The iPhone Will Grow Larger in 2024

To be fair, the design and specs of the iPhone 15 are undoubtedly locked down by now as Apple prepares to begin mass production of the new models over the next few weeks. The secretive Apple undoubtedly still has a few surprises up its sleeve for its September iPhone launch event, but the usual assortment of analysts and leakers has given us a pretty good high-level picture of what this year’s iPhones will look like.

Hence, they’re now setting their sights on what can be gleaned about Apple’s iPhone plans for 2024, specifically the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max — and the evidence is mounting that we could be in for some noticeable design changes.

The Largest iPhone Ever?

In early May, industry analyst Ross Young, who typically has a very good read on what’s happening in the display supply chain, shared some inside info that the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max could get screens as large as 6.3 inches and 6.9 inches, respectively.

More specifically, Young pegged the sizes at “6.2x” and “6.8x” inches. Apple typically rounds to a single decimal place when it comes to published display sizes, so these could go either way. For instance, the actual diagonal measurement of the iPhone 14 Pro Max is 6.69 inches, while the iPhone 14 Pro is 6.12 inches.

A few days later, leaker Unknownz21 (@uredditor) added some seemingly independent confirmation of this, pegging the panel sizes at 6.3 inches and 6.9 inches. Well-known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also weighed in by adding that the iPhone 16 Pro would get larger to accommodate the new periscope camera technology that’s expected to debut exclusively on the larger iPhone 15 Pro Max this year.

That seems reasonable, as a periscope camera would require more horizontal space along the width or length of the iPhone to accommodate the wider separation between the lenses needed to bolster the optical zoom factors. It’s widely assumed that the periscope camera isn’t coming to the iPhone 15 Pro this year simply because there’s no room for it.

Rumor has it that Apple has been forced to rearrange the camera layout on the iPhone 15 Pro Max this year to make room for the periscope camera system. It’s a safe bet that the iPhone 15 Pro will follow suit for the sake of consistency, but this hasn’t yet been confirmed.

However, Apple may have another reason for increasing the screen size. In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman confirms that the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max will increase in size by “a couple tenths of an inch diagonally.”

While Gurman agrees that this will create more space for improved cameras and larger batteries, he also suggests that this is about making Apple’s devices more competitive with Samsung’s flagship models, such as the Galaxy S23 Ultra, which features a 6.8-inch screen.

Notably, all the various reports concur that the larger sizes will be exclusive to the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, with the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus expected to retain the same 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch screens. This could also help to set the “Pro” models apart from the standard versions. However, if this is accurate, it would also be the first time since the 2019 iPhone 11 lineup that none of the current models share a common screen size.

[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]