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LG Display to Supply Apple With 2-4 Million OLED Panels for This Year's 'iPhone X Plus'
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This is not a big deal, as long as the display quality is the same and working well.
Apple's multi-billion dollar investment in LG Display to start supplying OLED technology is close to bearing fruit, reports the South China Morning Post. According to the paper's sources, the Korean firm is almost ready to become Apple's second supplier for OLED screens, allowing Apple to reduce its reliance on Samsung, currently the sole manufacturer of the panels in iPhone X models.
Previous rumors have suggested LG will be the supplier for this year's 6.5-inch "iPhone X Plus". The sources in today's report claim LG Display will initially supply between 2 million and 4 million units, as it continues to work on ramping up capacity. While those figures are small relative to Apple's sales, the sources note that they would help Apple gain leverage in price negotiations with Samsung as it looks to eventually switch to OLED-only production for iPhone.
In April, The Wall Street Journal claimed that mass production challenges had caused LG to fall behind the schedule it had agreed with Apple. As a result, opinions within Apple were said to be divided on whether LG Display would be in a position to complement Samsung as a second source of OLED displays for the upcoming iPhones. However, analysts at investment firm Susquehanna estimated that LG will supply as much as 20 percent of OLED displays for the 2018 lineup.
Apart from the "iPhone X Plus", Apple is expected to release two other iPhone models in 2018: a second generation iPhone X and a low-cost, 6.1-inch option with a similar full-face display as seen on the iPhone X, but with LCD rather than an OLED display.
Last month, South Korea's ET News reported that Apple's transition to a full OLED iPhone lineup will be complete in 2019. However, analysts immediately cast doubt on that claim, arguing that the switch would be too early and effectively remove the chance for a "low-cost" iPhone model like the LCD version believed to be coming this year. The same view is also supported by today's report:
According to The Investor, Apple is investing 3 trillion won ($2.67 billion) in LG's OLED production for smartphones. LG is said to be building a production line dedicated to iPhone orders only, as part of its agreement with Apple.
Article Link: LG Display to Supply Apple With 2-4 Million OLED Panels for This Year's 'iPhone X Plus'
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Yes, but that's looking at reviews through an objective lens... because it's a non-Apple product.
Let Apple put even that very same LG panel in a new iPhone followed by these same reviews with phone name changes and this crowd would be ripping arstechnica and the verge as biased, probably Samsung or Google shills working the standard conspiracy to hurt Apple and swearing left & right that these Apple screens are the finest screens ever made.
That's the game. Other players add something Apple doesn't have/use: it's stupid, an abomination, that 99.9% don't want or need, etc. Then Apple adds the very same thing: shut up and take my money, how did we ever get by without this new thing?, etc.
Our relative objectivity becomes very subjective based on if Apple is attached to the subject being discussed. LG screen in Pixel: yuck, ugly, terrible. (Same) LG screen in iPhone: OMG, best screen I've ever seen, this phone cures cancer, etc.
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Actually, Samsung/Google will probably "test" it for 2 or 3 generations of Galaxy phones.
Great news! Really sick and tired of Samsung fans and their bs... “Only reason iPhones look good is because of the Samsung screen.”
do you think the screen will be comparable? I was thinking of getting the 5.8 since it will likely be the samsung panel still.
Will be skipping of course. But will likely be back in the market around 2020 or when something like 5G included. I love X, its a release from my 6s and its failure Touch ID. But, Apple will need take a hit on pricing to make it cheaper, although it seems the more expensive the iPhone, the more likely users want it.
I love my X, best iPhone I ever owned. So I don't care who makes the panels, if Apple is offering a bigger version of what I have I'm buying it.
I already have a buddy who I'm gonna sell my iPhone X too for a pretty cheap price.
I already have a buddy who I'm gonna sell my iPhone X too for a pretty cheap price.
welp since I just got an X through my work, ill have to wait for another year to go by to get the bigger one. BTW I really like the X, great phone from the 7+.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
I think you are misunderstanding what a fanboy is. Fanboy DEFENDS Apple no matter what. They wonder incredulously how they can possibly be granted the immense gift & pleasure of actually being allowed to own a phone made by Apple and pay as little as "only $1,000+" for it. If Apple rolled out a phone:
- made of rusty razor blades, fanboys would be passionately spinning the merits of regularly turning over our blood supplies.
- that kills people, fanboys would be passionately arguing that the world is too crowded anyway... that a reduced population is good for the entire planet... all while attempting to shift actual blame to "cheap Chinese chargers" and other redirection spin standards.
- sans battery & camera now as accessories (sold separately), fanboys would be gushing at the genius of Apple for letting those that need more or less battery choose whatever size they want now (as long as it's from Apple)... and those needing a better camera can now choose whatever quality they want (as long as it's from Apple too)... all while readily pouncing on anyone griping that a battery-less and camera-less iPhone is still priced at the same level or higher vs. iPhones that used to have those baked in (because maximizing a corporation's profitability is right up there with "thinner" at any cost.. and kicking both of those out to sold-separately (exclusively by Apple) accessories would kill both birds with a single stone).
- Etc.
All
(barely).
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I find the rumoured sizes odd. Are they doing 6.1" in the 'cheap' device becuase they won't have normal and plus, so its a sort of 'one size fits all' thing? Its bigger than the X which seems odd if the X is more expensive.
Although fingers crossed they 'only' charge $999 for the X plus, so X will be $849-899 starting price, with the cheaper 9(?) at $699-799?
I don't care about OLED but I assume they'll gimp elsewhere like the camera. If so I'll keep my X for a second year.
Wow. Fully expected to open this thread to find comments like "Thank God! Get as far away from Samsung as possible!" But it's mostly just concern about switching to an LG panel considering Samsung panels are excellent and the gold standard. I share the same concerns. Proud of you guys!
Looking forward to the posts about people who have the Samsung panels vs. those who have the LG panels. Takes me back to 2012 with my first generation retina MBP. It had an LG panel that had screen retention issues like crazy. Apple took my machine, sent it to Austin, swapped in a Samsung panel, and had it back to me a few days later. That Samsung panel was beautiful by comparison and is still going strong! Then at work in early 2013 I got the late 2012 iMac 27" (the thinner redesign before 5K) and it had an LG panel and guess what? RETENTION ISSUES. They weren't quite as bad as my MBP but still annoying and never got it fixed until I got a 5K a few years later. No idea what the 5K uses but hopefully LG has their crap together nowadays. I know they make some good TVs using OLED and I even have an old LG 1080p display from 2010 that never had problems and still works, but I'm just worried about them using a new display process and being able to pull it off without issues. Were they also the supplier for the latest Google Pixel that was also having display problems?
Burn in and uneven blacks is a fault of OLED. Doesn't matter who makes it. The uneven blacks have got better since OLED first launched, but it is still a problem. Burn in, like plasma displays will always be a problem with OLED. QLED from Samsung was designed to alleviate the burn-in issue with the OLED tech.
Why would you think Apple would accept panels that were as bad as the Pixel 2?
I'm not simply speculating either because we've already seen Apple's Samsung displays are better than Samsung's Samsung display. Apple has very high standards for screen quality.
I don't see why this wouldn't continue with LG. LG is also another year along, so they should have improved.
Well...I'm a photographer that makes photographs with my phone. Everyday. A recent one is attached below.
And I often edit captured images on my phone as well. Ditto with other photographer friends.
It doesn't take a 45° tilt off-axis to see a noticeable color shift. My 6+ was far less sensitive to that than on my X.
The color shift is quite noticeable when my X is lying on my desk/table and I'm trying to read an an angle without having to prop up my phone. I've gotten used to it, sure, but that is still a side effect of X's OLED panel that I don't like at all. I hope LG and Samsung will be able to reduce this shift in next generation panels.
I withhold judgment on future LG panels until they are released in the wild and compared side by side with Samsung panels.
I withhold judgment on future LG panels until they are released in the wild and compared side by side with Samsung panels.
