors of an iPhone 6 release date throughout 2014, so it is tough to pin down a specific timeframe, but it would be odd to see Apple release these two phones at separate times.

Though it is early in the year analysts and leaks point to an iPhone 6 release with two distinct models, larger screen options and a new overall design.