The latest rumors are saying that major players in the display industry are wooing Apple to adopt a flexible screen display in its future iPhone devices.
The idea may have been based on the fact that Apple is seriously considering on equipping its flagship product lineup with an OLED (organic light-emitting diode) screen display which can bring improvements to certain key issues such as brightness, color saturation and accuracy. OLEDs, as compared to LEDs and LCDs, are said to provide crisper and brighter displays on devices and are also less power-consuming.
Though OLED has several advantages over LEDs and LCDs, it is in fact more expensive to manufacture. Switching to such display type may require Apple to do a thorough studying on the cost and benefits involved in the implementation.
If Apple would indeed adopt the OLED flexible screen technology, there's no doubt that the move will create a huge market as it will be a totally new feature in the company's flagship devices.
It should be noted that Apple CEO Tim Cook himself is not a fan of OLED displays.
"If you ever buy anything online and really want to know what the color is, as many people do, you should really think twice before you depend on the color from an OLED display," said Cook.
He added that Apple's Retina Display delivers a superior experience and that it is twice as bright. He also believes that they have the best display that the industry can offer.
At present, Apple places the OLED flexible display technology to the Apple Watch wherein the panels are being supplied by the display departments of LG and Samsung. Judging on the designs of the Apple Watch, a flexible display should be expected if one needs his wearable to not only have good specs and features but also have unique form factor and consumer appeal.
Another reason that may have contributed to the rumor is the fact that Apple had reportedly earned a patent for a smartphone with curved display. According to Apple, "creating a curved screen would involve placing the layers onto a flat surface. The whole structure could be heated and curved as a single entity. Current methods involve heating just the screen meaning it has to be heated at lower temperatures for longer, to avoid the screen becoming damaged."
Some of the curved phones that are available in the market today include the LG G Flex and the Samsung Galaxy Round.
Apple may just come up with its first curved iPhone by 2018. As one source has said, "[i]t is very likely that the first flexible iPhone may be introduced in 2018, as Apple's top-tier display suppliers are working on it."
