Japan Display Planning Mass Production of OLED Displays for iPhones in Early 2018

iPhone-trioApple supplier Japan Display plans to begin mass production of OLED displays for future iPhones in spring 2018, according to Japanese website Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun [Google Translate] (via GforGames).

Japan Display executives are reportedly in negotiations with Apple about securing OLED orders for future iPhones, in an effort to compete with existing OLED panel suppliers Samsung Electronics and LG Display.

Japan Display, a joint venture formed in 2012 by Hitachi, Sony and Toshiba, is one of two major LCD display suppliers for current iPhones alongside rival Japanese company Sharp. Apple has used LCD panels for iPhones since the original model launched in 2007.

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported last month that iPhones are unlikely to have OLED displays for at least the next three years, and Japanese website Nikkei confirmed that Apple plans to switch to OLED displays for iPhones starting in 2018. Apple may continue to offer some iPhone models with LCD displays to fulfill demand.

OLED displays can provide sharper images, better color accuracy and brighter colors compared to LCD displays, but the technology generally has a shorter lifespan and higher manufacturing costs. Samsung's popular Galaxy-branded smartphones are equipped with AMOLED displays, as is the Apple Watch.

Should these supply chain rumors prove true, the so-called "iPhone 8" could be released in late 2018 as Apple's first smartphone equipped with an OLED display, based on the company's current naming and release cycle.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Render Front Page Tech

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. iPhone 17 Pro's alleged design via Front Page Tech Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone...
iCloud General Feature Redux

iPhone Users Who Pay for iCloud Storage Receive a New Perk

Thursday March 20, 2025 12:01 am PDT by
If you pay for iCloud storage on your iPhone, Apple has a new perk for you, at no additional cost. The new perk is the ability to create invitations in the Apple Invites app for the iPhone, which launched in the App Store last month. In the Apple Invites app, iCloud+ subscribers can create invitations for any occasion, such as birthday parties, graduations, baby showers, and more. Anyone ...
Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock

iOS 19 Coming in June With These New Features

Thursday March 20, 2025 2:04 pm PDT by
While the first iOS 19 beta is still more than two months away, there are already plenty of rumors about the upcoming software update. Below, we recap the key iOS 19 rumors so far. visionOS-Like Design In January, the YouTube channel Front Page Tech revealed a redesigned Camera app that is allegedly planned for iOS 19. According to Front Page Tech host Jon Prosser, the Camera app...
iOS 18

Top 5 New Features Coming in iOS 18.4

Friday March 21, 2025 3:26 pm PDT by
We're not getting new Siri Apple Intelligence features in iOS 18.4 as expected, but the upcoming update does have quite a few new additions that will be worth upgrading for. We've rounded up the five best features to look forward to, and if you're not running the beta, you can expect to get access to these in early April. Priority Notifications If you have an iPhone or iPad that supports...
Generic iOS 18

Apple Seeds iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 Release Candidate With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music and More

Monday March 24, 2025 10:07 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 updates to developers for testing purposes, with the software coming a week after Apple released the fourth betas. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software Update. With iOS 18.4, Apple is adding the Priority Notifications...
airpods max 2024 colors

Don't Buy Into Apple's Hype About AirPods Max Gaining Lossless Audio

Monday March 24, 2025 4:24 pm PDT by
Apple today announced that AirPods Max with a USB-C port will be gaining support for lossless audio and ultra-low latency audio with a firmware update next month, alongside the release of iOS 18.4, iPadOS 18.4, and macOS 15.4. For context, audio files are typically compressed to keep file sizes smaller. There are lossy compression standards like MP3, and Apple's own Advanced Audio Codec...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Iridescent Search

Foldable iPhone Expected to Launch Next Year, Costing Around $2,000

Monday March 24, 2025 3:43 am PDT by
Apple will launch its long-rumored foldable iPhone next year with a ~$2,000 premium price tag attached, expects well-connected Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman. Gurman's comments on Apple's launch plans for its first foldable device appeared in the Q&A section of his latest Power On newsletter. Earlier this month, the reporter said Apple's foldable iPhone could be arriving "as early as 2026,"...

Top Rated Comments

J. Jizzle Avatar
121 months ago
By the time iPhones get OLED displays there will already be a new screen technology out other manufacturers will be using...
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dannyyankou Avatar
121 months ago
"Apple is playing catchup"
"LCD is good enough!"
"That's too long to wait"
"Steve Jobs wouldn't let this happen"

This should cover most of the comments in this thread.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iPhysicist Avatar
121 months ago
3 years in technology is like 20 human years for a dog. It's of no interest what will be by then.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
melgross Avatar
121 months ago
AMOLED displays don't have brighter colors unless they're not calibrated. They are less efficient than LCD displays under normal use. They do have a shorter lifetime, especially in the blue, but also in the green. They do have "burn-in".

They most certainly do NOT look sharper. In fact, in order for Samsung's SAMOLED displays to look AS sharp. They need 33% higher resolution, which is why their displays have such a high resolution. The reason for that is because AMOLED displays are significantly less bright, and so they add an extra green site to the pixel, making the pixel bigger. Complaints have been that their displays look coarse and grainy. Raising the resolution eliminates that problem, but leads to another one. Now they need a GPU with 33% more power, and greater battery use to make up for the larger number of pixels.

Hopefully, if Apple does go this route, in 2018, the displays they use will have solved these problems. The only advantage to using an AMOLED display right now is the greater blacks and the fact that it's thinner. I'd hate to think that Apple is really mostly concerned with making the phones even thinner, while giving in to the other problems.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Lexdexia Avatar
121 months ago
How anyone can call the iPhone a flagship phone with its devastating inferior hardware is beyond me. OLED in 2018? And then most likely still only 1080P. Absolutely laughable. There's just no excuse for it at this price point. When looking for an OEM to push the industry and consumers into the future, Apple definitely will never be the one.
I have no idea what kind of future you're envisioning. I thought the future was about making life easier by taking highly advanced technology and making it so simple a kid could pick it up and use it. Not about selling people bleeding edge hardware that looks impressive on some spec sheet but seldom improve the user experience in any way.

Certainly, millions of people must find the outdated LCD display tech of the iPhone to be a worthwhile trade off compared to the competition. How else would you explain Samsung's plummeting smartphone influence?
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Michael Goff Avatar
121 months ago
How anyone can call the iPhone a flagship phone with its devastating inferior hardware is beyond me. OLED in 2018? And then most likely still only 1080P. Absolutely laughable. There's just no excuse for it at this price point. When looking for an OEM to push the industry and consumers into the future, Apple definitely will never be the one.
Resolution for the sake of resolution is pointless.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)