iOS 14 Beta Display Option Offers Evidence of 5.4-Inch iPhone 12

Apple’s smallest iPhone 12 has all but been confirmed by a new display option in iOS 14, which is currently in a beta form.

A new report from 9to5Mac explains that the proof of this was discovered in the third developer beta for iOS 14, which brought a small update to an unassuming accessibility setting called Display Zoom.

Display Zoom is Apple’s feature that allows users to make an iPhone’s interface larger and easier to interact with. It does this by swapping out the interface for the next size down.

For example, an iPhone 11 Pro Max with Display Zoom active resizes icons and text to look like they do on the smaller iPhone 11 Pro. Doing this on the larger-screened Max model makes icon and apps look larger.

As 9to5Mac discovered, the Display Zoom on 5.8-inch iPhones in iOS 14 beta 3 runs at a resolution of 960 x 2079 pixels. Using any other resolution crashes the simulator, further adding credence to Apple including support for the resolution in iOS 14.

More importantly, this resolution has the same aspect ratio as the iPhone X’s display, though in a smaller size, which again makes sense as Apple intends to launch a 5.4-inch iPhone this year. This resolution does have a higher pixel density — 425 PPI vs 326 PPI — that are found on other iPhones. So, it is possible that the actual 5.4-inch iPhone 12 ships with a resolution that’s something around 640 x 1386 pixels.

9to5Mac‘s images are a to-scale comparison of the 5.4-inch interface compared to the 5.8-inch interface. The smaller one is apparently comparable to the 2020 iPhone SE in size, except with a full-screen display and Face ID notch instead of bezels and a home button.

If the 5.4-inch iPhone 12 model is indeed real, it will be the smallest flagship iPhone model in years, even with its larger display size due to the addition of the notch. Rumors also suggest that it could end up being around the same price as the $699 USD iPhone 11, although the addition of an OLED display and support for 5G networks might bump the price up a touch.