OLED

Apple Watch Series 3 may rock thinner, lighter & power sipping micro-LED display

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 21, 2017

Apple's secret research and development lab in Taiwan has been researching an emerging micro-LED display technology since at least 2015. A new report today by Business Korea alleges that an advanced micro-LED display could make its debut on the next Apple Watch, replacing flexible OLED panels of its predecessors (DigiTimes was first to report on such a possibility in June 2016). micro-LED displays are thinner, lighter and more energy-efficient than OLED or LCD screens.

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iPhone 8 may have physical slit within OLED display for embedded earpiece

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 17, 2017

Purported technical measurements for iPhone 8 that surfaced Monday on iFanr, a site without an established track record, would have us believe that Apple will ship a handset come this fall with a physical slit at the top of its OLED screen for an embedded earpiece and possibly other integrated components, like a 3D camera and sensors.

Not only should the top speaker of iPhone 8 be cut through the glass cover, but the OLED panel itself. Many bloggers and outlets that reported on the story have noted that this may not even be possible.

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Nikkei: Apple places order for 70 million bendable OLEDs for iPhone 8 with Samsung

Christian Zibreg ∙ April 3, 2017

Apple has placed a huge order for seventy million bendable organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels with Samsung's display-making arm for use in iPhone 8, Nikkei reported Monday. Apple and Samsung Display, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, signed a deal last year to supply 100 million OLEDs for iPhone 8. In February 2017, Apple contracted Samsung to build an additional 60 million OLEDs for a total of 160 million units in 2017.

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New report says iPhone 8 has a slightly curved display at the edges below 2.5D cover glass

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 16, 2017

Nikkei Asian Review yesterday shot down predictions by IHS Markit analyst Wayne Lam and DisplayMate expert Dr. Raymond Soneira who said Apple's 5.8-inch iPhone 8 will use a flat rather than a curved display. However, MacRumors has allegedly confirmed with multiple people familiar with the matter that the phone will indeed come outfitted with a mostly flat AMOLED display.

The device's display will reportedly feature slightly curved left and right edges in order to conform with the layer of 2.5D glass that covers the screen.

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iPhone 8 may have (slightly) curved screen after all

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 15, 2017

Contradicting a recent report, Japanese outlet Nikkei Asian Review wrote Wednesday that Apple's rumored 5.8-inch iPhone will have a display based on active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) technology that's slightly curved on the sides, but not as curved as Samsung's Galaxy series.

A source familiar with the handset's design said the curve of the iPhone 8 screen will be “gentler” than the screen curvature of Samsung's Edge handsets because of the challenges of making curved glass covers to match screens.

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Concept: bezel-less iPhone 8 with wraparound AMOLED screen and Dark Mode

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 13, 2017

Following a concept video from Polish blog My Apple imagining what a system-wide Dark Mode in iOS 11 (along with a few other sought-after rumored features) might look like, user interface designer Vianney le Masne has taken it upon himself to put together some great-looking mockups depicting how iPhone 8's rumored OLED screen and the handset's bezel-less design could be leveraged to implement Dark Mode across iOS and in apps.

“With Dark Mode in iOS for the next iPhone, 2017 could be all about killing the four sides of your screen and making it all about your thumb,” said le Masne.

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WSJ: Sharp investing $878 million into OLED production for future iPhones

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 7, 2017

The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday morning that Sharp is investing a trillion yen, or about $878 million, into a manufacturing facility solely dedicated to churning out the superior organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display panels.

Sharp is owned by iPhone manufacturer Foxconn and the facility is expected to focus exclusively on OLED panel production for future iPhones.

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Nikkei corroborates iPhone 8 has 5.8″ OLED screen, iPhone 7s/Plus to use LCD panels

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 6, 2017

Nikkei Asian Review in a research note Monday corroborated previous reports which said that only a brand new iPhone 8 model would switch to organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens, with the two smaller models—iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus—expected to retain their existing LCD panels.

Korean publication The Bell also said this morning that about forty percent of 2017 iPhones would have OLED screens, predicting that all new iPhones introduced in 2019 would sport power-sipping OLEDs.

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Apple to shift all iPhones to OLED in 2019

Christian Zibreg ∙ March 6, 2017

Apple is expected to use organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens for all new iPhones in 2019, according to a report Monday by The Bell. Meanwhile, suppliers Samsung Electro-Mechanics (a parts unit of Samsung) and Interflex are allegedly boosting production of flexible printed circuit boards (FPCB) for iPhone 8, the first iPhone to adopt OLED display technology.

Apple should use OLED screens on about 60 million iPhone units this year and double the adoption next year. By 2019, all iPhones should use power-sipping OLED screens.

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Apple evaluating Chinese display maker BOE’s AMOLED panels for future iPhones

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 15, 2017

Samsung Display is said to be the lone supplier of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels for future iPhones, at least until Foxconn-owned Sharp, Japan Display and LG Display ramp up production of the sophisticated foldable display panels. That said, Apple is looking to address a global shortage of OLEDs by negotiating a deal with yet anther supplier.

That company has been identified as the Chinese display maker BOE, which is expected to supply active matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) display panels for future iPhone models. According to Bloomberg News, Apple’s been evaluating BOE’s AMOLED screens for months now.

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