Apple has reportedly asked its display panel suppliers – LG Display and Samsung Display – to begin developing bezel-less OLED displays with the aim of including them on future iPhone models, according to a machine-translated report from The Elec.
According to the report, the technology is still in its infancy and will require a prolonged period of time before it can be reliably mass-produced. LG Display and Samsung Display will be required to greatly improve several technologies before they can achieve a bezel-less iPhone display, including thin film encapsulation (TFE), under-panel camera (UPC), and fitting wireless antenna components in a tighter space.
The report goes on to attest that Apple’s ultimate display goal for the iPhone is a bezel-less OLED display that is also flat, indicating that the company doesn’t have any plans to release an iPhone with an outwardly-curved display anytime soon. Apple is seemingly “reluctant” to adopt a curved display on future iPhones over optical clarity concerns as well as durability concerns if the device is subject to accidental drops and shocks. A hypothetical bezel-less iPhone would still maintain an overall flat design just like current models, the report adds.
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Current iPhones incorporate a number of circuits and some antenna parts beneath the display’s bezels, and a future bezel-less iPhone would require the circuits to be bent and tucked beneath the display itself, according to the report. Apple still needs to find a solution to fit antenna parts somehow, in addition to solving electromagnetic interference problems that would arise from densely packing many components together.
The iPhone 15 lineup’s thinner bezels are described as a “pre-step” for Apple and its suppliers in realizing the former’s goal of a bezel-less iPhone, adds the report. The Elec also makes a nod to LG Display’s recent struggle with assembling display panels for the iPhone 15 Pro, something that was reported by The Information last week and would severely limit stock for the upcoming iPhone once it launches.
iPhone display future roadmap
Reliable Twitter leaker Ice Universe humorously tweeted what the front design of a 20th-anniversary iPhone could look like if Apple and its suppliers can develop a bezel-less OLED display in time.
Recent rumors suggest that Apple is working on a number of features that would take iPhone displays to the next level. The company reportedly plans to launch an iPhone with under-display Face ID as soon as 2025, before switching to a completely all-screen iPhone by 2028. Apple also plans to bring over microLED technology to the iPhone in the not-so-near future, but today’s report hints that a bezel-less iPhone will materialize before the switch to microLED.
