Apple Investigating Thinner, Lower Power IGZO Displays Across iPad and iPhone Product Lines for 2013

[MacRumors]

According to a new DigiTimes report, Apple is evaluating the feasibility of using IGZO displays across their iPad, iPad mini and iPhone products in 2013.

The sources said Apple is in further discussions with Sharp over IGZO panel production capacity estimates for 2013 and is also inquiring about whether AU Optronics' (AUO) L5C line could be used to produce the technology.

We've heard rumors about Sharp's IGZO displays over the past year, but no Apple products yet seem to use the new technology. There had been talk of production delays that may have prevented Apple from pursuing the technology.

Qualcomm recently invested in Sharp to push forward the technology. Sharp is reportedly betting on IGZO to save the company, which is in dire financial straits.

IGZO has been touted as having many benefits over existing technology. PCWorld notes lower power consumption, improved touch sensitivity and increased pixel density among these benefits.

This difference in current flow inside the screen also means that transistors don't have to be continually refreshed when a still image is on the screen. That leads to lower power consumption and, for touch panels, much less interference from the screen's electronics so the touch panel becomes more accurate and sensitive, said Nobuhiro Okan, a manager with Sharp's display device group.

The glass edge of each display can also be made slimmer, allowing for smaller devices.

Obviously, those improvements would be highly desired for Apple to advance their products. The iPad, in particular, actually found itself both thicker and heavier in the 3rd Generation model in order to accommodate the battery for the power-hungry Retina display. Display power consumption and thickness were also likely factors that prevented the iPad mini from adopting a Retina display in its first generation. Rumors have already suggested that the 2013 5th Generation iPad could be slightly thinner and smaller than the current models.

Article Link: Apple Investigating Thinner, Lower Power IGZO Displays Across iPad and iPhone Product Lines for 2013

[Macdude2010]

I have been saying this since the 3rd gen came out, the IGZO display is really what apple wanted to use, but it was not ready a year ago, now in 2013, everything will go retina I think!

[JS82712]

we've been hearing about this whole IGZO thing since early 2012, when will this ever come to fruition.

[dampfnudel]

Well, I would hope so. Once you go IGZO, you won't want to go back.

[rocknblogger]

Sounds good and thinner glass will probably be lighter but I hope Apple stops trying to make things thinner just for the sake of thin or for bragging rights. At some point it becomes counter productive.

[AppleScruff1]

Sharp couldn't possibly come close to meeting the demand for Apple in 2013 without lots of outside help. It sounds like great technology.

[Michael Scrip]

Originally Posted by rocknblogger

Sounds good and thinner glass will probably be lighter but I hope Apple stops trying to make things thinner just for the sake of thin or for bragging rights. At some point it becomes counter productive.

I agree with phones. I never want a phone to be so thin that I fear it will snap in half in my pocket.

But shaving some weight off a tablet can be a good thing.

[sshambles]

Sounds like a move in a positive direction.

Does any current technology currently use this? It'd be good to see/touch what it says it's capable of.

[smulji]

Originally Posted by JS82712

we've been hearing about this whole IGZO thing since early 2012, when will this ever come to fruition.

"...when will this ever come to fruition."

When Apple can get enough supply, at high quality, to meet their production needs. We're not talking HTC DNA quantities here. We're talking close to 200 million devices per year.

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Originally Posted by sshambles

Sounds like a move in a positive direction.

Does any current technology currently use this? It'd be good to see/touch what it says it's capable of.

The HTC DNA uses a 5" 1080p IGZO display made by Sharp. It's the only one I can think of.

[dampfnudel]

Originally Posted by Michael Scrip

I agree with phones. I never want a phone to be so thin that I fear it will snap in half in my pocket.

But shaving some weight off a tablet can be a good thing.

Especially when it comes to the iPad 3/4. I hope this rumor along with the rumor of a iPad 5 coming in 3 months becomes a reality.

[mrsir2009]

What's the bet that Apple would use this technology to make the iphone thinner and lighter overall, rather than improving the battery life?

[iGrip]

Originally Posted by AppleScruff1

Sharp couldn't possibly come close to meeting the demand for Apple in 2013 without lots of outside help. It sounds like great technology.

Apple and Sharp will make a good team. Apple will have to inject a lot of capital so that Sharp will have sufficient capacity, but Apple will get its pound of flesh in return, and then some.

[rtr1985]

"Investigating" is a little late to start releasing by March

[chris7777]

I agree mrsir, they will go thinner instead of working on battery life. My ipod touch 4g is a good example of that its thin but battery life is abysmal for a "gaming" device. My ipad 3 is much better, but they had to pork it up to get it.

[JS82712]

Originally Posted by smulji

"...when will this ever come to fruition."

When Apple can get enough supply, at high quality, to meet their production needs. We're not talking HTC DNA quantities here. We're talking close to 200 million devices per year.

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The HTC DNA uses a 5" 1080p IGZO display made by Sharp. It's the only one I can think of.

well, good luck with that. Sharp couldnt even produce the iP5 screen properly at launch.

[dampfnudel]

Originally Posted by rtr1985

"Investigating" is a little late to start releasing by March

Well, for all we know, they could be well past "investigating".

[APlotdevice]

What is with this trend of referring to displays by a secondary component? "LED TV" made some sense since other display technologies don't use a backlight, but IGZO transistors can be used in both LCDs and OLEDs.

[macfacts]

If Apple wants IGZO displays, they will have to get them from someone else besides Sharp.
The following link says Sharp is not going to supply Apple with those displays.

http://www.patentlyapple.com/patentl...-to-apple.html

[krravi]

Originally Posted by smulji

"...when will this ever come to fruition."

When Apple can get enough supply, at high quality, to meet their production needs. We're not talking HTC DNA quantities here. We're talking close to 200 million devices per year.

----------



The HTC DNA uses a 5" 1080p IGZO display made by Sharp. It's the only one I can think of.

Quality is never an issue here with Sharp. Its the Price!

[Beeplance]

Definitely will be a nice addition to iOS devices.

Now, Apple if you'll start innovating on the software part....

[smulji]

Originally Posted by krravi

Quality is never an issue here with Sharp. Its the Price!

I've never used a Sharp display so I'll take your word on the quality aspect. But there is still the issue with meeting Apple's production demands, which let's face it, are gigantic.

[Patriot24]

This lines up with reports that Apple was investing in Sharp to keep them afloat. At the time everyone assumed that was for TV panels. Now it looks like it may be for iOS device displays.

[drblank]

Originally Posted by Macdude2010

I have been saying this since the 3rd gen came out, the IGZO display is really what apple wanted to use, but it was not ready a year ago, now in 2013, everything will go retina I think!

Sharp has had press releases on IGZO, but I think it officially starts shipping next year.

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Originally Posted by drblank

Sharp has had press releases on IGZO, but I think it officially starts shipping next year.

Hopefully, this will shut Samsung up for a while.

[SomeDudeAsking]

Originally Posted by macfacts

If Apple wants IGZO displays, they will have to get them from someone else besides Sharp.
The following link says Sharp is not going to supply Apple with those displays.

http://www.patentlyapple.com/patentl...-to-apple.html

Looks like Apple will have to go back to Samsung..........Samsung is the only one who can supply enough quality panels at this point with a rapid shift in production. I also bet that Samsung already has pre-production displays with IGZO transistors in them already.

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Originally Posted by drblank

Sharp has had press releases on IGZO, but I think it officially starts shipping next year.

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Hopefully, this will shut Samsung up for a while.

Foot in mouth. See the PatentlyApple link where Sharp rejects Apple.

[waqas]

I guess they'd want consistent display resolutions, whether 'tis IGZO or not.


Display area of the iPad-mini = 29.6 square inches.
Current Resolution = 1024 x 768 = 786432 total number of pixels
Pixel Density = (Total Number of Pixels/Display Area)^0.5
Pixel Density = (1024*768/29.6)^0.5 = 162.99 ≈ 163 pixels per inch.

Doubling the Resolution (converting to Retina, while using IGZO panels, since it allows for higher density):

iPad-mini with Retina Display area = 29.6 square inches.
Resolution = 2048 x 1536 = 3145728 pixels
Pixel Density = (2048 x 1536/29.6)^0.5 = 325.99 ≈ 326 pixels per inch.

Same pixel density as iPhone. It'd seem likely to happen, but they'd want consistent resolutions, not pixel density.

Same resolution as current iPad. It'd end up cannibalizing its own newer iPad if they did that, so I don't think this will be happening for iPad-mini at least, probably for iPad though, sure.



... But they have done this cannibalization a bit with the Macbook Pro vs Macbook Pro with Retina Display. Over there exists a significant price gap too, so I don't think it'd be a really similar example.

$329 for iPad-mini will be less than $499 and you get a lighter, thinner, more portable than current iPad product with same battery, power and OBVIOUSLY a better resolution? Unlikely, because pixel density of iPad-mini would have to be higher than that of the larger iPad. I would then only buy iPad-mini, not the larger iPad. The non-mini iPad would have to be even better than it is now to demand a market share.