iphone 4s retina displayMacerkopf.de reports [Google translation] that it has learned from an Apple software engineer that the company is currently testing fourteen different GPU drivers for iPhone hardware, including several drivers for running displays at higher resolutions of 1280 x 720 and 1440 x 800. The iPhone 4 and 4S currently utilize a 960 x 640 display.

According to the report, Apple is testing two sets of seven drivers each targeting either dual-core or quad-core chips. Within each set, Apple is said to be testing four drivers targeting the current 960 x 640 display size, two targeting 1280 x 720 displays and one targeting 1440 x 800 displays.

The report notes that these drivers are only in testing and thus not necessarily indicative of any shipping product. In addition, the higher resolutions are not clean multiples of the current iPhone resolution, meaning that developers would have to offer newly-scaled content to fit the new size, with Apple having to use a non-ideal automatic scaling to allow current content to display on the new device. In the transition to the current Retina displays, Apple doubled the screen's resolution in both the vertical and horizontal directions, allowing lower-resolution apps to be easily scaled up using pixel doubling techniques.

Macerkopf has not been a frequent source of rumors, and most recently incorrectly claimed that iOS 5.0.2 would be coming in late November to further address battery issues. The claim was later retracted after it was said that memory leaks were delaying the public launch. The original report also cited major enhancements to Siri for the first significant update for iOS 5. But with the first developer build of iOS 5.1 being released last week, there is yet to be any evidence of such Siri enhancements.

Related Forum: iPhone

Top Rated Comments

///M5 Avatar
181 months ago
The iPhone's screen is just fine. Now do something for the iPad's.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
guzhogi Avatar
181 months ago
My ipHone's 3.5" screen has a higher resolution than my original 12" screen I had for my Mac LC. :(
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
slrandall Avatar
181 months ago
I'm pretty sure the iphone display is much greater than 720p

nope
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Gemütlichkeit Avatar
181 months ago
Great, I'm curious if there would be that much of an improvement. My eyes can't detect any pixilation right now on the iPhone 4's screen when viewing at a normal distance.

The iPad however...
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fjanderson94 Avatar
181 months ago
Even though these are only drivers I think this adds additional information supporting the iPhone "5" with a 4" screen at a higher resolution to continue making the iPhone display a retina display. 1440x960 sounds good to me, but I think the iPad's display needs more attention than the iPhone's however.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
roow110 Avatar
181 months ago
I think the next iPhone will have the same ppi, but a larger screen, therefore old apps will fill only part of the screen, the same way iPhone apps are displayed on the iPad, and this gives future app developers the ability to utilize more screen space.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

M5 MacBook Pro

Apple Announces New 14-Inch MacBook Pro With M5 Chip

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:07 am PDT by
Apple today updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, which is also available in updated iPad Pro and Vision Pro models. In addition, the base 14-inch MacBook Pro can now be configured with up to 4TB of storage on Apple's online store, whereas the previous model maxed out at 2TB. However, the maximum amount of unified RAM available for this model remains 32GB. Like...
Apple iPad Pro hero M5

Apple Debuts New iPad Pro With M5 Chip, Faster Charging, and More

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:16 am PDT by
Apple today announced the next-generation iPad Pro, featuring the custom-designed M5, C1X, and N1 chips. The M5 chip has up to a 10-core CPU, with four performance cores and six efficiency cores. It features a next-generation GPU with Neural Accelerator in each core, allowing the new iPad Pro to deliver up to 3.5x the AI performance than the previous model, and a third-generation ray-tracing ...
iphone air thickness

Apple Said to Cut iPhone Air Production Amid Underwhelming Sales

Friday October 17, 2025 8:29 am PDT by
Apple plans to cut production of the iPhone Air amid underwhelming sales performance, Japan's Mizuho Securities believes (via The Elec). The Japanese investment banking and securities firm claims that the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are seeing higher sales than their predecessors during the same period last year, while the standard iPhone 17 is a major success, performing...
maxresdefault

Here's Everything Apple Announced Today

Wednesday October 15, 2025 3:54 pm PDT by
We didn't get a second fall event this year, but Apple did unveil updated products with a series of press releases that went out today. The M5 chip made an appearance in new MacBook Pro, Vision Pro, and iPad Pro models. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up our coverage and highlighted the main feature changes for each device below. MacBook Pro M5...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple's Next Rumored Products: New HomePod Mini, Apple TV, and More

Thursday October 16, 2025 9:13 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro, iPad Pro, and Vision Pro with its next-generation M5 chip, but previous rumors have indicated that the company still plans to announce at least a few additional products before the end of the year. The following Apple products have at one point been rumored to be updated in 2025, although it is unclear if the timeframe for any of them has...
Vision Pro M5 Announcement

Apple Updates Vision Pro With M5 Chip, Dual Knit Band, and 120Hz Support

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:14 am PDT by
Apple today updated the Vision Pro headset with its next-generation M5 chip for faster performance, and a more comfortable Dual Knit Band. The M5 chip has a 10-core CPU, a 10-core GPU with Neural Accelerators, and a 16-core Neural Engine, and we have confirmed the Vision Pro still has 16GB of RAM. With the M5 chip, the Vision Pro offers faster performance and longer battery life compared...
14 inch MacBook Pro Keyboard

New 14-Inch MacBook Pro Has Two Key Upgrades Beyond the M5 Chip

Thursday October 16, 2025 8:31 am PDT by
Apple on Wednesday updated the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with an M5 chip, and there are two key storage-related upgrades beyond that chip bump. First, Apple says the new 14-inch MacBook Pro offers up to 2× faster SSD performance than the equivalent previous-generation model, so read and write speeds should get a significant boost. Apple says it is using "the latest storage technology," ...
MacBook Pro M5 Screen

New MacBook Pro Does Not Include a Charger in the Box in Europe

Wednesday October 15, 2025 6:59 am PDT by
The new 14-inch MacBook Pro with an M5 chip does not include a charger in the box in European countries, including the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway, and others, according to Apple's online store. In the U.S. and all other countries outside of Europe, the new MacBook Pro comes with Apple's 70W USB-C Power Adapter, but European customers miss out....
airpods max 2024 colors

AirPods Max 2: Everything We Know So Far

Tuesday October 14, 2025 8:43 am PDT by
Apple's AirPods Max have now been available for almost five years, so what do we know about the second-generation version? According to Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the new AirPods Max will be lighter than the current ones, but exactly how much is as yet known. The current AirPods Max weigh 0.85 pounds (386.2 grams), excluding the charging case, making it one of the heavier...
macbook pro blue

Apple's M5 MacBook Pro Imminent: What to Expect

Tuesday October 14, 2025 4:35 pm PDT by
Apple is going to launch a new version of the MacBook Pro as soon as tomorrow, so we thought we'd go over what to expect from Apple's upcoming Mac. M5 Chip The MacBook Pro will be one of the first new devices to use the next-generation M5 chip, which will replace the M4 chip. The M5 is built on TSMC's more advanced 3-nanometer process, and it will bring speed and efficiency improvements. ...