NPD DisplaySearch is claiming that in addition to a 4.7-inch iPhone 6, or perhaps 4.8-inch as previously reported by WSJ and Peter Misek, Apple is also developing its first phablet-sized 5.7-inch iPhone with a 1920 x 1080 display, CNET is reporting. According to the firm’s latest research note, Apple’s plans for its 2014 product lineup include a Retina MacBook Air, a 1.6-inch flexible AMOLED display iWatch and a phablet-sized iPhone.
The research firm has also published an interesting chart (shown above) showing all these “expected” products and their estimated release times, based on data from the supply chain of manufacturers in Asia. David Hsieh says in the research note that even though Apple has been an early adaptor of display technology, rapid developments in technology and manufacturing of LCD and OLED displays have “challenged Apple’s leadership in display adoption”, meaning lots of mobile players can match or beat Apple’s Retina display technology now.
“Other smart phone brands like HTC, Huawei, Nokia and Sony are all gearing up with higher resolution, larger displays, as are the tablet PC makers, led by Google and Amazon,” he said.
Some of the goodies expected from Apple include:
- Big iPad : a 12.9-inch iPad with a 2,732×2,048 resolution display.
- iPad Mini 2: sporting a 7.9-inch 2,048×1,536 display, matching the resolution of the larger 9.7-inch iPad.
- Retina MacBook Air: Finally, a Retina version of the popular Air. The new MBA may have a smaller 12-inch screen boasting 2,304×1,440 resolution. (Or slightly larger if you compare it to the current 11.6-inch MacBook Air.)
- iWatch 1.3-inch and 1.63-inch iWatch with 320×320 flexible AMOLED display.
- Apple TV: 55-inch, a 65-inch 4Kx2K screen.
Hsieh concluded his note by saying that Apple is planning to revamp nearly all of the displays in its products over the next year.
