Since even before the iPhone 5S was officially announced rumors about the iPhone 6 have persisted. Most of those rumors have focused on the device’s size, which is said to be significantly larger than even the iPhone 5S.

In January a Chinese analyst predicted that the iPhone 6 will have a 4.7-inch display. Now a new leak has shown that that prediction could very well be true.

A photo leaked through China’s Twitter-like Weibo service purportedly shows a side-by-side screen size comparison between the iPhone 5 and the new iPhone 6 display. The photo, posted on the French site iPhonote appears to show that the iPhone 6 does indeed have a 4.7-inch screen.

The new leak lends credence to an analyst report released all the way back in April 2013. That report, which held that the larger iPhone display was being saved for the 2014 iPhone, now appears to be completely accurate.

The image also seems to corroborate a purported image of the iPhone 6 mold that was leaked online late last week.

Apple has historically been reluctant to increase the size of its iPhone models, arguing that the user experience is best on the screen sizes they have selected. Now it appears Apple will be joining popular Android handsets with a larger screen size. The design choice can be seen as a tacit admission by Apple that consumers really do want the option of larger screen sizes – and perhaps that ease of use isn’t quite as important as once thought.

The likely enlargement of the next iPhone puts Apple in an odd position. For years Apple has created the standard that other smartphone manufacturers have aspired to, introducing features and design that Android handsets have copied year after year. Now Apple is taking design advice from those same Android smartphone manufacturers. As the premium smartphone market becomes more saturated in established markets, every smartphone manufacturer – even Apple – will have to work hard to attract customers that are already largely satisfied with their current smartphone experience.

Image via MacRumors