LG Display Could Supply OLED Displays for This Year's 'iPhone X Plus'

LG Display saw its shares surge to a one-month high on Wednesday following a report that the company will begin supplying OLED panels to Apple's new range of iPhones this year (via Financial Times).

LG's stock rallied on an Electronic Times report that the South Korean firm would make over 15 million OLED panels for Apple's 2018 range of iPhones. LG is already a supplier of LCD panels, currently used in the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, but Samsung dominates supply of OLED displays for Apple's flagship iPhone X. Indeed, last week LG Display revealed in a regulatory filing that it didn't supply any of the OLED panels currently used in the iPhone X.

iphone x plus idrop

iPhone X Plus mockup by Benjamin Geskin via iDrop News

However, that could change this year, since Apple is expected to launch two new 5.8-inch and 6.5-inch iPhone models with OLED displays in 2018. According to today's report, LG Display will supply Apple with the 6.5-inch OLED panels, while Samsung will supply the 5.8-inch or 6-inch OLED panels.

Reports have been trickling out since July 2017 that Apple has invested billions of dollars in LG's OLED production capability for smartphones, but the fruits of its investment were thought to be some ways off. LG was initially reported to have secured 45,000 panels per month for future iPhones from 2019, while as recently as September it was suggested that Apple would have to wait until at least next year before it could move beyond Samsung for significant supplies of OLED panels. However, Wednesday's report suggests LG could secure its position as the number two supplier of OLED screens for Apple's iPhones as early as the second half of 2018. LG is said to be planning to mass-produce the panels for Apple at its Gen 6 flexible OLED production line located in Paju, South Korea.

LG came in for scrutiny recently after it emerged that the firm supplied Google with the Pixel 2 XL's OLED displays, some of which were reportedly prone to screen burn-in or image retention issues. It remains unclear whether the problems stemmed from LG or other factors were involved, although the smaller Pixel 2 and original Pixel phones – both with Samsung-supplied OLED displays – have experienced far fewer issues. It's also worth noting that Apple says OLED displays can show "slight visual changes" after extended long-term use and minor screen burn-in is considered normal.

The new iPhone X and iPhone X Plus will likely launch around the usual timeframe of September to October, potentially alongside a new 6.1-inch mid-range model with an LCD display.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Thumb 1

iPhone SE 4 With Apple's Own 5G Modem 'Confirmed' to Launch in March

Tuesday November 19, 2024 12:12 pm PST by
Barclays analyst Tom O'Malley and his colleagues recently traveled to Asia to meet with various electronics manufacturers and suppliers. In a research note this week, outlining key takeaways from the trip, the analysts said they have "confirmed" that a fourth-generation iPhone SE with an Apple-designed 5G modem is slated to launch towards the end of the first quarter next year. In line with previo...
airtag purple

AirTag 2 Rumored to Launch Next Year With These New Features

Sunday November 17, 2024 5:18 am PST by
Apple released the AirTag in April 2021, so it is now three over and a half years old. While the AirTag has not received any hardware updates since then, a new version of the item tracking accessory is rumored to be in development. Below, we recap rumors about a second-generation AirTag. Timing Apple is aiming to release a new AirTag in mid-2025, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman....
Magic Mouse Next to Keyboard

No, Apple CEO Tim Cook Didn't Say He Prefers Logitech's MX Master 3 Over the Magic Mouse

Sunday November 17, 2024 3:03 pm PST by
While the Logitech MX Master 3 is a terrific mouse for the Mac, reports claiming that Apple CEO Tim Cook prefers that mouse over the Magic Mouse are false. The Wall Street Journal last month published an interview with Cook, in which he said he uses every Apple product every day. Soon after, The Verge's Wes Davis attempted to replicate using every Apple product in a single day. During that...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Real Mock

Apple Releases iOS 18.1.1 and iPadOS 18.1.1 With Security Fixes

Tuesday November 19, 2024 10:10 am PST by
Apple today released iOS 18.1.1 and iPadOS 18.1.1, minor updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating systems that debuted earlier in September. iOS 18.1.1 and iPadOS 18.1.1 come three weeks after the launch of iOS 18.1. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. Apple has also released iOS 17.7.2 for...
at t turbo indicator iphone 16 pro max v0 8hrh7w5f3w1e1

AT&T Turbo Indicator Showing Up in iPhone Status Bar for Subscribers

Wednesday November 20, 2024 3:42 am PST by
AT&T has begun displaying "Turbo" in the iPhone carrier label for customers subscribed to its premium network prioritization service, according to reports on Reddit. The new indicator seems to have started appearing after users updated to iOS 18.1.1, but that could be just coincidence. Image credit: Reddit user No_Highlight7476 The Turbo feature provides enhanced network performance through ...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature Single Camera 1 Redux

'iPhone 17 Air' Rumored to Surpass iPhone 6 as Thinnest iPhone Ever

Monday November 18, 2024 1:07 pm PST by
In a research note with Hong Kong-based investment bank Haitong today, obtained by MacRumors, Apple analyst Jeff Pu said he agrees with a recent rumor claiming that the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" will be around 6mm thick. "We agreed with the recent chatter of an 6mm thickness ultra-slim design of the iPhone 17 Slim model," he wrote. If that measurement proves to be accurate, there would be ...
bug security vulnerability issue fix larry

Make Sure to Update: iOS 18.1.1 and macOS Sequoia 15.1.1 Fix Actively Exploited Vulnerabilities

Tuesday November 19, 2024 10:52 am PST by
The iOS 18.1.1, iPadOS 18.1.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1.1 updates that Apple released today address JavaScriptCore and WebKit vulnerabilities that Apple says have been actively exploited on some devices. With the JavaScriptCore vulnerability, processing maliciously crafted web content could lead to arbitrary code execution. The WebKit vulnerability had the same issue with maliciously crafted...

Top Rated Comments

Quu Avatar
90 months ago
LG make great TV panels but their phone OLED's have not got a good reputation at all.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nviz22 Avatar
90 months ago
Seeing as LG had issues with the Pixel XL 2 and V30? Not too confident as a consumer.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
5105973 Avatar
90 months ago
Google had also made a heavy investment in LG. Some of their display issues had to with how they calibrated the display. But the quality of the panels themselves has been, shall we say, not up to the standard people have been used to from seeing Samsung’s best on the market for the last three years.

The blue shift was really strong on most of the ones I’ve seen, including the one my husband had.

It’s been interesting comparing the Samsung made panels between my iPhone X and that of my husband’s X. They look completely different and have very different characteristics. My display had pure blinding whites with a slight pink cast and no blue shift when tilting the display off axis. My husband’s X has pretty strong blue shift that lends a teal color to the display off axis. But his whites are less harsh and look almost like the soft whites of an e-ink reader.

I am returning my X because reading text on it just kills my eyes after a few minutes. The flicker from pulse width modulation doesn’t affect everyone, but for a few of us it makes the text appear to jitter enough it’s hard to focus on. Still, I can put up with it if the whites of my display weren’t so harsh. Even on the low brightness settings theres a glare like looking at snow in sunlight. I’ll take my husband’s X when he’s ready to pass it down.

I’ve always known since owning my first Samsung phone that there was a variance in the looks and quality of the OLED displays even by the same manufacturer. But this was the biggest variance I’ve seen so far.

I was planning on staying with my IPhone 7 Plus, but if the future is as it is being rumored, I might trade it in for a IPhone 8 Plus to buy myself a little more time with iOS and a really good LCD panel.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Xgm541 Avatar
90 months ago
Is LG better than Samsung?

Samsung does produce very good panels.
Previous years have shown that they're not better. Queue "is my phone Samsung or LG" posts when the new phone drops.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
otternonsense Avatar
90 months ago
Be it LG or Samsung, I instantly lose interest as soon as I see that notch :(
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RamalTheCamel Avatar
90 months ago
Pixel 2 XL V2 incoming...
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)