The current rumors are in and according to KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the new OLED iPhone will use a flexible display panel, which will likely allow it to curve around the sides of the main chassis. However, this makes it incompatible with the existing 3D Touch pressure sensors seen in the iPhone 6s and iPhone 7.
As a result, the next-gen iPhone will switch from a ‘FBCB sensor to a film sensor’, offering higher sensitivity and a wider range of 3D Touch pressure levels.
While OLED panels tend to be more fragile than LCD displays, Apple is said to be reinforcing the 3D Touch sensor with a metal structural part to offer additional support. The recently-published KGI note doesn’t state whether the support would be externally visible and it’s that that this will be an internal component.
Apple’s new flagship iPhone, currently being dubbed the ‘iPhone 8’, is expected to launch in the fall. Many sources indicate the device will be a major upgrade from the iPhone 7 with an all-new glass design, with an OLED display larger than a 7 Plus although some of the screen area will be wrapped around the sides of the device. It may also feature new Touch ID and facial recognition biometrics, wireless charging, enhanced waterproofing and other features.
Apple is also rumored to be developing two iterative updates to the current iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus handsets. These updates will provide minor external changes and upgraded chips for better performance. The company is also though to be readying three new iPhones for 2017: an iPhone 7s, iPhone 7s Plus and iPhone 8 with OLED screen and a radically-new form factor.
As always, time will tell as to which rumors are true and which ones are much-desired pipe dreams.
Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.
Via 9to5Mac