Following a flurry of reports earlier this month of Apple ordering up new 4-inch displays for its next iPhone, 9to5 Mac is today joining the rumor mill with affirmation that Apple is indeed in the process of testing a new model with a larger and higher-resolution display. Citing an iPhone 5,1 and iPhone 5,2 that are presently in the pre-EVT (Engineering Verification Test) stage of internal testing, the site claims both variants will be equipped with a 3.95-inch screen spanning a more elongated 1136 x 640 resolution. Though this would break the 3:2 aspect ratio that has been a constant in Apple's smartphone since its very beginning, there's also word that an updated version of iOS 6 is also being worked on, adding a fifth row of icons to the homescreen and extended interfaces within apps to let you see more content. In essence, this is exactly what our forum member modilwar suggested Apple should do: keep the screen the same width and just layer on a few more rows of pixels (176 extra lines, if 9to5 Mac's information is accurate).

A second note from the informants suggests that the iPhone dock connector will be revised, to a much narrower design that's "between the size of a Micro-USB and Mini-USB connector." Considering the vast ecosystem of third-party hardware that this port connects the iPhone to, this would be a very significant change for Apple, but the company sounds determined to go through with it. 9to5 Mac goes on to say that this new dock connector will eventually make its way to all iOS devices. In any case, given what we've heard from the likes of Bloomberg and Reuters, and the supposed pre-EVT stage these current testing units are at, the actual release of the next iPhone seems a fair few months away. Plenty of time for plans (and perhaps even designs) to change.