While the rumor mill has been tirelessly working on the iPhone 8 launch later this year, the rumors related to the iPhone 9 have already started to make rounds of the cloud. A new report from Bell suggests that the Cupertino company is working on two different screen sizes for the 2018 iPhone 7: 5.28-inch and 6.46-inch.
Apple is said to have already signed a contract with its arch-rival Samsung to ensure the supplies for the relevant OLED panels as well. Almost 180 million units of these OLED panels in two different sizes are expected to be shipped by the Korean titan in 2018. In an effort to diversify its OLED supply chain, Apple has been looking for alternate OLED suppliers that can fulfill its requirements. If this new report from Bell is anything to go by, it looks like the Cupertino giant has not been successful in finding any company other than Samsung.
The report quotes an industry insider as saying: “The two companies have recently signed a non-disclosure agreement on general conditions, including the screen size. Other details such as screen design and functions could be adjusted considering the phone is still under development.”
Since Product development is all about iPhone 8 at the moment, the iPhone 9 is still in its early stage of the development process. This is why other aspects of the device are yet to be finalized.
This year, Apple is rumored to launch its first OLED iPhone as the iPhone 8 with a 5.8-inch display. Despite having a larger display, the iPhone 8 is said to be smaller than the 5.5-inch iPhone 7s, which will be launched alongside it later this year. The smaller form-factor for the iPhone 8 will be achieved with a bezel-less design and slightly curved display.
After introducing the same design over the last three consecutive years, launching an iPhone 8 with a different look and feel has become urgency for Apple. And then overhauling the complete iPhone lineup in 2018 and consolidating it by only offering two display sizes does also make sense. While the 5.28-inch and 6.46-inch display sizes might sound too big for normal hands, a bezel-less design will help in reducing the overall size of the device.
Since iPhone 9 is still in a distant future (about one and a half year away), and it is still at an early stage of development, it’s advised to take this report with a pinch of salt.
via [The Investor]