Apple's Budget iPhone X May Have Same Ultra-Bright, Low-Power LCD Technology as LG G7

[78Bandit]

Apple pretty much ALWAYS puts an older chip in their budget devices, which of course is understandable. It seems however a lot of people don’t expect this for some odd reason.
I’d expect an A11 chip in this device, but wouldn’t be too surprised if it gets and A10 like the “new” iPad.
The chances of it getting an A12 like the pricey X models is pretty much zero, as few would pay much more just to get an OLED screen.
Could also be that the new X models get FaceID gen 2, while this one get gen 1 from current X.

So in summary it will get a cheaper screen and shell, old internals, a single camera and possible old faceid.
I think it will still be the #1 selling iPhone, and Apple will as usual have great profit margins on it as all components have been produced for some time.

I don't really consider this a budget device at potentially $700-$800. This is closer to a replacement for the iPhone 8 which had the latest A11 chip when it was released. Maybe if they were trying to hit a $500 target price it would be justified, but at $700+ it will hopefully have the latest processor. Even the iPhone SE had the latest processor at the time of its launch.

 

[EugW]

Not true. There's a big difference between long pressing an icon on the home screen to make them wiggle and using 3D touch to access the app's shortcuts and widget. Long press and 3D touch are not the same gesture and produce different results.

After over a year of having 3D Touch on, I turned it off on my 7 Plus as well. I don't miss it at all. In fact, I much prefer the interface without 3D Touch.

I figure a whole damn year is enough time to try to learn to like it, but I just always found it more frustrating than useful.

I'm really surprised by the indifference/negativity to OLED in this thread. I would easily continue to pay an extra $200 to get OLED on a phone, at least until microLED or another tech with perfect blacks comes along. My iPhone 7 had a great screen and rich color gamut, but when I upgraded to the X I knew I'd never go back to regular LCD. In fact it's so good I actually prefer watching HDR movies on the iPhone X to my HDR TV (w/ LED local dimming). I've never had a single issue with burn-in or anything else. It's quite simply the most beautiful screen I've ever owned.

All that said, I'm glad Apple is making the other features like FaceID available at a lower price.

I couldn't care less about OLED either on my phone. I'd love to have it on my TV, but I'm not about to pay $20000 for a giant OLED TV for my home theatre room so I don't have OLED there either.

If the 6.1 LCD model had a 2 lens camera, I'd probably get one for myself. But since it doesn't I might just keep my 7 Plus for another year. The 6.1" LCD model would make for a good replacement for my wife's 6s. I suspect it will be significantly smaller than my 7 Plus.

I don't really consider this a budget device at potentially $700-$800. This is closer to a replacement for the iPhone 8 which had the latest A11 chip when it was released. Maybe if they were trying to hit a $500 target price it would be justified, but at $700+ it will hopefully have the latest processor. Even the iPhone SE had the latest processor at the time of its launch.

I would be absolutely shocked if the 6.1" LCD iPhone doesn't have the A12.

 

[dwaltwhit]

My X's OLED screen has been my only grip about an otherwise outstanding phone.

what specifically?

 

[Return Zero]

Wow. My TV isn't HDR, but I didn't know it was that big of a deal.

Of course it's all in the eye of the beholder/user. I do a lot of watching in dark environments, so the depth of brightness (perfect blacks) in addition to the depth of color makes a giant difference. Watching a dark scene in a movie and still being able to pick out every single detail is amazing.

For example, I recently watched Blade Runner 2049 for the third time. I saw it once in theaters, once on my TV, and this last time was on my iPhone X. I probably liked it on the X more than either the TV or the theater.

 

[Admiral]

Like the OLED display on the iPhone X, MLCD+ screens can also display 100 percent of the wide DCI-P3 color gamut for improved color accuracy, all while consuming less power than a traditional IPS-based LCD panel.

I wonder if LG can also produce MLCD+ screens in a 12" or 13" form factor for MacBook and MacBook Pro.

 

[Val-kyrie]

Without the foldable nature of OLED, I wonder if that means the iPhone would have a chin, just like the LG phone.

Aluminum frame is a good call, we can get colored phones that way.

So long as when Apple "cuts corners" on this model, they don't use inferior aluminum for the chassis like they did on the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

 

[Freida]

I'm really surprised by the indifference/negativity to OLED in this thread. I would easily continue to pay an extra $200 to get OLED on a phone, at least until microLED or another tech with perfect blacks comes along. My iPhone 7 had a great screen and rich color gamut, but when I upgraded to the X I knew I'd never go back to regular LCD. In fact it's so good I actually prefer watching HDR movies on the iPhone X to my HDR TV (w/ LED local dimming). I've never had a single issue with burn-in or anything else. It's quite simply the most beautiful screen I've ever owned.

All that said, I'm glad Apple is making the other features like FaceID available at a lower price.

You prefer to watch on few inches of screen compared to big tv screen? Wow, this is insane. You can’t possible be serious as here is the prime example of the saying - size matters. A movie will suck you in way better if you have big screen than on a tiny phone one. I think you are taking it to an extreme

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

Of course it's all in the eye of the beholder/user. I do a lot of watching in dark environments, so the depth of brightness (perfect blacks) in addition to the depth of color makes a giant difference. Watching a dark scene in a movie and still being able to pick out every single detail is amazing.

For example, I recently watched Blade Runner 2049 for the third time. I saw it once in theaters, once on my TV, and this last time was on my iPhone X. I probably liked it on the X more than either the TV or the theater.

Generally most of my TV watching is done in the evenings with my tv backlit with a Hue Lightstrip Plus. There's also two lamps above the TV, two behind on the opposite wall, and a chandelier. Still pretty dim though.

I get what you're saying about the blacks and detail. It just sucks that despite being SDR, I have a pretty decent TV and Comca$h's quality is terrible, lol.

 

[Cesar Battistini]

Everything makes sense here to me, except 3D Touch. It has so much potential and the feel of using it is so unique, and not available in other brands, Apple should renew their interest in 3D Touch

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

You prefer to watch on few inches of screen compared to big tv screen? Wow, this is insane. You can’t possible be serious as here is the prime example of the saying - size matters. A movie will suck you in way better if you have big screen than on a tiny phone one. I think you are taking it to an extreme

I read something awhile back that at typical viewing distance, a phone screen appears to be the same size as your TV on the wall across the room.

 

[Cesar Battistini]

Every iPhone X screen that I've seen looks dingy and dirty! Apple has a long way to go before they even get close to the mastery of OLED like Samsung.

Also, 700-800 is still TOO HIGH for these phones. There has to be some reason thrown out here or Apple is going to force me out of their products, at least phones on principle.

Apples iPhone x screen is made by Samsung and it's better than the S8 screen.

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

Everything makes sense here to me, except 3D Touch. It has so much potential and the feel of using it is so unique, and not available in other brands, Apple should renew their interest in 3D Touch

This. 110% this. 3D Touch is one of the reasons I just can't do android.

 

[iReality85]

I'm really surprised by the indifference/negativity to OLED in this thread. I would easily continue to pay an extra $200 to get OLED on a phone, at least until microLED or another tech with perfect blacks comes along. My iPhone 7 had a great screen and rich color gamut, but when I upgraded to the X I knew I'd never go back to regular LCD. In fact it's so good I actually prefer watching HDR movies on the iPhone X to my HDR TV (w/ LED local dimming). I've never had a single issue with burn-in or anything else. It's quite simply the most beautiful screen I've ever owned.

All that said, I'm glad Apple is making the other features like FaceID available at a lower price.

Is the iPhone X capable of HDR (HDR10 spec)? I didn't think it was.

 

[EugW]

Everything makes sense here to me, except 3D Touch. It has so much potential and the feel of using it is so unique, and not available in other brands, Apple should renew their interest in 3D Touch

They've already given 3D Touch several years, and it's still an abysmal failure. It's time for Apple to give up on 3D Touch already.

Is the iPhone X capable of HDR (HDR10 spec)? I didn't think it was.

It says right in the specs it supports HDR10 and Dolby Vision.

Video Playback

• Video formats supported: HEVC, H.264, MPEG-4 Part 2, and Motion JPEG
• High Dynamic Range with Dolby Vision and HDR10 content
• AirPlay Mirroring, photos, and video out to Apple TV (2nd generation or later)6
• Video mirroring and video out support: Up to 1080p through Lightning Digital AV Adapter and Lightning to VGA Adapter (adapters sold separately)6

 

[citysnaps]

what specifically?

The X's OLED panel will tint towards cyan/blue as you view it off-axis. Simply rotating the phone in your hand a few degrees left and right will cause the shift.

It's far from horrible, but as a photographer I'm pretty fussy about color. The LCD display in my 6+ was great.

 

[Return Zero]

Is the iPhone X capable of HDR (HDR10 spec)? I didn't think it was.

Yes, it is. Dolby Vision too, actually.

 

[EugW]

The X's OLED panel will tint towards cyan/blue as you view it off-axis. Simply rotating the phone in your hand a few degrees left and right will cause the shift.

It's not horrible, but as a photographer I'm pretty fussy about color. The LCD display in my 6+ was great.

Yup:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208191

If you look at an OLED display off-angle, you might notice slight shifts in color and hue. This is a characteristic of OLED and is normal behavior. With extended long-term use, OLED displays can also show slight visual changes. This is also expected behavior and can include “image persistence” or “burn-in,” where the display shows a faint remnant of an image even after a new image appears on the screen. This can occur in more extreme cases such as when the same high contrast image is continuously displayed for prolonged periods of time. We’ve engineered the Super Retina display to be the best in the industry in reducing the effects of OLED "burn-in."

I found this irritating on Android OLED phones, although it wasn't a deal killer.

 

[neuropsychguy]

Every iPhone X screen that I've seen looks dingy and dirty! Apple has a long way to go before they even get close to the mastery of OLED like Samsung.

I haven't seen any dingy or dirty iPhone X screens. They all look slightly better than my 7's screen, which is great. Samsung does a great job with the screens on their high-end phones but Apple's certainly aren't bad by comparison.
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I'm really surprised by the indifference/negativity to OLED in this thread.

People want what they don't/can't have but then don't want it anymore once they have it or have access to it. Before the iPhone X: "Apple needs to switch to OLED". After iPhone X: "I don't like OLED."

 

[Return Zero]

You prefer to watch on few inches of screen compared to big tv screen? Wow, this is insane. You can’t possible be serious as here is the prime example of the saying - size matters. A movie will suck you in way better if you have big screen than on a tiny phone one. I think you are taking it to an extreme

I'm not exaggerating. A phone with a small screen that is close to you can be just as immersive as a TV with a larger screen that is far away from you, especially when watching in the dark. The bigger problem is having somewhere to set the phone so you don't have to hold it. (Also, finding a decent solution for the sound... I have some nice headphones to choose from.)

Granted, my TV is only 50" and LCD/LED, so if I had a 65" or bigger OLED, I would of course prefer the TV. I do have a 100" projection theater screen as well, but the colors and contrast are laughable compared to OLED.

 

[puma1552]

But WOULD it have 1000 nits of brightness in Apple's implementation or would they just artificially limit it to XXX nits without auto brightness turned on, like they already do on the existing phones?

Auto brightness is too buggy to hassle with, so I never use it, meaning I can never get the max brightness out of my phone. I would expect the same will happen here.

 

[taliz]

I don't really consider this a budget device at potentially $700-$800. This is closer to a replacement for the iPhone 8 which had the latest A11 chip when it was released. Maybe if they were trying to hit a $500 target price it would be justified, but at $700+ it will hopefully have the latest processor. Even the iPhone SE had the latest processor at the time of its launch.

Keep in mind that the SE was launched way later than the 6S, about mid cycle.
They probably won’t do that this time, they need a cheaper alternative to the X that has a similar design, this autumn.
Again I don’t see any good reason for Apple to put the latest chip in it. Those who care about having the latest chip would buy the more expensive X, and those who don’t will make do with whatever is in the 6,1.

Personally I think phones have so much power these days it really doesn’t matter. My iPad has an A9 which was released 3 years ago, and it’s not exactly slow..

 

[Ramchi]

Aluminium vs ever-silver(stainless steel)....seems to me like buying kitchen utensils

 

[DNichter]

ding, ding. Exactly.

Rumor after rumor about this particular model sounds great: basically a better, more refined, next-generation X at a much lower price. What's not to like? It will even be a brand new form factor for those that so desperately desire a design change just so the world can know they own the "latest & greatest" for a while. So what's not to like?

Business Apple is not going to purposely drive down average revenue per unit sold unless that's their ONLY play. So where's the rumor about what key, desirable feature(s) is going to be left OUT of this model to shift the collective desire back towards the $1000+ level? I doubt the screen technology (OLED) is enough myself. I'm not sure a little bit of size up or down will do it either, as this falls into the classic consumer pitch of "small, medium or large?" (consumer typically chooses the medium). If the medium is also cheaper than small & large, the draw is that much greater.

Thus, we can expect something(s) key will NOT be there. Anyone have guesses on what that (those) will be?

RAM, 3D Touch, Camera Quality, Face ID v.1?

 

[Tozovac]

So amazing to see competitors still vying to make their products look like Apple products.

I just wish Apple products looked like Apple products used to be: a super-intuitive UI, hardware that had lots of flexibility for the user beyond trying to be the thinnest/smoothest, and that Apple-DNA original & detailed & gorgeous graphic design in the software that exuded that all the attention to detail that used to matter.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

RAM, 3D Touch, Camera Quality, Face ID v.1?

Yeah, those kinds of rumors have generally been absent so far. All we've been seeing is basically cheaper, better iPhone X NEXT. Those have to come. Apple will not want to offer an option that will reduce average revenue per unit sold. I suspect many of us are thinking it's THE (next) ONE right now, so I'm expecting the other rumors to show up soon and cut the legs out from under it. "Cheaper" and "New from Apple" generally don't go together (without significant compromises).