Credit where it’s due. Apple’s ability to create a fever pitch of speculation around its next product hasn’t dulled with the passing of charismatic founder Steve Jobs. The method is pretty basic – say nothing. Come out with something. It’s really worrisome that the competition hasn’t cottoned on to that yet.

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Apple doesn’t release prototypes, doesn’t speculate in the press, and otherwise continues to sell their latest phone as the best thing ever right up until the very day they announce the next upgrade, which they start selling immediately (usually) and pretend almost like previous versions didn’t exist. Reality Distortion Field it may be, but it’s effective.

For speculation, the media has to look at the state of the much faster moving competition, apply previous knowledge, and of course, wait for leaks. The most recent comes from a batch of Japanese and South Korean screen manufacturers via the Wall Street Journal, who have reported big time orders for 4 inch screens from Cupertino.

Whether or not the reports from insiders at LG, japanese Display Inc. and Sharp are true, the effect of releasing such a rumor is already being felt. Samsung, Apple’s biggest rival in the phone market and also one of its biggest suppliers of screens, lost 6% of its value on the news, on the basis that the leak source indicates they won't be the supplier of these screens. That’s $10bn. We don’t live in a sane world.

Will it blend?

The iPhone has adhered to the same size for 5 years on the basis that it makes software run smoothly and uniformly on all models. This is only part of the equation – some apps won’t run on older models that have less processing power, but screen size fragmentation is a more pressing issue for the vast majority of users. With Apple’s infamous quality control, the idea that some apps will look chaotic on different sized phones would be unacceptable. Android, Google’s open-source alternative operating system, is run on over 4000 different devices (already!) which between them have 100-150 different form factors. As a result, some software looks broken or unusable on some handsets.

But as the competition weighed up their options to respond to Apple’s march to dominance, screen size was one of the only true differentiators they could opt for. And lo, we know have a plurality of phones at 4.3 inches, many at 4.7, and the Samsung Galaxy Note, at 5.3 inches, has bridged the gap between phone and tablet (Phablet!). In comparison, the iPhone is starting to look a little tiny, even with its superior Retina Screen technology.

Developers will probably start accounting for this differentiation in their future plans. Luckily, most developers cross develop for Android as well, so they’re used to this. Similarly, many apps have been cross developed for the dimensions of the iPad, and Apple’s Software Developers Kit (SDK) will doubtlessly be re-jigged to account for more screen resolutions.

Will it be good?

Apple has gotten where it has, by stripping away rubbish, rather than by adding features of negligible value. Their ability to dismiss trends and focus on what customers want and what’s actually ‘good’ has resulted in a superior user interface. It’s safe to say that a new screen will have to offer something tangibly different, and not just a means to keep step with the pace of competition. What could this be?

-    Onscreen buttons. The iPhone famously has had one button since the beginning, but that’s a feint. Each incarnation has had 4 buttons, if you count the volume up and down rocker and the power button at the top. Apple has cleverly ensured that the device has enough possible combinations to allow for manual control of the operating system when the screen goes kablooey. But now that the platform has matured, maybe it’s time to get rid of that home button and put that extra screen real estate to some use?

-    Full 720p/1080p video. The current screen dimensions box movies into an awkward resolution that either has to add letterboxing, or miss some detail to fit into the frame. The new screen may be more about a new shape, than a bigger rectangle built on the same dimensions.

-    Dedicated space for widgets.

A jailbroken phone that absolutely does not belong to the writer of this article

Geez I hope not. Widgets are usually horrible. But Jailbreakers will be familiar with SB Settings, a tweak that allows you to bring up a handy menu for turning the brightness down, or switching to Airplane Mode- all without leaving your app and going into the Settings Menu. Jailbreakers have been clamoring for a while for this feature to be integrated into iOS. A few extra millimeters could help bring such capability to the next version of iOS.

Other rumours

As stated before on this site, our opinion is that Near Field Communications (NFC) will be a feature of the next iPhone, allowing for your iPhone to act as a digital wallet, billing back to iTunes. I think it’s a lock.

The only thing really missing from making the iPhone a perfect combination of form, function and service is its breakability. A rubberized or silicon based frame would be nice, and stronger glass is inevitable as Corning keeps developing its Gorilla Glass technology. How about Apple does something with the Liquidmetal patent it holds on to? Or looks into carbon fibre? I recently had to work on my Mothers 3GS, and I was surprised how well the polycarbonate back holds up after 3 years.

For those who need pure, unfounded speculation – how about making the phone a computer? It already pairs well with a Bluetooth keyboard. All we need is a way to connect a mouse at the same time, and an inbuilt powerful projector that gives you full screen access on any white surface, yet still uses very little battery? C’mon Apple – you have $100bn. Show us what you got!