Apple will finally switch to OLED display for the next iPhone but not in time for the iPhone 7 release date this 2016. Korean media reports said that the tech giant has tapped Samsung to supply OLED panels starting in 2017, indicating that it is the iPhone 7S that will first get taste of the display technology.
MacRumors reported, citing The Korea Herald as source, that OLED display will become part of the iPhone supply chain in 2017 as part of the $2.59 billion deal between Apple and Samsung. Specifically, 100 million units of OLED panels will be shipped over the next three years involving the 5.5-inch screen size, which hints that only the bigger iPhone 7S Plus will get the upgrade.
The jump to OLED could also mean that the upcoming iPhones will sport all-screen front panel and slimmer build as opposed to traditional LCD due to the elimination of backlighting. OLED will also deliver crisper image and true color rendering to the next iPhone although MacRumors noted that there are expected downsides - high production cost and the likelihood of shorter lifespan.
BGR, however, has reported that these issues appear to have been or in the process of being resolved. Before the purported move to OLED, Apple has started work on a display technology to develop a variant of organic light-emitting diode that will be of vast improvements - thinner and likely more durable.
Meanwhile, it should be noted that the 5.5-inch OLED display that Samsung will provide to Apple starting next year runs in counter with an earlier prediction aired by Ming-chi Kuo. The well-known Apple watcher has recently said in adopting OLED, the iPhone maker will go for the larger 5.8-inch that presumably will be called the iPhone Pro.
But Kuo's report is somehow in agreement with the claim by The Korea Herald that OLED or AMOLED will only come to the iPhone supply chain beginning 2017 and the rendering is of curved finish both in the front and rear panels.
The Kuo report plus the latest development douse cold water on hopes that the iPhone upgrades this 2016 will include the same display technology that won raves for Samsung's Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge. The iPhone 7 and 7 Plus on September release date may be lacking OLED display but will rock with fresh design and build, A10 processing chip and iOS 10 as banner feature upgrades.