Analyst Foretells of Apple Offering a 4.8-inch iPhone 6

Apple doesn't increase screen sizes on its iPhone line very often. In fact, the Cupertino company has only done it once, going from a 3.5-inch display on the original iPhone up through the iPhone 4S (five generations of iPhones), to a 4-inch display on the iPhone 5 and recently introduced iPhone 5C and 5S models. That's seven generations of iPhones and only one relatively minor bump (half an inch) in screen size. Don't worry if you've been clamoring for an even bigger iPhone model though, the biggest bump in display size is yet to come.

So says Peter Misek, an analyst with Jefferies. Misek wrote in a note to investors that Apple's upcoming iPhone 6 device will sport a 4.8-inch screen, CNET reports. Should that turn out to be true, it would be double the increase in size from the last time (and only time) Apple has ever enlarged the display.

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Exactly why Misek is so confident in his prediction isn't known. If he has inside information, he's not sharing it, saying only that a new display size would lead to a heck of a lot of upgrades. Part of the reason for that is because half the smartphones shipped last year featured screens bigger than 4 inches, versus a mere 20 percent a year ago.

This isn't the first time we've heard rumors of a larger iPhone. Some surmised that even the iPhone 5S would bring a larger display to the smartphone party, though that didn't happen. That doesn't mean Apple is disinterested, just that it's saving a major update like that for a brand new model number.