The next iPhone will have a foldable screen.
New reports say Apple has tasked LG to create a foldable display for the iPhone that could debut as early as 2020, which would further increase its rivalry with Samsung, another company dabbling in foldable smartphone technology.
Apple Is Developing A Foldable iPhone With The Help Of LG
That's according to The Bell, a news outlet in Korea, as translated by The Investor. A foldable phone would be another massive design overhaul for the iPhone, the latest iteration of which, the iPhone X, represents the biggest iPhone design switch in years. The iPhone X, like many others in the market, is an all-screen, no-home button, notch-wielding device with dual cameras and wireless charging. It will cost $1,000 upon launch, an unprecedented starting price for a phone, Apple or non-Apple.
What makes it so expensive? Well, a couple of things, one of them being the display. Reports say Samsung is the sole supplier of OLED screens for the iPhone X because other companies, LG included, couldn't meet Apple's demand. So that means Samsung is charging as high as it wants to produce those screens, and Apple has no choice but to pay up.
This is exactly what the Cupertino, California-based tech firm is trying to prevent from occurring in the future again. It's investing in LG to do chiefly two things: increase and expedite OLED display production and diminish Samsung's monopoly in the business. Google is doing the same thing, having reportedly invested hundreds of millions of cash in LG as well.
Production of the foldable displays could start as soon as 2020, according to The Bell. But Samsung could unveil the first-ever foldable smartphone even before that year since it's rumored foldable "Galaxy X" phone has been popping up in rumor mills recently.
Samsung has been dabbling in foldable displays for years, and it'll be exciting to finally see the culmination of those experiments.
Because Apple and Samsung are two of the world's biggest manufacturers, every other smaller company would likely follow their lead, which means if they are indeed going to release their respective foldable phones, the smartphone design landscape is going to get a lot more interesting going forward.
Going Foldable Is More Than A Design Change
But for Apple, going for foldable displays is more than a design change — it's also a way for the company to distance itself from Samsung, which is technically its biggest rival but also the company it needs the most to create the iPhone X. That's a pretty dysfunctional relationship, all right.
Beyond the rumored production date, no other hints about Apple's foldable smartphone have surfaced. The same can be said for Samsung's own foldable phone as well. But right now it's already clear: prepare to see an onslaught of foldable devices very soon.
Thoughts about a foldable iPhone? Feel free to sound off in the comments section below!
