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Due to production woes with the dot projector and other TrueDepth camera components, Apple is now predicted to ship just 20 million iPhone X units in 2017, around half the planned number.
A bendable iPhone may be coming in 2020.
Monday, The Bell reported Apple might switch up iPhone sizes again next year by adding a larger—possibly more than six inches—LCD model into the mix.
OLEDification is a new jailbreak tweak by iOS developer Shyam Lad that captures the notification experience of various devices with OLED displays and brings it to the Lock screen of your jailbroken iPhone.
Once installed, the Lock screen interface disappears when you receive notifications. Instead, you’re shown an immersive full-screen experience in which the background is dark, and the notification content itself makes up the only color you see on your display.
Apple's upcoming iOS 11 software update apparently includes a software feature designed to prevent burn-in on the OLED display of iPhone X, according to code strings uncovered from the leaked iPhone X firmware by 9to5Mac's Benjamin Mayo.
While it's yet to unveil its 2017 iPhones, Apple is already beginning “earlier than usual” development of its biggest ever iPhone models for 2018 with 5.85 and 6.46-inch OLED panels.
Images of an OLED panel along with a photograph of an L-shaped logic board destined for iPhone 8 have escaped Apple's supply chain ahead of the big reveal on September 12.
Following our first iPhone 8 component leak in the form of a purported inductive wireless charging printed circuit board last week, more alleged parts for the handset were photographed and posted on Sunday to the Chinese microblogging service Weibo.
OLED screens for iPhone 8 are proving significantly more difficult to mass-manufacture than Apple's suppliers may have anticipated, with a Foxconn executive claiming high rejection rate for the sophisticated display panels due to “a special cutting” in them.
Seven of Samsung Display's sixth-generation manufacturing plants will increase production capacity of OLEDs destined for iPhone 8 by sevenfold from 15,000 panels per month from last year to 105,000 panels per month this year.
Apple will use advanced organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels in all new iPhones launched from the second half of 2018, according to industry sources cited in a report Thursday by Japanese outlet Nikkei.
An industry source added that the Californian company is “tentatively looking” at releasing three new iPhones next year, adding Apple has already started to design the upcoming models.
Apple's plans are contingent upon suppliers' ability to churn out OLED panels in volume.
Because of that, the company could change its plans down the road. Sources in the OLED production equipment industry suggested that vendors may be unable to manufacture enough OLED panels to meet demand should Apple in fact go with OLEDs across 2018 iPhones.
An unnamed Sharp executive was quoted in the story as saying that “it was not likely” Apple will be using OLED screens for all new iPhones next year.
Here's a recent video of a CNC-machined iPhone 8 dummy based on the rumor-mill.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW1gx086ZxU
This year, as you know, Apple is widely expected to outfit iPhone 8 with an OLED-based screen.
The flagship device is expected to sport the highest screen-to-body ratio, ditch the physical Home button and reduce or completely eliminate the top and bottom chin.
Yuanta Investment Consulting said shipments of 2017 iPhones will reach 90 million handsets, half of which will be OLED models.
As for the iterative iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus updates coming down the pike this year, these devices will continue to sport LCD screens like prior iPhone models.
Nikkei added that the iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus models will be sold into early 2019. In other words, panel vendors will still be able to supply LCDs for older Apple handsets next year and well into 2019.
Apple is reportedly in talks with LG Display about investing anywhere between $1.75 billion and $2.62 billion into the South Korean firm's new “E6” plant with a target monthly capacity of about 30,000 units of sixth-generation OLED panels.
According to The Korea Herald newspaper on Monday, the upcoming facility would be “exclusively dedicated to Apple orders” and should come online as early as 2019. A source said that the funding from Apple should help LG Display reduce risks from the lower margin.
The two companies have tentatively agreed on the investment plans, but details on the timing and size of the investment have yet to be finalized. The final decision is expected to be made following LG Display's board meeting later this month.
LG previously discussed an $870 million Google investment into its OLED plant.
An anonymous source said:
Samsung Display is the only display maker that meets Apple’s strict quality criteria for now. LG Display is said to be meeting about 70 percent level of the requirements, while Chinese display makers are still struggling to catch up with that of LG.
LG Display’s OLED supply for iPhone was delayed because the company failed to purchase Canon Tokki’s vacuum machine, the most advanced OLED production equipment whose supply is extremely limited. Recently, LG secured two units of the machine to speed up production.
With the new equipment installations expected in December 2017 and February 2018, LG Display’s production capacity is expected to double to 60,000 OLED panel units per month.
LG’s other new OLED plant, called “E5”, will focus on orders from LG Electronics and Chinese clients. Samsung Display is expected to be the sole supplier of OLED panels for iPhone 8 this year. LG Display currently builds flexible OLED panels for Apple Watch on an exclusive basis.
Samsung Display is reportedly building the world's biggest OLED manufacturing facility dedicated to orders from Apple and Samsung Electronics.
iPhone 8 concept via Benjamin Geskin.