All Sections

Could Apple bring back a 4-inch iPhone to join its lineup?

Apple finally made the jump to notably larger screen sizes for its smartphones last year, but does that mean it’s left smaller handsets alone forever? We’re not so sure.

There have been rumours doing the rounds for months now, suggesting that Apple could be working on a new 4-inch iPhone to add to its current range. With the iPhone 4S having been effectively retired and the 5S looking a little long in the tooth by comparison to the newcomers, there’s certainly room for a smaller device in Apple’s arsenal, but the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus signal a definitive move towards a ‘bigger is better’ ethos, leading us to wonder whether a jump back to smaller devices is truly plausible.

Many of the rumours emanating from the usual sources have pointed towards Apple launching a smaller, cheaper device alongside the upcoming Apple Watch, and given that the wearable is aimed at those with an active lifestyle, a more pocketable device certainly seems logical, perhaps even one with more life-proof features such as those currently being served up by rivals Sony and Samsung.

However, Apple isn’t known for breaking its routine and launching a new device before the iPhone 6S has seen the light of day would be an uncharacteristic move for the world’s premier tech company.

As far as we’re aware, Apple is planning to launch the Apple Watch as a standalone device, and throwing it at the market alongside a new, cheap(ish – let’s face it; nothing Apple is ever truly cheap) device could massively enhance the impact of Apple’s maiden wearable, but so far nothing suggests that talk of a smaller new device is anything but gossip and hyperbole.

Perhaps the most glaring sign that there’s no 4-inch iPhone on the horizon is that no-one seems to be building one! Whenever a new Apple device goes into production, the rumour mill goes wild with leaked images of components used in manufacture which lead to months of speculation over what the final product will look like, but when Chinese tech site Wei Feng contacted the suppliers of Apple’s components, they were assured that nothing relating to a 4-inch iPhone was in the works.

As much as we’d love to see something smaller from Apple, it really seems that, at least for now, a 4-inch iPhone is just a myth. However, there seems to be plenty of demand for such a device, which might mean that Apple takes notice of consumers at some point in the near future and satisfies their wants! That’s a big ‘might’, though.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *