Apple Prototyping 4-inch iPhone and 7-inch iPad: Report

The latest iPhone and iPad flurries continue to hang on to idea that the iPhone will get a larger 4-inch screen and the iPad will get a sibling with a smaller 7-inch screen. With Tim Cook sitting on the throne, anything is possible.

Last month, everybody was anticipating an iPhone 5 with a larger 4-inch display, but what we got was an iPhone 4S with the same 3.5-inch Retina Display as the old iPhone 4. It's rumored that Steve Jobs canned the iPhone 5 at the last second.

Well, the rumors must continue on, because there's talk that Apple is in conversation with LG Display to roll out a larger iPhone and a smaller iPad. The resolutions on both displays will no doubt have to be consistent to the current iPhones and iPads in order to keep iOS from fragmenting itself.

But will Apple, a company once led by Jobs who famously said that 7-inch displays aren't sufficient to create great tablets" build a smaller iPad? Jobs even went as far as to say "seven-inch tablets are twiners: too big to compete with a smartphone, and too small to compete with an iPad."

It was fairly common for Steve Jobs to scrap an entire product simply because it wasn't perfect to him, but the baton's been passed on to Tim Cook and a new era at Apple is upon us all. With it, could come products that were once deemed sucky by the late Jobs.

Cook and his crew could very much be working on a seven-inch iPad. Maybe he thinks it's a great size and works well. Amazon seems to think 7-inch tablets are fine and so does Barnes & Noble.

Before his death, Jobs told Cook to not ask what what Steve would do, but to "Just do what's right." Maybe the timing's right to do a larger iPhone and smaller iPad. Never say never, right?

IDG, via GottaBeMobile

For the latest tech stories, follow DVICE on Twitter
at @dvice or find us on Facebook
Contact Us