There have been a number of discussion in recent weeks over the next-generation of screen technology that Apple will use in a new iPhone. Apple continues to use LCD screens for its smartphones, and while the 2016 iPhone 7 family is expected to retain an LCD display, 2017's iPhones look ready to switch to OLED for the next 'S' handsets.
Apple has reportedly stayed with LCD screens due to issues of yield, longevity, and production costs. These issues have been diminished over time to the point where Apple is ready to countenance the use of OLED in the iPhone.
These display panels will be sourced from LG and Samsung (reports Reuters and others), and it is expected that Samsung will take the bulk of the order. This, in part, will be some compensation to Samsung which stands to lose out to TSMC for the supply of the A10 System On Chip that will power the iPhone 7 and associated tablets.
TSMC's A10 design uses techniques designed to minimze the vertical height of components in the chip assembly, allowing Apple to keep the circuit board as thin as possible. That suggests that thin is still in at Cupertino, and OLED will feed into that ethos - in general OLED screens are thinner than LCD assemblies as a backlight is not required. While many would want Apple to use the extra space for more battery capacity, the chances are the volume saved in the design of the device will result in a thinner more fashionable smartphone (and more sales of Apple's abominable smart battery case).
Next: Does this fit with Apple's normal schedule for updated hardware?
The timing of an OLED handset also matches with Apple's long-term planing of the iPhone. Although a new handset is released every year, the actual process is more akin to a two-year cycle and two 'ranges' of iPhone, the 'S' handsets in odd-numbered years, and the vanilla handsets in even-numbered years. The vanilla years (coming up in 2016) will make the major design and stylistic changes, and the 'S' years generally look at introducing new hardware and interfaces such as TouchID.
The iPhone 6S did just that with the addition of 3D Touch, and it makes sense that the iPhone 7S will update the screen technology once again with the inclusion of the OLED display. No doubt Apple will talk about the improvements it has made to the base technology and proclaim it to be the brightest, most colourful iPhone screen ever, using techniques that only Apple could use.
The long lead time should also allow Apple to asses the yield and quality of the OLED screens from LG and Samsung, and either bias the order towards one supplier, improve the techniques used to manufacture the displays, or even 'fall back' to a more predictable LCD panel if TIm Cook and the executive team at Apple are unhappy with the results.
What may be a trickier proposition for Apple is keeping the sales of the iPhone 7 at record levels if the idea of a 'better' screen in the iPhone 7S takes hold with the public. Although there will be a record number of iPhone users coming to the end of their iPhone 6 mobile contract when the iPhone 7 is released, Apple will want them to upgrade to the new handset rather than wait for another twelve months.
While the geekerati of the world will automatically buy the new handset (it's what they do), expect to see a lot more promotion and discussion around Apple's iPhone Upgrade Program which allows users to upgrade their iPhone every single year. Come September I expect to see a pitch along the lines of get the iPhone 7 now with its great new features (such as the impending official waterproofing of Cupertino's smartphone), and be ready for the bright and colourful iPhone 7S twelve months later.
(Now read about Apple's trials with Samsung, TSMC, and a mix of 'good' or 'bad' iPhones).
