Is Apple building a 5.7-inch iPhone phablet?
The iPhone 5 shipped with a four-inch display 鈥� half an inch larger than the screen on the iPhone 4. And now, to Reuters, Apple is "exploring" the possibility of building an iPhone with a 5.7-inch display, which would put the device squarely in 迟别谤谤颈迟辞谤测.听
That 5.7-inch device would reportedly join a wider array of iPhones, including more traditionally-sized models, and models available in five or six different colors. (The iPhone is now currently available only in black and white.)
Reuters reports that Apple's pivot toward the phablet "comes as the long-time consumer and investor darling faces pressure to deliver more than one new handset model a year. Critics say its pace of innovation has slowed since the death of legendary co-founder Steve Jobs." Apple, for its part, isn't commenting.聽
Still, there's probably something to the news, not least because the Reuters article was聽penned by three top tech reporters, and sourced to "four people with knowledge of the matter."聽There's also the issue that Apple sold聽only five million iPhone 5s in the first three days the device was on sale 鈥� a formidable number, to be sure, but well short of estimates that Apple would unload a full 6 to 10 million during the iPhone 5's debut weekend.聽
Apple will want to shake up its launch calendar in the years ahead, and also shake up the kinds of technology it delivers.聽
Of course, as Sascha Segan over at PCMag.com, Apple is rumored to be making all sorts of devices, from a watch to a television screen.
"I don't think the analysts were making any of that up. Apple has been working on a TV for years 鈥� it just hasn't gotten the hardware and content deals aligned to its satisfaction," Segan . "With phablets a success in most of the world, it's a no-brainer that Apple is doing its due diligence on phablets. Just don't think that means Apple has actually decided to make one."聽
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