Despite the global coronavirus pandemic happening now, the expectation is that Apple is probably still going to launch new iPhones later this year.
And until such a time where that expectation changes, the rumor mill will continue to dish out details about the company’s unannounced handsets. Like today’s report from DigiTimes, which states that Chinese supplier BOE could be tapped to dole out the OLED display panels for the rumored 5.4-inch iPhone this year.
The initial report is behind the paywall for now, but it suggests that BOE has partnered with another supplier, touch panel maker General Interface Solutions, to nail the supply deal with Apple for the company’s smallest flagship iPhone for 2020. Nothing is confirmed, of course, so things could change in the future. But the move would make sense.
Apple is rumored to launch four new iPhones with OLED displays this year. That is the 5.4-inch iPhone in this report, a pair of 6.1-inch iPhones, and finally the top-of-the-line 6.7-inch model. This latest rumor makes sense with the possibility that the 5.4-inch iPhone 12 (or whatever Apple ends up calling it) will be the “low-end” of Apple’s new iPhone models. Basically the iPhone 11 replacement, but with an OLED screen rather than LCD one.
With BOE providing the OLED display, it would stand to reason that the 5.4-inch iPhone will probably have lesser specifications than the other three models (unless Apple aims to differentiate the pair of 6.1-inch iPhone 12 models in a similar way). But, again, nothing is set in stone just yet, and BOE may not land what it’s striving for. Apple could tap another supply partner to handle OLED display orders by the time production needs to kick in.
It will be interesting to see how a 5.4-inch iPhone with a notch and a body similar to the iPhone 4 looks in real life, right? Are you excited about the rumor Apple is going back to a blockier design this year? Let us know in the comments.