Why Apple Is Going Bigger on Bigger iPhone Screens: QuickTake

Apple Inc. may have led the world with the modern smartphone but it’s long played catch-up on screen size. That’s allowed Samsung Electronics Co. and Chinese brands to corner the market for super-sized devices. The U.S. company is now said to be preparing a renewed bid to capture ground with the release of a trio of iPhones -- including one that’s almost twice the size of the original model. It’s a move that’s aimed in part at emerging markets such as India and China.

The largest of the new designs has a screen that’s close to 6.5 inches (16.5 centimeters) when measured diagonally. That would make it among the biggest on the market. By comparison, the first iPhones came with a 3.5-inch display, a dimension that Apple saw as optimal for using with one hand until the 4-inch iPhone 5 appeared in 2012. The new range also includes a device that, at 5.8 inches, is said to be the same size as Apple’s premium iPhone X.