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
177 months ago
The iPhone's screen is just fine. Now do something for the iPad's.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
guzhogi Avatar
177 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
177 months ago
I'm pretty sure the iphone display is much greater than 720p

nope
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Gemütlichkeit Avatar
177 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
177 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
177 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)

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