It’s only the beginning of 2019, but today, we’re learning what Apple might do with its iPhones come late 2020. In a new report by The Wall Street Journal, it’s said Apple will drop LCD displays from its iPhone lineup completely in 2020 in favor of more OLED panels. Right now, the iPhone XS and XS Max have OLED displays, while the cheaper iPhone XR opts for an LCD.
In the report, WSJ notes switching the iPhones to OLED would open up more versatility when it comes to the form factor and design of Apple’s phones. With LCD panels, you can’t really do much due to their construction which consists of various elements such as a backlight and touch-sensitive layer. With OLED, however, the company could opt for a foldable phone in the future since OLEDs are flexible when manufactured properly. There are even talks of Apple playing around with a banana-shaped device of some sorts that, undoubtedly, has an OLED display.
Of course, LCD manufacturers probably won’t take this news very well. Apple sources its LCDs from Japan Display, and the company has seen its sales deplete over recent history. It’s partially due to Apple’s lower-than-expected demand for the iPhone XR which is the Cupertino giant’s only flagship device with such a screen. Now that Apple might erase LCD from its iPhone lineup entirely, LCD-focused companies will likely scramble to find a new revenue stream.
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard Apple might switch to OLED next year. A previous WSJ report also suggested Apple would drop LCD from its iPhone lineup by 2020. It was the same report that indicated we’d be getting three new iPhones this year.
It’s important to point out that you should probably take this news with a grain of salt. N
