LCD iPhone rumored to sport 2,160×1,080 resolution, bezels slimmer than iPhone X

Apple is reportedly releasing three new distinct iPhone models this year, two using OLED technology and the other rocking an LCD screen without 3D Touch and costing between $700 and $800 in the United States.

Focusing on the LCD device in Apple’s 2018 lineup, Taiwan’s Commercial Times newspaper reported Tuesday that that phone would feature a narrower screen aspect ratio at 18:9 (or 2:1).

By comparison, the aspect ratio of iPhone X’s Super RetinaDisplay is even taller at 19.5:9. The device is thought to incorporate Full Active LCD technology from Apple supplier Japan Display which affords ultra-slim 0.5mm bezels on all four sides.

The Wall Street Journal was first to report in September 2017 that one of the upcoming new iPhones would adopt Japan Display’s advanced LCD panels.

From the report:

Japan Display argues that its improved LCD screens can match or exceed some of OLED’s advantages at lower cost. In Full Active, the bezel or border space around each edge of the screen has been trimmed to 0.5 millimeters, the company says, compared with as much as several millimeters on older LCDs.

Minatake Kashio, director of Tokyo-based consultancy Fomalhaut Techno Solutions, said current OLED smartphone panels have a bezel of about one millimeter.

Japan Display is working on a version of Full Active that it says would match the OLED technology in enabling phone makers to offer curved screens.

Xiaomi used the Full Active LCD panel from Japan Display for its Mi Mix 2 phone.

As a result of the slight form factor change, the display resolution of the LCD device will likely increase to 2,160-by-1,080 pixels. By comparison, the 5.5-inch iPhone 7 Plus features the full HD resolution of 1,920-by-1,080 pixels while iPhone X rocks a 2,436-by-1,125-pixel resolution OLED panel at 458 ppi.

Prior rumors indicated the 6.1-inch phone would have pixel density between 320-330 PPI.

The device shouldn’t feel too massive in one’s hand if it adopts iPhone X-esque design with a nearly fullscreen face, as widely rumored. The LCD screen should extend to the very edges of the phone, with a notch at the top housing a TrueDepth camera component for features like Face ID, Animoji and more.

Acclaimed Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo predicted in today’s note to clients that the LCD iPhone might include three gigabytes of RAM, a single-lens camera out the back and an aluminum frame instead of the more expensive stainless steel band.

The other phones in 2018 lineup, including am iPhone X successor and a new Plus-sized device with a massive 6.5-inch screen, should use OLED display technology and four gigabytes of RAM, he said.