Steve Jobs Was Working on iPhone Redesign before he Died

Apparently Steve Jobs was quite the workaholic. Right up until his death, he apparently had been working closely on a redesign of iOS, a platform that really hasn’t visually changed since the first device was introduced in 2007.

Bloomberg reports that the redesign centered around the 4-inch iPhone screen rumor(?) that has been making the rounds recently, which makes Bloomberg the third major information source to cite a 4-inch screen. It also means that Steve Jobs was working on a larger iPhone before he died, so those who worry that the larger phone might be a post-Jobs flight of fancy can calm down.

This is pretty interesting. Steve Jobs was known to hate larger-screened devices. He even claimed that "no one's going to buy" them. While a 4-inch screen might seem pretty small now, the statement was made at the time when the first 4.3 inch phones were coming out. Of course, it could be that he had seen the error of his ways, perhaps even realizing that, yes, customers did want a larger device and that Apple should give it to them.

As for the redesign, we know very little about what it will change. We shouldn’t expect it to be too revolutionary, though; once Apple has a design they like, as they clearly do with iOS, they tend to stick to it. That means no widgets, no home screen. But what does that leave? A grid of icons is about as simple of an operating system as can be imagined. Perhaps it is my lack of genius, but I don’t see how Apple could improve on their design while sticking to their minimalist aesthetic. Perhaps we’ll see another row of icons.

While increasing the screen size from 3.5 inches to 4 inches might seem like a fairly small jump, it does increase screen real estate by 30%. And that is a sizable leap. Sure, it is nothing compared to the current crop of 5-inch phones, but it will make the iPhone more desirable for a public that wants a larger screen.

MSNBC Photo by : Kremlin.ru