Talk of an iPhone equipped with a power-efficient AMOLED screen technology has persisted for years. Yet, Apple continues to build iPhones with LCD screens that use a premium display technology, called IPS (In-Plane Switching), for wide viewing angles and improved image quality.
According to a note KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo sent to clients this morning, a copy of which was obtained by AppleInsider, an ‘iPhone 7’ won’t be adopting AMOLED screens for iPhones for the next three years.
No AMOLED iPhone 7 for you
According to Kuo, Apple will continue to use the existing LTPS TFT-LCD display technology for at least the next three years, meaning an AMOLED iPhone might eventually come in 2019.
In his note, the analyst argues that Foxconn, a major Apple supplier, has just struck a deal with the government of Henan Province in China to build a sixth-generation LTPS TFT-LCD production lines in Zhengzhou.
“The plant will enter mass production in 2018, and Kuo is ‘confident’ that the huge investment is for earning TFT-LCD orders for future iPhones,” writes AppleInsider.
AMOLED vs. LCD
Some of the typical benefits of AMOLED technology include lower power consumption because only the pixels in use are being lit up and no power-hungry backlight is needed.
Others include deeper blacks and more vivid colors.
The major downside to using AMOLED or OLED technology over the traditional LCD panels: somewhat oversaturated colors.
The only Apple mobile product that currently employs OLED screens: the Apple Watch.
Source: AppleInsider