“Apple Inc. has big plans to outfit its next iPhone with vibrant, energy-sipping organic LED displays, seeking to entice consumers with new technology that’s already been embraced by other high-end smartphone makers,” Mark Gurman and Jungah Lee report for Bloomberg. “The trouble is that the four main suppliers for such components won’t have enough production capacity to make screens for all new iPhones next year, with constraints continuing into 2018, people familiar with the matter said, presenting a potential challenge for the Cupertino, California-based company.”
“The four largest producers are Samsung Display Co., LG Display Co., Sharp Corp., and Japan Display Inc. While Samsung is on track to be the sole supplier for the new displays next year, the South Korean company may not be able to make enough due to low yield rates combined with increasing iPhone demand,” Gurman and Lee report. “The supply constraints may force Apple to use OLED in just one version of the next-generation iPhone, push back adoption of the technology or cause other snags.”
“Apple plans to ship at least one new iPhone with an OLED screen next year, the 10th anniversary of the smartphone’s debut, people with knowledge of the matter said,” Gurman and Lee report. “The OLED iPhone, at least, will have a new look that extends glass from the display to the device’s back and edges, according to a person familiar with Apple’s plans. This all-glass design will have a virtual Home button embedded in an edge-to-edge screen, rather than a physical button that can be pressed, the person added.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The demand for the OLED “iPhone Pro” is going to make that of the Jet Black iPhone 7 Plus look tepid.
SEE ALSO:
Analyst: Apple’s next-gen 5.8-inch OLED iPhone to have 5.1-5.2-inch active display area – November 17, 2016
Sharp President confirms Apple iPhone transition to OLED displays – October 31, 2016
No, Apple’s plans for an OLED iPhone aren’t on hold – October 18, 2016
What if Apple iPhone adopts AMOLED next year? – October 3, 2016
Apple in talks with Sharp to supply OLED screens for future iPhones – September 30, 2016
Apple supplier Sharp names Foxconn exec as CEO to spearhead revival – May 12, 2016
Apple supplier Sharp preps AMOLED displays after Foxconn acquisition – April 6, 2016
Did Apple help Foxconn buy Sharp? – March 31, 2016
Apple supplier Foxconn agrees to buy Sharp after slashing original offer – March 30, 2016
Sharp Corp. liabilities list covered worst-case scenarios; takeover talks extended – February 29, 2016
Why Foxconn’s multi-billion-dollar deal for Sharp is dead in the water – February 25, 2016
Foxconn’s $5.1 billion bid for Sharp could be good for Apple, too – February 25, 2016
Apple supplier Sharp accepts Hon Hai’s $6.2 billion takeover offer; Hon Hai says deal on hold – February 25, 2016
Foxconn fast-tracks $5.5 billion Sharp takeover bid – February 4, 2016
State-backed Japanese fund in race with Foxconn to save Sharp – January 21, 2016
Hon Hai considering $1.7 billion stake in Sharp LCD business; to ask Apple to invest a ‘few hundred million’ – September 28, 2015
Hon Hai offers to buy Sharp’s LCD business, wants Apple funds – September 21, 2015
Apple suppliers Sharp, Foxconn in talks for LCD joint venture – August 24, 2015
Beleaguered Sharp’s problems present an opportunity for mighty Apple – May 15, 2015
Apple display supplier Sharp warns on ability to stay afloat after $1.9 billion loss – May 14, 2015
Apple iPhone display supplier Sharp boosts operating profit – August 1, 2014
Sharp dedicates entire LCD plant to Apple – June 30, 2014
Hon Hai in no hurry to finalize Sharp deal – June 26, 2013
Sharp to replace chairman, president after losses – May 14, 2013
Along as the iPhone 8 is rugged with good battery life. Don’t sacrifice the factors that matter for pure design aesthetics. Sometimes the designer needs to compromise a little.
This is a controlled Apple leak to throw off the competition and surprise people. My guess is they have some proprietary OLED technology lined up with supplier exclusivity.
Apple does proprietary OLED technology, as the patent database shows. And Apple Watch 2 OLED display is very promising.
But the article we discuss is wrong in one key aspect: they call OLED displays “vibrant”. It makes no sense since Apple-designed IPS LCD displays show as much colour (DCI P3 colour gamut).
And the battery life concerns are valid since OLED consumes more electricity in applications, Internet browsing and reading. To avoid that you either have to use inverse “theme”/”skin”, or you should have bigger batter life, or you should use your smartphone for films and games, where OLED consumes less than IPS LCD.
“Vibrant” can mean things other than color gamut. For example, it can mean blacker blacks and higher brightness. That would make the screen more vibrant. Lower power consumption is icing on the cake. Or maybe the other way around – battery life is the cake and vibrant is the icing.
Blacks are not really blacked in OLED in any circumstances other than in the darkness: the reason is that screen cover reflects 4.5%-6% of all incoming light back to the eyes of viewers. And the brightness of OLEDs is worse or the same as in IPS LCD.
Apple has all the money in the world. Can’t they start building factories (or building the machine tools) to make enough screens?