Rumor: Apple in early development of 5.85- & 6.46-inch OLED iPhones for 2018
Apple is beginning "earlier than usual" development with Samsung Display on 5.85- and 6.46-inch OLED panels for next year's iPhones, a report claimed on Thursday.
An 'iPhone 8' concept render.
"The development schedule has been advanced considering diverse factors such as funding, facility investment and production plans," one of several sources told ET News, cited by the Korea Herald. "Work for this year's iPhone started in April, also earlier than usual."
The company was previously said to be considering 5.28- and 6.46-inch displays, but decided to abandon the 5.28-inch size as a result of both demand for big-screen phones and technological progress. It's expected that the company will sell three OLED models next year, although the Herald didn't offer any details on the third.
The publication did note that 5.85 inches is the same size as this year's "iPhone 8,", and it would make sense for the company to carry over the same form factor.
Samsung is believed to be Apple's lone OLED supplier, as it's the only company with the capacity to manufacture OLED at a large scale. Firms like LG and Sharp are only now beginning to ramp up infrastructure.
The "iPhone 8" should be announced at a Sept. 12 press event. Other features are expected to include 3D facial recognition, wireless charging, and a faster "A11" processor.
An 'iPhone 8' concept render.
"The development schedule has been advanced considering diverse factors such as funding, facility investment and production plans," one of several sources told ET News, cited by the Korea Herald. "Work for this year's iPhone started in April, also earlier than usual."
The company was previously said to be considering 5.28- and 6.46-inch displays, but decided to abandon the 5.28-inch size as a result of both demand for big-screen phones and technological progress. It's expected that the company will sell three OLED models next year, although the Herald didn't offer any details on the third.
The publication did note that 5.85 inches is the same size as this year's "iPhone 8,", and it would make sense for the company to carry over the same form factor.
Samsung is believed to be Apple's lone OLED supplier, as it's the only company with the capacity to manufacture OLED at a large scale. Firms like LG and Sharp are only now beginning to ramp up infrastructure.
The "iPhone 8" should be announced at a Sept. 12 press event. Other features are expected to include 3D facial recognition, wireless charging, and a faster "A11" processor.
Comments
iPhone Mini (SE successor) / iPhone (7S successor) / iPhone Pro (X/8/Pro available in two sizes)
Apple is in a zone, gas pedal mashed against the metal
but this is actually interesting. The new OLED screen is actually smaller than the number has people thinking, because of its length, as it’s really effectively 5.15” so this huge screen would be closer to the current 5.5” model, in reality, just a bit bigger, maybe 5.7 or 5.8.
edit: this is getting really annoying. I type something, when I read it, it’s usually ok, but sometimes, when I hit post, and reread it later, it changed.
the first sentence obviously should begin with “The latest phones aren’t here yet,...”
So this year will be iPhone iPhone plus and iPhone pro 5.8"
The rumored device in this article is them is the iPhone plus pro. Imo so Apple will have three maybe four phones iPhone, iPhone plus, iPhone pro, iPhone plus pro.
With Apple coming out with iPhone Pro its the new toy so it will get apples marketing attention. You don't hear a lot about the iPhone se but it's there. I feel the iPhone itself will go that way when the pro is released.
Imo ever since I saw the LG G4 (2014)I've been waiting for Apple to come out with there version of a minimal bezel screen. I want to fit as much screen real estate as possible in a phone designed for one handed use. Like the iPhone 6s I'm using right now.
The main reason there is no merge this year is because of OLED supply constraints.
They're having manufacturing difficulty with the 6.46" panels so they may go with a 16.4 cm panel.Yield rates are low. You saw it here first.
That's reason enough to stick with it and develop it. The Mini hasn't lost Apple any money. If it canibalised more expensive models it's because users didn't really need those models in the first place.
Apple has to adapt to users' needs, not the other way around.
i imagine that it’s true that the larger phones instead cannibalized Mini sales. Two devices in one.