No way you can have Wii U level graphics at that resolution, not even close. Probably more like 3DS level visuals and even then it would likely choke. 

Besides this is Nintendo. Just because $600 iPad has a 2560x1600 screen, doesn't mean Nintendo is going to follow suit. 

1280x720 is a good resolution for a device primarily made for gaming and not reading text on. Super high resolutions on a small screen made for gaming is largely a waste. 

Gotta balance cost/performance, etc. Chances of a 2560x1600 Nintendo handheld anytime soon are fairly remote I would say. I doubt their next console will be even able to run the average game at 2560x1600, lol, let alone the handheld. 

Even 1280x720 might be pushing it, I wouldn't entirely be shocked if Nintendo went 960x540. 

So... Its a time machine?

Ya realize I said it should have a 1920x1080 resolution, not 2560x1600, right?

And in 2-3 years, 1920x1080 could easily be put in a handheld console. You won't get Wii U level graphics anyway, not even on 1280x720. 1080p would already be third tier at that point, seeing as that 4K and 2K phones will be the norm then, and so the battery life and chip power would be easy to balance.

And there is a BIG difference between 720p and 1080p on a 5in display. 

No its a feature that few people care about and just adds to the cost of the device.

For reading text and web surfing sure. For a device that's primarily going to play games on? 

Not really. Most games won't even run at the full 1080 resolution, most devs would probably opt for a lower resolution. 

Just like with the Vita, a lot of the games don't run at the full screen 960x544 resolution. And you really can't tell either. 

A 3-4 watt portable chip simply isn't going to be able to drive games at 1080p resolution worth a damn unless you want to play nothing but Angry Birds level crap. Hell, a 120+ watt XBox One can't even do 1080p consistenly, lol. 

A nice quality 1280x720 display under 6 inches gives you a very nice PPI for playing games on and a very low cost come 2016. 

It's up to the dev if they want to use the full resolution or not, like you said. A 1080p screen would make things like the text and menu look much cleaner, while allowing devs to make games in 720p if they so wish. If a game isn't terribly power intensive, it can be used in 1080p.

It's not like 1080p mobile displays will be that expensive 2-3 years from now. Like I said before, at that point, they will be third-tier. 4K and 2K screens will be the primary mobile device screens, while 1080p will be seen on budget phones, just as how 720p is seen on budget phones today. 

Never gonna happen on a Nintendo handheld, they are notorious for going lower resolution than what's the norm. A 1280x720 display is also easier for resolving NES/SNES/GBA/and various other types of backwards compatibility screen issues. 

I'd be happy with 1280x720 and wouldn't be shocked if Nintendo went as low as 960x540. 

The next handheld is going to have to be profitable and cheap for Nintendo. Better to spend that hardware budget on the chipset + battery life than a screen resolution that won't even be used in 5% of the games. 

I mean sh*t, Nintendo's games as is look pretty damn good at 720p on a 55-inch screen that I play on today, I think they'll look pretty damn great on a sub-6 inch screen as long as the display is of decent quality (not the junk that the Wii U screen is). Something akin to the quality of the Vita LCD models at 1280x720 would be just fine. 

Perhaps. Like I said though, 1080p will be third-tier in terms of mobile displays, and will be relatively inexpensive at that point. We'll see though, Nintendo will probably opt for a lower resolution, but I have hopes.

Well third tier is a pretty nice step up from the 3DS which is like 6th tier in terms of modern displays, lol. 

1280x720 is a reasonably high resolution display, I think a lot of the mobile resolution one upsmanship is kinda pointless anyway. They just keep driving the screen resolution higher because they can't really improve in very many other ways for phones. 

I'd like to have it, because it really does make life better, but it won't be a selling point to me. I'll still get a new generation Nintendo handheld without the 3D.