Nikkei

Nikkei: all iPhones released next year will use OLED screens

Apple will use advanced organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels in all new iPhones launched from the second half of 2018, according to industry sources cited in a report Thursday by Japanese outlet Nikkei.

An industry source added that the Californian company is “tentatively looking” at releasing three new iPhones next year, adding Apple has already started to design the upcoming models.

Apple's plans are contingent upon suppliers' ability to churn out OLED panels in volume.

Because of that, the company could change its plans down the road. Sources in the OLED production equipment industry suggested that vendors may be unable to manufacture enough OLED panels to meet demand should Apple in fact go with OLEDs across 2018 iPhones.

An unnamed Sharp executive was quoted in the story as saying that “it was not likely” Apple will be using OLED screens for all new iPhones next year.

Here's a recent video of a CNC-machined iPhone 8 dummy based on the rumor-mill.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW1gx086ZxU

This year, as you know, Apple is widely expected to outfit iPhone 8 with an OLED-based screen.

The flagship device is expected to sport the highest screen-to-body ratio, ditch the physical Home button and reduce or completely eliminate the top and bottom chin.

Yuanta Investment Consulting said shipments of 2017 iPhones will reach 90 million handsets, half of which will be OLED models.

As for the iterative iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus updates coming down the pike this year, these devices will continue to sport LCD screens like prior iPhone models.

Nikkei added that the iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus models will be sold into early 2019. In other words, panel vendors will still be able to supply LCDs for older Apple handsets next year and well into 2019.

These are key iPhone 8 production issues plaguing Apple and its suppliers

Corroborating yesterday's report by KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Asian outlet Nikkei said Tuesday that customers may in fact be unable to get their hands on Apple's upcoming iPhone 8 until late October or November at the earliest.

According to industry sources, volume production of so-called Tenth Anniversary iPhone has hit a snag as suppliers struggle to perfect key components including curved OLED panels, wireless charging components and miniaturized printed circuit boards, among other parts.

Nikkei: Apple places order for 70 million bendable OLEDs for iPhone 8 with Samsung

Apple has placed a huge order for seventy million bendable organic light-emitting diode (OLED) panels with Samsung's display-making arm for use in iPhone 8, Nikkei reported Monday. Apple and Samsung Display, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, signed a deal last year to supply 100 million OLEDs for iPhone 8. In February 2017, Apple contracted Samsung to build an additional 60 million OLEDs for a total of 160 million units in 2017.

iPhone 8 may have (slightly) curved screen after all

Contradicting a recent report, Japanese outlet Nikkei Asian Review wrote Wednesday that Apple's rumored 5.8-inch iPhone will have a display based on active-matrix organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) technology that's slightly curved on the sides, but not as curved as Samsung's Galaxy series.

A source familiar with the handset's design said the curve of the iPhone 8 screen will be “gentler” than the screen curvature of Samsung's Edge handsets because of the challenges of making curved glass covers to match screens.

Nikkei corroborates iPhone 8 has 5.8″ OLED screen, iPhone 7s/Plus to use LCD panels

Nikkei Asian Review in a research note Monday corroborated previous reports which said that only a brand new iPhone 8 model would switch to organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screens, with the two smaller models—iPhone 7s and iPhone 7s Plus—expected to retain their existing LCD panels.

Korean publication The Bell also said this morning that about forty percent of 2017 iPhones would have OLED screens, predicting that all new iPhones introduced in 2019 would sport power-sipping OLEDs.

Apple looking into manufacturing iPhones in U.S.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump repeatedly said during his campaign that he would force domestic technology companies like Apple to build its “computers and things” in the United States.

One time, he even openly called for boycotting Apple products unless the company doesn't bring back manufacturing jobs it had outsourced to China many, many, many years ago.

Japanese outlet Nikkei is reporting today that iPhone contract manufactures Foxconn and Pegatron were approached recently by the Cupertino firm regarding the possibility of establishing iPhone manufactories in the United States.

Nikkei: all iPhone 8 models to have all-glass design, new 5″ model in the works

According to Nikkei Asian Review today, Apple's 2017 iPhone family (which may be called “iPhone 8” rather than “iPhone 7s”) will include three models, adding a brand new five-inch form factor to the mix. All three models of the iPhone 8 should boast refreshed industrial design.

The overhauled phones would be sandwiched between two pieces of chemically hardened curved glass—like KGI's Ming-Chi Kuo predicted in a report to clients.

Both glass backs and cover glass for the iPhone 8 will be supplied by China's Biel Crystal Manufactory and Lens Technology, an industry source told the publication. The glass front and back will be held together by a brand new metal frame, but Apple is said to have yet make a final decision on the design of the metal frames.

Nikkei: three new iPhones in 2017, including premium model with curved AMOLED screen

As you may have probably heard by now, Apple is expected to save its most significant smartphone overhaul—which many rumors said would include a wraparound screen based on advanced organic light-emitting diode (AMOLED) display technology—for the Tenth Anniversary iPhone next year.

Japanese outlet Nikkei said today that Apple will position an AMOLED iPhone as a new premium choice. The device should come with a screen possibly measuring more than 5.5 inches diagonally. Moreover, existing 4.7 and 5.5-inch models will be updated next year, too, but are expected to retain flat screens like existing iPhones.

Apple is rumored to be moving to three-year iPhone refresh cycle

Apple is believed to be abandoning its famous tic-tock cycle where the iPhone sees a major refresh every other year and moving to a three-year refresh cycle for the handset, said Japanese newspaper Nikkei.

“The move is largely due to smartphone functions having little room left for major enhancements,” reads the report. “A slowing market is another factor”.

iPhone 6 mockups only a rough approximation, no antenna breaks in final design

Are you worried, based on the mockups that have been floating around, at the possibility of Apple's next iPhone disappointing fans with cheap design?

If you have any doubts as to Apple's build quality, then you don't know Apple.

The crude, rapidly produced 3D-printed mockups that have been made of low quality materials do not reliably represent the final iPhone 6 design and build quality.

Those ugly, thick white-striped lines on the back, you say? Not part of the final external design, according to a new report by the Japanese business paper Nikkei. The story also notes that the iPhone 6 won't have the antenna breaks and claims the screen will have rounded edges to lay it flush with the device's round corners...