Apple said to develop 4.7 and 5.5 inch curved iPhones for late 2014 release, pressure-sensitive screens for later models
Apple Said Developing Curved IPhone Screens, Enhanced Sensors — Apple Inc. (AAPL) is developing new iPhone designs including bigger screens with curved glass …
Context & Ripple Effects
Bloomberg's report revives a claim the supply chain has made before: back in May 2011, DigiTimes reported Apple was preparing a curved-glass iPhone 5 that never shipped. The difference now is scale of pickup — Reuters, The Verge, Forbes, TechCrunch and others all ran the story on the same day — and the specificity of the sizing: 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch models reportedly targeted for late 2014.
The timing matters because Apple is defending its position from a larger-screen position: comScore data from days earlier still show the iPhone as the top single smartphone in the US, while the same reporting window carries rumors that Apple is adding Asian contract manufacturers to lift output. Pressure-sensitive screens are flagged only as a later-model ambition, not part of the late 2014 hardware.
First-order effects
- If the dual-sizing holds, Apple would break its one-flagship-per-year cadence for the first time, forcing display and glass suppliers to tool up for curved panels across two screen sizes at once.
- Rumored additions of new Asian contract manufacturing partners align with a two-model ramp, spreading assembly volume beyond the existing supplier base.
Second-order effects
- Android vendors whose large screens have been their main differentiation against the iPhone would lose that advantage if Apple ships at 4.7 and 5.5 inches, pushing them toward price or software features instead.
- Curved glass at iPhone volumes would pull cover-glass and lamination capacity industry-wide, raising the cost of entry for smaller handset makers chasing the same look.
Third-order effects
- Pressure-sensing input points to interaction layered on top of touch rather than replacing it — a direction that would make sensor and actuator suppliers strategic components rather than commodities if Apple ships it.
- A recurring pattern of curved-screen reports since 2011 suggests form-factor experimentation is becoming a standing R&D track inside Apple, with leaks functioning as a running test of supplier discretion.
The trend: Smartphone competition is shifting from screen-size arms races toward input and materials innovation, with Apple's supply chain leaking each stage years ahead of shipment.