Apple Planning to Debut OLED iPhone in 2017

[cwwilson]

So basically Apple is telling us to wait for the 7S as the 7 will be a lame duck? I can't see them changing display types with an S series phone. Let's say I'm skeptical on this rumor. I'm think OLED for 2018 like originally reported makes far more sense for an iPhone 8.

 

[The Game 161]

For the S model? Very unlikely

 

[ggibson913]

I don't know. I had the Galaxy S5 and though the colors and blacks were more intense on an OLED display, certainly the iPhone has a great looking display. Though this does give me pause about upgrading from my iPhone 6 Plus to the next iteration. As far as more expensive, I think that is market suicide for Apple, their phone are already the most expensive on the market and I don't think an increase in price will bode well for them.

 

[samcraig]

Those who negate switching to OLED as important remember this. Yes, it's true, the general public might not initially care or understand the difference. But just like increasing resolution to retina, people ultimately do care. Once Apple switched to OLED, many will talk about how they can't even look at their old phones any more. The iPhone has an amazing screen. But right now, I don't think anything compares to the Note 5. And people DO talk about how nice their (no matter what device they have) screen is. People do care.

 

[TroyBoy30]

Every OLED display phone I have seen reminds me of the TV displays in electronics stores where they crank up the colors and contrast to make it look good in the store but give you a headache if you actually take it home and watch it that way. I actually think the display on my 6Plus is very good.

we call it TORCH mode. samsung is one of the worst. burn in is also still an issue

 

[RickInHouston]

All phones will be commodities by then. It won't be a selling / marketing point at all by then.

 

[Paradoxally]

Every OLED display phone I have seen reminds me of the TV displays in electronics stores where they crank up the colors and contrast to make it look good in the store but give you a headache if you actually take it home and watch it that way. I actually think the display on my 6Plus is very good.

Exactly. The 6 Plus has the best phone screen I've seen. OLED advocates fail to realize that most OLEDs on phones are over saturated and dont accurately reproduce colors. And then there's the burn-in problem, which has been mitigated lately, but still exists.

No thanks, I'll stick to LCD for phones for now and OLED for TVs only.

 

[DynaFXD]

Hmm. Everything has a price. I'm sure Samsung would give their best panels if someone coughed up enough cash! But, I would protect my top technology from competitors as well.

Different divisions of a monsterously huge company. The panel 'division' needs to maximize its profits or else head count/resources get cut. The market will set the price of their AAA products, not some misplaced internal loyalty. This is business, after all. Otherwise stated, Samsung may not be able to afford SAMSUNG AAA panels if they want to meet a certain aggressive final price point for their product.

 

[samcraig]

we call it TORCH mode. samsung is one of the worst. burn in is also still an issue

Exactly. The 6 Plus has the best phone screen I've seen. OLED advocates fail to realize that most OLEDs on phones are over saturated and dont accurately reproduce colors. And then there's the burn-in problem, which has been mitigated lately, but still exists.

No thanks, I'll stick to LCD for phones for now and OLED for TVs only.

Maybe I've been lucky. Because I have had any burn in issues with my OLED phones in 5+ years.

Also - beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The Note 5 (arguably) is the better screen according to reviews though. But ultimately it's whatever the user prefers. Personally, I love black blacks.

 

[dannys1]

OLED tech came out 4 years ago. Always behind the times.

4 years? Oled has been around for over a decade now, its only been of a viable quality the last 2 to my eyes though in small handsets (and the TV sets are still 2-3 years off to get to a decent standard, far too many issues with black levels at present - they all look like old Samsung phones actually)
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Personally, I love black blacks.

Personally I love gradients between the blacks and at the moment that is not being displayed as accurately in OLED as LCD. You might have "black blacks" but you're also missing about 20% of detail from nearly black to actually black. It not the saturation that bothers me (I don't think most people actually mean saturation when they say that) its the fact it looks like contrast is wacked up to 200% and you lose all the finer black detailing.
[doublepost=1457012026][/doublepost]

Those who negate switching to OLED as important remember this. Yes, it's true, the general public might not initially care or understand the difference. But just like increasing resolution to retina, people ultimately do care. Once Apple switched to OLED, many will talk about how they can't even look at their old phones any more. The iPhone has an amazing screen. But right now, I don't think anything compares to the Note 5. And people DO talk about how nice their (no matter what device they have) screen is. People do care.

Sorry but the switch to retina was massive, MASSIVE. The switch from a very high resolution, 100% sRGB compliant excellent quality LCD to OLED is not going to be a difference the average consumer will ever be able to notice - and if they do it, it'll only be due to contrast and colours being unrealistically boosted, I don't expect Apple will do that, they've been commended in past for going for accuracy and an unexciting neutrality to the display rather than making it look like a TV in demo mode.

 

[samcraig]

Sorry but the switch to retina was massive, MASSIVE. The switch from a very high resolution, 100% sRGB compliant excellent quality LCD to OLED is not going to be a difference the average consumer will ever be able to notice - and if they do it, it'll only be due to contrast and colours being unrealistically boosted, I don't expect Apple will do that, they've been commended in past for going for accuracy and an unexciting neutrality to the display rather than making it look like a TV in demo mode.

No - it's not the same. My point remains though. People will know and see a difference. And then it will turn into (a few years from now) how they ever managed on a device with LCD and how inferior it is. Part of it will be reality - the other part will be Apple's marketing around their revolutionary new screen....

 

[Jsameds]

Exactly. The 6 Plus has the best phone screen I've seen. OLED advocates fail to realize that most OLEDs on phones are over saturated and dont accurately reproduce colors. And then there's the burn-in problem, which has been mitigated lately, but still exists.

No thanks, I'll stick to LCD for phones for now and OLED for TVs only.

The over saturation associated with OLED is done in the software. On Samsung's you can even turn it down to match LCD's more accurate colour reproduction whilst enjoying that epic, epic contrast ratio.

 

[MacDarcy]

I'm still amazed that Apple relies so heavily on its biggest competitor for many of its components.

 

[mountain]

OLED would be great but not sure it's ready because of the burn in issues some people are experiencing.

 

[shk718]

OLED tech came out 4 years ago. Always behind the times.

always?

multi touch on a phone
64 bit processors in a phone
3d touch on a phone
AI on a phone
touch id (that actually worked and was useful)

the list goes on and on

apple is hardly always behind the times. apple needs every phone they manufacture to have OLED - they won't produce a limited number of OLED's. Until now, no one has been able to supply them in the quantities they need.

 

[samcraig]

always?

multi touch on a phone
64 bit processors in a phone
3d touch on a phone
AI on a phone
touch id (that actually worked and was useful)

the list goes on and on

apple is hardly always behind the times. apple needs every phone they manufacture to have OLED - they won't produce a limited number of OLED's. Until now, no one has been able to supply them in the quantities they need.

3d touch on the phone - if you discount other OEMs that did it - just with different tech
AI on the phone? No. And it was available as Apps on other phones too
Touch ID - again - if you discount other OEMs implementing it. But that doesn't mean they are "ahead." It just means they matured the product.

Where are you getting your info about OLED manufacturing and why Apple hasn't been able to implement it yet. Pretty sure you're incorrect.

 

[CoolKid26]

A lot of people are commenting about how inaccurate OLED screens are... The reality is Samsung actually has a more accurate screen now according to sites like anandtech.

My concerns would be how bright can the screens get and how resistant is it to burn in. LCD is still the best in sunlight and the static icons on the home screen may lead to problems.
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3d touch on the phone - if you discount other OEMs that did it - just with different tech

You're talking about blackberry? Haha that was just touch haptic feedback. Completely different and I don't know why the two are compared.

 

[dkh587]

I'm still amazed that Apple relies so heavily on its biggest competitor for many of its components.

you know what they say...

"Money talks, and Bulls*** walks!"

 

[JGIGS]

Just get the Galaxy S7 or S7 Edge now, why wait?

Yup. I'll probably buy a used one this fall unless Apple really comes out with an amazing iphone 7 and cleans up ios. 5 years ago I never imagined android would be a better, cleaner and more enjoyable experience than ios funny how times change.

Not that ios is terrible still a great smartphone ios just needs some really simple tweaks instead of all the gimmicky features. It's almost like samsung and apple are trading places. Touch wiz is getting cleaner more towards pure android while ios is getting more messy cluttered and awkward.

 

[jonnysods]

These should work better in sunlight too right? That would be nice. Love the ability to power on single pixels too.

 

[bobob]

They need the technology to age enough for it to minimally affect profit margins.

...because, once it was invented, OLED technology never developed or improved again.

 

[ReneR]

reduced power consumption, especially for dark / black content on the display probably means smaller battery, slimmer iPhone, yay ;-)

 

[Chupa Chupa]

For the S model? Very unlikely

Sure. This time S = Screen. Hey, it fits. Not sure why they wouldn't if the only reason is it's an "S year." The very first "S" model the 3GS had improved hardware over the previous 3G.

 

[mountain]

These should work better in sunlight too right? That would be nice. Love the ability to power on single pixels too.

I believe LCD works better in sunlight right now.

 

[melendezest]

I have never had a problem with the iPhone display. The display isn't a factor for me to purchase a phone. The OS is and iOS is superior to android.

In what way, exactly?

I would have to give up A LOT of features, both in hardware and software, to return to iOS as a platform.

My Note5 is a spectacular phone, with features that the iPhone and iOS cannot and probably will NEVER match, given Apple's design philosophies.

Now, if you like iOS over everything else, then more power to you, but that's different from saying "iOS is better". It depends on what you value most.

We can A/B devices, and feature for feature Android (and its high-end platforms) crush Apple's offering. This is not merely a spec game (although specs cannot be discounted--the combination of HW and SW is impactful here). Android is a mature, slick, flexible, and solid OS.