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An iPhone due in 2017 will squeeze a 5.8-inch OLED display into the same (or smaller) casing size as a 5.5-inch iPhone, Apple enthusiast sites reported over the weekend, citing analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities. (Note that Kuo, one of the most widely-cited sources for Apple hardware rumors, had been predicting earlier that this would happen in 2018.)
Cramming more display area into less space-wasting designs (read: narrower bezels) is exactly what Samsung has been doing with its OLED-based Galaxy phones. And along those lines, Kuo says the OLED iPhone will borrow from the iPhone 4 and feature a glass front and back with metal sides, adding that the phone will feature a "completely new form factor design" with narrower bezels (display borders). Also add wireless charging to the rumored feature list.
OLED in, LCD out? Based on Kuo's research note and other recent reports, Apple now appears to be coming around to Samsung's OLED-centric design ethos. For good reason: OLED displays are not only advancing faster than LCDs (which Apple currently uses on its iPhone) but allow for curvier designs. An attribute that is garnering Samsung a fair share of accolades for its Galaxy S7 Edge.
Raymond Soneira, a display expert and president at DisplayMate Technologies, has been beating the OLED drum for some time now. His essential point is, the writing is on the wall: OLEDs are thinner and lighter with better viewing angles, and are, for the most part, more power efficient, and deliver better peak brightness.
"OLED displays can also be manufactured on flexible substrates, which allows the screens to be curved and rounded like on Samsung’s Galaxy Edge and Galaxy Round displays," writes Soneira. And in the not-too-distant future OLED products will be foldable and flexible.
"Apple’s rumored move to an OLED iPhone is simply a recognition of all of the above, particularly as more and more competing smartphones come with OLED displays," Soneira wrote recently.
