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What you want in the next iPhone (pictures)

We asked CNET readers what they wanted in the next iPhone, and here are the results.

Sarah Mitroff
Sarah Mitroff is a Managing Editor for CNET, overseeing our health, fitness and wellness section. Throughout her career, she's written about mobile tech, consumer tech, business and startups for Wired, MacWorld, PCWorld, and VentureBeat.
Sarah Mitroff
Dream_iPhone_8.jpg
1 of 7 Mark Hobbs/CNET

Your dream iPhone

We asked what you wanted to see in the next iPhone, and you responded with several ideas that may or may not make it into Apple's next smartphone, including better battery life and a bigger screen.

Here we give you a full visual rundown of how that dream iPhone might look, thanks to a few photo mockups.

Dream_iPhone_1.jpg
2 of 7 Mark Hobbs/CNET

Stretch that screen

At 4 inches, the iPhone 5's screen is bigger and taller than all of Apple's previous iPhones. From what you told us, that's still not big enough. From our poll, 31 percent of people asked for a 4.7-inch screen on the next iPhone.

Dream_iPhone_6.jpg
3 of 7 Mark Hobbs/CNET

All-metal housing

When we asked what materials you want Apple to use for the back of the next iPhone, an all-metal backing won with 39 percent of the vote, followed by a glass backing like we saw on the iPhone 4 and 4S. Since the aluminum casing can't shatter like glass, it seems obvious why it is the top choice.

Plastic earned the fewest votes, only 6 percent, but if recent rumors are true, we could see a lower-end iPhone 5C with a colorful plastic backing.

Dream_iPhone_11.jpg
4 of 7 Mark Hobbs/CNET

Better battery life

A common complaint among iPhone owners is that the battery doesn't last long enough. Therefore, it isn't surprising that longer battery life is the most requested feature for the new iPhone, with 57 percent of our poll takers asking for it.

Dream_iPhone_5.jpg
5 of 7 Mark Hobbs/CNET

iOS 7 design and Control Center

We asked you which new features of iOS 7 you liked the most, and you just barely chose function over fashion. Thirty-one percent said that Apple's new Control Center, a swipe-up menu in iOS 7 that lets you toggle Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, adjust screen brightness, and access other common settings, is the most compelling feature of the new mobile operating system.

Next on the list of your favorite OS features, with 29 percent of the vote, is iOS 7's new flat design and color scheme, which looks much different from earlier iOS versions.

Dream_iPhone_7.jpg
6 of 7 Mark Hobbs/CNET

Near field communication

Though Apple hasn't released any iPhones with near field communication, and has said that it doesn't plan to do so anytime soon, you still asked for NFC in the next iPhone. NFC lets you send data to other devices and even make purchases with your phone. It's a common feature in many Android smartphones.

Dream_iPhone_10.jpg
7 of 7 Mark Hobbs/CNET

More storage

According to our poll, your ideal iPhone has 32GB of internal storage to hold music, apps, photos, and more.

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