Upcoming large-screened iPhone described as a cross between iPhone 5c and iPod nano

iPhone 6 concept (Federico Ciccarese 004)

There have been numerous attempts at envisioning what Apple’s next iPhone might look like, especially as the likes of Reuters and The Wall Street Journal jumped on the iPhablet bandwagon calling for two new large-screened iPhones, one with a 4.7-inch display and the other rocking a screen that seemingly measures at least five inches diagonally.

A new report by the rather accurate Japanese blog Macotakara now claims that the upcoming iPhones will expand on rather than replace the current four-inch four factor offered by the iPhone 5/5s/5c, with the bigger model classed as a phablet…

Citing a trusted source, the report alleges that the device’s external design borrows cues from the unapologetically plastic iPhone 5c, stuff like its button design, the holes on the bottom of the handset for speaker and microphone and the rounded back appearance.

But don’t worry, it presumably won’t have the plastic back.

In addition, the story goes on to claim that Apple has apparently settled on screen sizes for the two new iPhones: one will have a 4.7-inch display and measure at 14 by 7 centimeters, with the larger model measuring at 16 by 8 centimeters and offering a sizable 5.7-inch screen.

The larger device won’t be a replacement for the existing iPhone 5c.

green iPhone 5c front and back

Both should be 7mm thick, about half a millimeter thinner than the iPad Air.

Due to its thinness, the larger model is thought to incorporate the slightly protruded camera design akin to the fifth-generation iPod nano music player. However, the report alleges that the device could be slightly expanded to 7.5mm thick in order to do away with the unsightly protrusion on its back.

Before you jump straight to the comments, let me just point out that Tim Cook’s Apple has had no issues whatsoever expanding the iPad family with a smaller iPad, a device Apple’s late co-founder Steve Jobs vehemently opposed to.

Should Apple indeed add two new iPhones to the family, the lineup will be comprised of four inch, 4.7-inch and 5.7-inch units. And if history is an indication, the only difference between these devices will be the screen size, simplifying choices for consumers.

This is how iPads are purchased these days: both the iPad Air and the iPad mini with Retina display now share exactly same internals, the only difference being the screen size. With the original iPad mini, one had to carefully consider the trade-offs as the device offered sub-par hardware compared to full-size models.

I’d like to hear your position on this story.

If you were Apple, would you simply kill four-inch iPhones and replace them with bigger models? Or, would customers be better served if Apple expanded the four-inch models with a pair of iPhablets?