Apple will in 2017 for the first time use OLED display technology in an iPhone, according to Wall Street Journal. The report also claims that Apple will ditch the home button and switch to the USB-C connector.

An OLED display in iPhone
Apple has to date used LCD display technology in every version of the iPhone and has instead focused on improvements in resolution, color space, adaptive colors, and more. 2017 will reportedly be the year when Apple makes the switch to OLED technology.

Wall Street Journal reports that a special ”10th Anniversary Edition”, dubbed the “iPhone 8”, will be the only one to feature an OLED display. Two additional “iPhone 7S” models will continue to use LCD.

- ”Apple Inc. has decided to adopt a flexible display for one model of the new iPhone coming out this year and has ordered sufficient components to enable mass production, people familiar with the matter said,” Wall Street Journal wrote.

The anniversary iPhone will apparently cost upwards of $1000 dollars.


Samsung as the supplier
Samsung is believed to be the sole supplier of OLED displays for the new iPhone. The South Korean company is the only supplier that is capable of mass producing panels in the quantities that Apple demands.

Korea’s LG, Japan’s Japan Display, Taiwan’s Foxconn/Sharp and China’s BOE are currently ramping up production capacity in order to produce OLED panels for mobile devices. LG is already mass-producing OLED panels in TV formats as the sole company.

It is expected that an OLED-based iPhone will significantly ramp up industry capacity for OLED displays and thus accelerate the switch to the next-generation display technology.

An OLED display can reproduce perfect black and therefore very high contrast. It is a self-illuminating technology where each individual pixel generates light. The displays are incredibly thin and potentially very power efficient. Power consumption is a function of how large a portion of the picture that is bright, meaning that a black color on the screen consumes the least power. Some have speculated that, as a consequence, Apple will introduce a “dark mode” on iPhone, similar to the dark mode found on Apple TV.

Apple Watch was the first product from Apple to feature an OLED display. The watch is built on a dark user interface, which helps to improve battery life.

Wall Street Journal also claims that Apple will ditch the home button in favor of a touch zone at the bottom of the device, and that Apple will ditch the Lightning port in favor of USB-C. WSJ’s report did not cover the rumor that Apple will include true wireless charging (like WiFi).

Apple usually unveils new iPhones in autumn.

- Source: Wall Street Journal