Two Apple developers have reported iOS 8 behavior that seem to confirm old rumors circulating about Apple's iPhone 6 that the much-awaited smartphone will have a higher screen resolution.
Developer James Thomson announced on Twitter on Friday that the fifth iOS 8 beta version automatically loads images in a triple-retina resolution instead of the double-retina resolution used in iOS 7.
Interesting… UIImage on iOS 8b5 will load a @3x image in preference to an @2x one, even on a @2x device. Not so on iOS 7. Bug, but also hmm…
— James Thomson (@jamesthomson) August 29, 2014
In a separate report, Apple blog 9to5Mac confirms this behavior after conducting tests on iOS 8 using three images in retina, double-retina and triple-retina resolutions. Benjamin Mayo of 9to5Mac explains that, per documentation, iOS 8 should choose the image asset appropriate for the device's screen scale.
However, testing shows the code always loads in triple-retina resolution, suggesting that the iPhone 6, which is rumored to be unveiled on Sept. 9, will pack three times more pixels per inch than the base resolution for the bigger 5.5-inch iPhone 6. A single point on the screen, for instance, will have three pixels whereas phones running the base resolution will only have one.
Meanwhile, Steven Troughton-Smith, another Apple developer, said on Saturday that the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 prototype built by Feld & Volk seem to confirm Apple blogger John Gruber's speculation that the smaller-screen device will have a double-retina display with a resolution of 1334 x 750.
The size of the elements onscreen for the @feldvolk iPhone 6 video *seem* to confirm @gruber's 4.7" resolution 'hypothesis' (~375x667pt) — Steve T-S (@stroughtonsmith) August 30, 2014
Photos posted on the Feld & Volk Instagram page show images of the iPhone 6 prototype running on iOS 8 beta sitting next to the 4-inch iPhone 5S. Both phones display iOS in "Connect to iTunes" recovery mode, but the image on the iPhone 6 fails to fill up the screen completely, with the Lightning connector ending a good way from the edge of the screen.
Using the images shown by Feld & Volk, MacRumors has calculated that the iPhone 6 has 17.5% more pixels than current iPhones vertically; leading up to Gruber's theory that the iPhone 6 will have a resolution of 1334 x 750, assuming Apple continues to use the same aspect ratio for the iPhone 5s.
"At 4.7 inches, 1334 x 750 works perfectly as a new iPhone display, addressing problem # 1, showing more content," explains Gruber in his Daring Fireball blog. "With pixel dimensions of 667 x 375, this display would show 1.38 times more points than the iPhone 5. At 326 pixels-per-inch, everything on screen would remain exactly the same physical size. There would just be 38 percent more room for content."
If Apple uses a triple-retina resolution for the bigger iPhone 6, Gruber says it will have a resolution of 2208 x 1242, what he calls the "sweet spot" for a 5.5-inch phone.
"Everything works at these dimensions for a 5.5-inch display," he says. "With an increase in area of 68 percent and a scaling factor of 1.06, this display would address both reasons why someone might want a very large iPhone: it would show a lot more content, and it would render everything on screen, point-for-point, a little bit bigger. And at 461 pixels-per-inch, everything would be amazingly sharp."
