Apple may just be going all in with OLED iPhones come 2019.
A supply chain report published by Nikkei said that Apple plans to make all of its iPhones with an OLED screen by 2019. Apple was believed to be preparing to adopt OLED panels for 60 million units of the “iPhone 8” in 2017, and then the company would double the adoption of OLED panels in 2018 before wholly transitioning to OLED-only iPhones in 2019.
Per two industry sources, the timeline has been bumped up a bit, as Apple is planning to use OLED displays “in all new iPhone models launched from the second half of 2018.”
One of the sources stated that Apple is “tentatively” looking to introduce three new iPhone models in 2018, each one using an OLED display. This compares to the three iPhone models arriving in 2017, two of which are expected to still use LCD screens and one of which will be the first iPhone to transition to OLED, the so-called iPhone 8.
A source stated that Apple has already begun designing its iPhones for 2018, albeit the plans are “subject to change” depending on factors such as the market, available component quality and suppliers.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.