Alleged specifications of Apple's iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus refresh were leaked this morning on the Chinese social network Weibo by an unknown source. The document appears to detail several technical aspects of the forthcoming devices, including display resolutions, next-generation cameras, chips, batteries and other features.
As Barron's reported this morning, Gabelli & Co. analyst Hendi Susanto and Universal Display executive Darice Liu speculated that AMOLED display might be limited to a “specialized edition” of an 'iPhone 8' (also referred to as '2017 iPhone' and 'Tenth Anniversary iPhone') until suppliers are able to meet Apple's needs for a full rollout.
KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo—who has a decent, but not stellar track record in predicting future Apple products—just issued a peculiar note to clients regarding the future of Apple's iPad lineup.
In the note, a copy of which was obtained by MacRumors, the well-connected analyst does not expect any major refreshes to iPads in this year.
But for 2017, the analyst is calling for three new models: a brand new 10.5-inch iPad Pro size joining a second-generation 12.9-inch iPad Pro and a low-cost 9.7-inch iPad. These devices are predicted to be followed by a “revolutionary” iPad model in 2018 that should bring “radical changes” in form factor design and user behavior while adopting flexible AMOLED panels, which so-called Tenth Anniversary iPhone is expected to gain in 2017.
The rumor-mill has been adamant that a 2017 iPhone model—dubbed by the press a Tenth Anniversary iPhone because the original iPhone was announced and released in 2007—will adopt power-saving organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display technology and feature an all-new industrial design.
Japanese outlet Nikkei is now reporting that iPhone contract manufacturer Foxconn is developing both OLED displays (Foxconn bought Sharp earlier this year) and glass casings to secure orders for the Tenth Anniversary iPhone in 2017.
Aside from other rumored hardware improvements, a second-generation Apple Watch should ditch the current Glass on Glass (G/G) Retina touchscreen and replace it with a thinner and lighter display based on so-called One Glass Solution (OGS) screen technology, according to Apple supplier TPK Holding cited Friday by Taiwan's infamous hit-and-miss trade publication DigiTimes.
Because OGS eliminates a layer, adopting the technology should help the Apple Watch 2 conserve space and potentially even accommodate a larger battery.
LG Display, one of the Asian companies that provide screens for Apple products, yesterday announced plans to spend an additional 1.99 trillion won, or about $1.75 billion, on its sixth-generation “P9” flexible OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) production line in Paju. More OLED facilities are coming soon in Paju and Gumi, LG said.
LG Display will jack up investment on next-generation mobile screens based on Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) technology as its top customer Apple Inc. prepares to adopt these ultra-thin, power-saving screens for iPhones “as early as 2017,” Bloomberg reported Wednesday.
Following a lawsuit filed against Apple last June by iPhone owner Dmitry Petrov, which alleged that the Cupertino firm had failed to provide proper product support in Russia because its resellers and chain stores lacked the proper equipment to repair smashed displays, Apple could reportedly be planning to open a full-fledged center for iOS device repairs in the country to avoid future lawsuits.
It is not known when Apple's centralized repair center will open, but it will reportedly be “big and expensive”. According to a report by The Moscow Times, one unidentified employee of an Apple partnership corporation told Vedomosti that “he believes it will cost between $1 and $2 million.”
Samsung Display, a subsidiary of Samsung Electronics, recently won a deal with Apple to supply its high-quality OLED panels for use in the next iPhone and now the South Korean company is spinning off its organic light-emitting diode (OLED) unit, The Korea Times reported Monday.
Samsung Display reported a 270 billion won (about $235.2 million) operating loss during the first quarter of this year due to the struggling LCD business and strong competition from Chinese makers of low-cost LCDs for mobile devices.
LG Display, Japan Display, AU Optronics, Samsung Display and Foxconn-owned Sharp are all said to share production of AMOLED panels for future iPhones, with Samsung alone providing an estimated 240 million AMOLED units in the next three years beginning in 2017, DigiTimes Research predicted yesterday.
Samsung is the world's top producer of AMOLED panels. When deployed to the iPhone, this technology will result in crisper colors, deeper blacks, increased brightness, high visibility under direct sunlight and reduced power consumption.
In addition to LG Display and Samsung's mobile display arm, both of which are now pouring significant resources into ramping up OLED panel production ahead of Apple's switch from LCDs to OLEDs for iPhones, Japanese outlet Nikkei is reporting today that Sharp is expected to do the same before 2018.
Apple is widely expected to make a switch to OLED screens in time for a tenth anniversary iPhone, due in 2017.
Apple is reportedly prepping to switch from flexible OLED screens utilized on the current Apple Watch to a more power-efficient micro-LED display technology that could be used for an Apple Watch hardware update in 2017, DigiTimes reported Friday. The Taiwanese trade publication said Apple could replace OLED displays in the Apple Watch with micro-LED panels as early as the second half of 2017.