Rumor: Apple working with LG on foldable OLED iPhone in 2020, leaving rival Samsung in dar...
Samsung is believed to be the sole supplier of OLED displays for Apple's forthcoming iPhone X, but in an effort to keep future technology breakthroughs secret from its chief rival, Apple is rumored to have partnered with LG to work on a new, foldable iPhone concept.
A 2014 Samsung concept.
Citing a report from The Bell, The Korea Herald reported on Wednesday that LG has created a "task force" to build a foldable OLED display for a future iPhone model. In addition, LG Innotek has also reportedly been tasked with creating a "rigid flexible printed circuit board."
Production of the panel could begin in 2020, the report said, suggesting Apple is looking well beyond this fall's iPhone X debut.
Whether or not the report is true, such moves wouldn't be surprising. Apple Chief Design Officer Jony Ive revealed in an interview last week that Apple was working on the bezel-less iPhone X design for 5 years ahead of its unveiling in September.
Wednesday's report claims that LG created its own foldable OLED prototype two or three years ago. Since then, the company has worked on improving durability and production yields.
An alleged partnership with LG is noteworthy given that Samsung is currently the world's premier OLED maker. Apple's iPhone X is believed to feature displays solely from Samsung, as rival OLED panels from the likes of LG weren't up to snuff.
But Apple is hoping to diversify its supply chain and lessen its dependence on Samsung, leading it to place strategic investments in other display makers.
It was claimed that Apple's work with LG is a direct snub at Samsung, which is believed to be planning its own foldable handset for launch in 2018. The theory is that Apple may have partnered with LG to ensure that Samsung would not be able to get advanced word on future iPhone design changes.
A 2014 Samsung concept.
Citing a report from The Bell, The Korea Herald reported on Wednesday that LG has created a "task force" to build a foldable OLED display for a future iPhone model. In addition, LG Innotek has also reportedly been tasked with creating a "rigid flexible printed circuit board."
Production of the panel could begin in 2020, the report said, suggesting Apple is looking well beyond this fall's iPhone X debut.
Whether or not the report is true, such moves wouldn't be surprising. Apple Chief Design Officer Jony Ive revealed in an interview last week that Apple was working on the bezel-less iPhone X design for 5 years ahead of its unveiling in September.
Wednesday's report claims that LG created its own foldable OLED prototype two or three years ago. Since then, the company has worked on improving durability and production yields.
An alleged partnership with LG is noteworthy given that Samsung is currently the world's premier OLED maker. Apple's iPhone X is believed to feature displays solely from Samsung, as rival OLED panels from the likes of LG weren't up to snuff.
But Apple is hoping to diversify its supply chain and lessen its dependence on Samsung, leading it to place strategic investments in other display makers.
It was claimed that Apple's work with LG is a direct snub at Samsung, which is believed to be planning its own foldable handset for launch in 2018. The theory is that Apple may have partnered with LG to ensure that Samsung would not be able to get advanced word on future iPhone design changes.
Comments
Priced at $1599.
Just speculating understand!
For this demographic, a device that's still "pocketable" and yet expandable when you need the extra real estate is interesting.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2017/09/27/samsung-galaxy-x-folding-phone-new-galaxy-galaxy-s9-release-date-price-specs/#129a0a9754e7
That, ladies and gentlemen, is an interesting concept. Rigid and flexible.
I'm am positive they would sell dozens of these. Apple would surely notice.
Fact is LG make the screens best in the world, they are way superior to any other screen manufacturer and want their screens in apple products and at a lower cost per unit, my best guess is that they can’t keep up with Apple demand yet
Already apps written to use iPad as a 2nd display connected to a Mac, so it's surely doable.
https://www.idropnews.com/news/will-apple-release-a-foldable-iphone-mounting-evidence-suggests-so/32622/
This setup also means you have to open the whole thing up every time you want to use the device like a flip phone.
Putting the display the other way round with the front and back display always facing outwards means the rear-facing camera has to make a hole in the corner of the rear display or be behind it. If it's behind it, you have to open it to take pictures. If it's part of the rear display, there would be no rear-facing camera when you open it and both cameras would be offset when it's open (notch on the left, massive camera hole on the right).
If the fold goes length-wise, unfolded it would look like a long strip or it would be unusably small when folded (<3" display). If the fold goes width-wise, unfolded it would be close to a square aspect display and having glass wrap around the edge of the phone is a risk for people who wear rings as it's a contact point when gripping the phone.
On top of this, when you unfold a surface, the portion over the curved edge is extra. The display at the front and back is fixed so when you move them apart, the portion over the curved edge has to separate from the phone or the back has to be like the Microsoft Surface Book as shown in a Samsung patent for a folding phone:
https://www.cnet.com/news/maybe-youll-get-a-folding-iphone-or-google-pixel-in-2018/
The back edge of the curve contracts when it's open.
Also, the corners of Apple's devices are curved so when you have them next to each other, there would be inward curves at the top and bottom in the middle.
It's not going to allow for an iPad experience on a phone. Phones don't really need to be more portable than they are, the folding would just make them more cumbersome to use.
It would make an iPad more portable e.g 12" iPad Pro can fit into a handbag but it still has the above issues. It would allow someone to sit the iPad Pro like a laptop though and type on it with the virtual keyboard at the bottom.
Apple has a patent dated late 2016 showing a series of hinge designs for a folding device:
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=34&p=1&f=G&l=50&d=PTXT&S1=(1%2F1.CCLS.+AND+20161122.PD.)
Images are here:
http://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?docid=09504170&PageNum=1&&IDKey=E21836A921B2&HomeUrl=http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2%2526Sect2=HITOFF%2526u=%25252Fnetahtml%25252FPTO%25252Fsearch-adv.htm%2526r=34%2526p=1%2526f=G%2526l=50%2526d=PTXT%2526S1=(1%25252F1.CCLS.%252BAND%252B20161122.PD.)%2526OS=%2526RS=