Making a case: MicroLED Display in iPhone 6S

[Bbqthis]

The HTC One m8 had a "Super LCD" panel and it seemed to have 2 cables...

LG G4 has 2 cables as well, "IPS Quantum" screen

contrast those with other phones with AMOLED panels...

 

[samsveds]

It would be nice if someone with access to the 6s display would throw it under a microscope or whatever tool they use to determine the display type. Been looking at this page and IPS should be pretty easily distinguished from OLED, or seems like it anyways? Will take a better look when at my desktop.

 

[dampfnudel]

If Apple adopts mLED or some other OLED display for the 6s, is it safe to assume that the resolution/PPI will go up? Maybe 1920x1080/400+. In other words, hello 'Super Retina'. When you think of it, Force Touch as the signature new feature for the 6s felt Meh, but Force Touch in conjunction with a mLED display would definitely give the combined tactile/visual impact that Apple would like to deliver in a phone they expect to sell more units of than the previous model. Of course, I won't believe this completely until I can literally feel/see it...or at least hear it next week from Tim or Phil's lips.

 

[Bbqthis]

It would be nice if someone with access to the 6s display would throw it under a microscope or whatever tool they use to determine the display type. Been looking at this page and IPS should be pretty easily distinguished from OLED, or seems like it anyways? Will take a better look when at my desktop.

If Apple adopts mLED or some other OLED display for the 6s, is it safe to assume that the resolution/PPI will go up? Maybe 1920x1080/400+. In other words, hello 'Super Retina'. When you think of it, Force Touch as the signature new feature for the 6s felt Meh, but Force Touch in conjunction with a mLED display would definitely give the combined tactile/visual impact that Apple would like to deliver in a phone they expect to sell more units of than the previous model. Of course, I won't believe this completely until I can literally feel/see it...or at least hear it next week from Tim or Phil's lips.

I don't see any reason why switching to OLED would guarantee a change in resolution.

 

[seble]

I don't see any reason why switching to OLED would guarantee a change in resolution.

The only justification I can think of is how someone on here mentioned OLED screens appear less sharp at similar resolutions to LCD counterparts, thus requiring higher resolution or PPI. Whether or not any of that was true, remains another matter!

 

[samsveds]

Sent a few emails hoping someone will take it under a microscope. We'll see.

 

[SR71]

The only justification I can think of is how someone on here mentioned OLED screens appear less sharp at similar resolutions to LCD counterparts, thus requiring higher resolution or PPI. Whether or not any of that was true, remains another matter!

That's only if an OLED display uses a pentile matrix which is what Samsung uses on the Galaxy S6. It does reduce the effective PPI, but when the PPI is already 550+ no one can really tell the difference. OLED doesn't have to use a pentile matrix, however. An example of this is the OLED display in the Watch; it's in an RGB arrangement (which is a bit different than the RGB stripe arrangement used in the iPhone 6) The main reason I could see them bumping resolution is that since OLED is more power-efficient it wouldn't take a big toll on battery life.

I've also heard a few rumors that the 6s will be 1080p and the 6s Plus will be 2K, but no reputable sources have corroborated that rumor. A resolution bump plus the switch to OLED or mLED would be a massive display change.

 

[samsveds]

I've received a reply from Eric Slivka, Editor in Chief here on MacRumors.

Hi Sam,

I don’t have the part on hand, but from what I’ve been told, the home button connection has been integrated into the front camera/sensor cable, accounting for the loss of one connector on the logic board. If Apple were moving to OLED there would be a lot more evidence for it from supply chain rumors, so we’re confident the 6s is still using LCD.

Thanks and take care,
Eric

Hi again Eric and thank you for the reply!

Ok, Interesting. From my pin count comparison of the iPhone 6 and 6s logic board connectors, the only connections that did not increase or decrease in pin count are for the front camera assembly and back camera. I've attached an image illustrating this. But I'm sure your sources are solid, so I guess that puts and end to the speculation. Thank you again.

Do I have permission to post your reply on the MacRumors forum?


Kind Regards,
Sam

Ya, I had counted pins too, so I was surprised when they told me it was in with the front camera since that connector didn’t change pin count. Maybe they’re wrong about what went where. But with one of the two display connectors flipping from horizontal to vertical, it’s clear stuff has moved around a bit.

And sure, you can post that info on the forums.

-E

So I guess that's that, folks.

 

[MarcoCapa]

Very sad news
Not a significant upgrade

 

[Bbqthis]

Yup, Mark Gurman seemingly killed the rumor this morning too.

"We’re told that the new wallpapers look “great,” despite not being lit up by an OLED display"

http://9to5mac.com/2015/09/04/apple-sep-9-iphone-6s-ipad-pro-apple-tv-watch/

 

[SR71]

That's some unfortunate news. I'll still hold out hope, but it's looking like we're stuck with LCD. Maybe they'll at least use Quantum Dot technology for the display this year. That would make colors significantly more vivid on an LCD display along with bringing down the black levels.

 

[nordique]

^ To be expected, but then I would also expect the new animated wallpapers to be on every device that supports iOS 9 - it makes sense to have them exclusive to the 6S only if the 6S supports a new display type

But otherwise it makes no sense, as the Apple Watch is even less powerful than the weakest iOS 9-supported device.

(Current rumours indicate that the iOS 9 animated wallpapers will only be exclusive to the ninth generation iPhones)

 

[The Leafs Fan]

Well that sucks. The 6s won't really have a huge defining feature, force touch is more of a gimmick than anything.

 

[scapegoat81]

Well that sucks. The 6s won't really have a huge defining feature, force touch is more of a gimmick than anything.

That's what these forums said about Touch ID as well

 

[samsveds]

So we have confirmation that we won't see a shift in display tech this generation. However, future updates is something we can still speculate on, so here I go! This article on 9TO5Mac really caught my interest, and I'll paraphrase:

In case it needed any further confirmation, Ive reiterates that the display technology of the Apple Watch is OLED, not LED. This causes deep blacks to mesh the end of the screen and start of the bezel.

He picked up his iPhone 6 and pressed the home button. “The whole of the display comes on,” he said. “That, to me, feels very, very old.” (The iPhone 6 reached stores two weeks later.) He went on to explain that an Apple Watch uses a new display technology whose blacks are blacker than those in an iPhone’s L.E.D. display. This makes it easier to mask the point where, beneath a glass surface, a display ends and its frame begins. An Apple Watch jellyfish swims in deep space, and becomes, Ive said, as much an attribute of the watch as an image. On a current iPhone screen, a jellyfish would be pinned against dark gray, and framed in black, and, Ive said, have “much less magic.”

So, Jony says the iPhone 6 display feels "very old", that deeper blacks (read OLED) makes it harder to distinguish where the casing and screen meet. He also uses the example of the jellyfish background introduced with Apple Watch to further explicate his point.

This says to me that Apple wants to part from the current display tech of iPhones real soon.

The next iPhone, according to rumors, will have a darker shade of the Space Gray casing. Could it be that OLED was indeed planned to be included in the iPhone 6s; to merge the point of contact between display and case, but to be ultimately scrapped during R&D?

Now, most of us have seen the leaked photo of the white iPhone 6s box with the fish background. If this leak turns out to be true the ocean seems to be a recurring theme now. Could it be that deep sea fish was initially intended for the marketing of the 6s, similar to the Apple Watch, but was switched to shallow water fish and white color as the blacks did not match their vision?

EDIT: Corrected a misleading wording error (Human, durr).

 

[Bbqthis]

So we have confirmation that we won't see a shift in display tech this generation. However, future updates is something we can still speculate on. So here I go! This article on 9TO5Mac really caught my interest, and I'll paraphrase:



So, Jony says the iPhone 6 display feels "very" old, that deeper blacks (read OLED) makes it harder to distinguish where the casing and screen meet. He also uses the example of the jellyfish background introduced with Apple Watch to further explicate his point.

This says to me that Apple wants to part from the current display tech of iPhones real soon.

The next iPhone, according to leaks, will have a darker shade of the Space Gray casing. Could it be that OLED was indeed planned to be included in the iPhone 6s; to merge the point point of contact between display and case, but to be ultimately scrapped during R&D?

Now, we have all seen the leaked photo of the white iPhone 6s with the fish background. If this leak turns out to be true the ocean seems to be a recurring theme. Could it be that deep sea fish was initially intended for the marketing, similar to the Apple Watch, but was switched to shallow water fish and white color as the blacks did not match their vision?

Source for the 'darker space gray' claims?

 

[samsveds]

Source for the 'darker space gray' claims?

There's no source for that I'm afraid, I should've worded that better. I based it of a rumor that the iPhone will get a darker Space Gray same as the recent iPod Touch. I thought that it was a safe assumption to make as Apple like to keep their design consistent across their products.

I'll correct that on the previous post.

 

[The Leafs Fan]

That's what these forums said about Touch ID as well

Well personally I remember thinking a fingerprint scanner was a great idea when it was rumoured for the 5s. Force Touch however, while a good feature to have, isn't immediately noticeable to the user and can only be used in certain situations. For the 4s, the mass public (not MacRumours users ha) thought "Wow, that looks cool, I could use a digital assistant" and bought it in droves. For the 5s, people thought "Finally, I don't have to remember those f@&$ing passwords" and also bought it in droves. For the 6s, I really can't see people thinking "Thank God, now I don't have use the back button." I just don't see it living up to the hype of the iPhone 6.

/end of rant

 

[scapegoat81]

Well personally I remember thinking a fingerprint scanner was a great idea when it was rumoured for the 5s. Force Touch however, while a good feature to have, isn't immediately noticeable to the user and can only be used in certain situations. For the 4s, the mass public (not MacRumours users ha) thought "Wow, that looks cool, I could use a digital assistant" and bought it in droves. For the 5s, people thought "Finally, I don't have to remember those f@&$ing passwords" and also bought it in droves. For the 6s, I really can't see people thinking "Thank God, now I don't have use the back button." I just don't see it living up to the hype of the iPhone 6.

/end of rant

It's gonna be interesting to see how they actually implement it. I can see it being extremely useful for speeding things up in general. Quicker way to copy & paste for starters

 

[Knowimagination]

Can we remove all the seemingly factual statements about this not being true so I can go back to being hopeful/looking forward to this?

After test driving a note 5 I am ready for the iPhone to step up their screen tech and this sounded really good. I still want to believe.

 

[dampfnudel]

It's gonna be interesting to see how they actually implement it. I can see it being extremely useful for speeding things up in general. Quicker way to copy & paste for starters

So far all of the devices released/announced that have Force Touch share one other thing in common: OLED. Some of us had assumed this was because OLED displays were more flexible and the current LCD might have issues. Of course we won't know for sure until people begin testing it and perhaps a few months go by. I just hope Apple doesn't release an iPhone with a display that may not be the best match for Force Touch. This LCD must be somewhat different. I'm a little disappointed, and really hope that at least all of the other rumors are true and that the LCD, if that's what it is, can handle the extra pressure...literally. That's what will be interesting to me.

 

[dampfnudel]

Well that sucks. The 6s won't really have a huge defining feature, force touch is more of a gimmick than anything.

Well, the 12MP camera could turn out to be the true defining feature of the 6s if we don't get a "two-punch combo" of Force Touch and mLED. Maybe some people will disagree and say it's the 2GB of RAM and of course those people would probably be regular visitors to MR. It would've been nice to get the trifecta.

 

[Truefan31]

Well, the 12MP camera could turn out to be the true defining feature of the 6s if we don't get a "two-punch combo" of Force Touch and mLED. Maybe some people will disagree and say it's the 2GB of RAM and of course those people would probably be regular visitors to MR. It would've been nice to get the trifecta.

Honestly ram is never mentioned by Apple so I wouldn't call that a defining feature.

I really hope force touch becomes more than a gimmick on the iPhone. It seems to be the biggest rumored feature. Touch ID was a great reason to get the 5s so I expect a similarly compelling reason to get the 6s.

I've thought that oled or mled would come to the iPhone 7. New, more efficient displays to be able to go up in resolution while preserving battery life. Maybe a 1080p 7 and a 1440 7 plus. Based on rumors of Apple going back to glass on glass vs in cell, it'd support the theory of the resolution bump for the 7.

 

[MarcoCapa]

I have asked sonny dickson on twitter about the display type on 6s

 

[scapegoat81]

So far all of the devices released/announced that have Force Touch share one other thing in common: OLED. Some of us had assumed this was because OLED displays were more flexible and the current LCD might have issues. Of course we won't know for sure until people begin testing it and perhaps a few months go by. I just hope Apple doesn't release an iPhone with a display that may not be the best match for Force Touch. This LCD must be somewhat different. I'm a little disappointed, and really hope that at least all of the other rumors are true and that the LCD, if that's what it is, can handle the extra pressure...literally. That's what will be interesting to me.

Agree 100%