Apple's New 2018 iPhone Line-up May Consist of Two Phones With LCD Displays and One Larger OLED Model, Claims Analyst

Apple could release just one new OLED-based iPhone alongside two new iPhone models with LCD displays this year, according to a new report today. Previous reports have gravitated towards the view that Apple will launch two new 5.8-inch and 6.5-inch OLED iPhone models and only one 6.1-inch model with an LCD display.

However, Digitimes Research senior analyst Luke Lin believes Apple is increasingly leaning towards releasing two LCD-based models – one between 5.7-inch and 5.8-inches, and another between 6.0-inches and 6.1-inches. Lin also claims the 6.1-inch OLED device Apple is testing is falling out of favor, and the company sees more of a future in a larger 6.4- to 6.5-inch OLED model it is also testing.

iphone x vs 8 compare

Apple originally intended to push the two OLED iPhones and the 6.0- to 6.1-inch LCD iPhone, but has recently started leaning toward the combination of the two LCD models plus the 6.4- to 6.5-inch OLED iPhone, abandoning the 6.0- to 6.1-inch OLED model.

Such a line-up would be similar to the iPhone range Apple launched last year: Two LCD-based devices in the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, and the OLED-based iPhone X. Lin believes the four iPhone projects Apple is working on all support wireless charging and 3D sensing functionalities. However, Lin believes Apple has not yet made a final decision on the combination, so the 2x OLED/ 1x LCD iPhone line-up predicted by KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo could still play out.

Taiwan-based website DigiTimes has a mixed track record at reporting on Apple's upcoming product plans, but its sources within the upstream supply chain have proven reliable in the past. However, its in-house research arm remains an unknown quantity, so we remain guarded on the accuracy of this prediction going forward.

Earlier this week, Taiwan's Commercial Times added to the speculation by claiming Apple's rumored 6.1-inch LCD iPhone will use Japan Display's so-called "Full Active" LCD technology, enabling it to have a taller display and ultra-slim 0.5mm bezels on all four sides, making them smaller than those on the iPhone X.

Also today, Digitimes analyst Lin claimed Apple is working on a new entry-level smartphone model similar to the iPhone SE that will support wireless charging and be ready for launch in May or June.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Plus Feature

iPhone 17 Lineup Specs Detail Display Upgrade and New High-End Model

Monday July 22, 2024 4:33 am PDT by
Key details about the overall specifications of the iPhone 17 lineup have been shared by the leaker known as "Ice Universe," clarifying several important aspects of next year's devices. Reports in recent months have converged in agreement that Apple will discontinue the "Plus" iPhone model in 2025 while introducing an all-new iPhone 17 "Slim" model as an even more high-end option sitting...
iPhone SE 4 Vertical Camera Feature

iPhone SE 4 Rumored to Use Same Rear Chassis as iPhone 16

Friday July 19, 2024 7:16 am PDT by
Apple will adopt the same rear chassis manufacturing process for the iPhone SE 4 that it is using for the upcoming standard iPhone 16, claims a new rumor coming out of China. According to the Weibo-based leaker "Fixed Focus Digital," the backplate manufacturing process for the iPhone SE 4 is "exactly the same" as the standard model in Apple's upcoming iPhone 16 lineup, which is expected to...
Apple TV Plus Feature 2 Magenta and Blue

Apple TV+ Curbs Costs After Expensive Projects Fail to Capture Viewers

Monday July 22, 2024 5:11 am PDT by
Apple is scaling back its Hollywood spending after investing over $20 billion in original programming with limited success, Bloomberg reports. This shift comes after the streaming service, which launched in 2019, struggled to capture a significant share of the market, accounting for only 0.2% of TV viewership in the U.S., compared to Netflix's 8%. Despite heavy investment, critical acclaim,...
iPhone 16 Pro Sizes Feature

iPhone 16 Series Is Just Two Months Away: Everything We Know

Monday July 15, 2024 4:44 am PDT by
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
iPhone 17 Plus Feature Purple

These 5 Features Will Make the iPhone 17 the Biggest Update in Years

Monday July 22, 2024 4:02 pm PDT by
The upcoming iPhone 16 models that we're expecting to see in September are going to be quite similar to the iPhone 15 models, but rumors suggest that Apple is making big changes in 2025. We've been hearing hints of an all-new device in the iPhone lineup, and it may be the most expensive iPhone Apple has offered to date. New 'Slim' Design Rumors have taken to referring to the new iPhone 17...
iPhone SE 4 Thumb 1

iPhone SE 4 Rumored to Launch Early Next Year With OLED Display, 48MP Camera, and More

Monday July 22, 2024 7:22 am PDT by
The fourth-generation iPhone SE will offer a series of major upgrades over the current model, the leaker known as "Ice Universe" claims. The information was listed in a post on Weibo, which also detailed the specifications of the iPhone 17 lineup. As previously rumored, the fourth-generation iPhone SE is expected to feature Face ID and USB-C, marking a major upgrade from current and previous ...
bsod

Microsoft Blames European Commission for Major Worldwide Outage

Monday July 22, 2024 11:55 am PDT by
Last Friday, a major CrowdStrike outage impacted PCs running Microsoft Windows, causing worldwide issues affecting airlines, retailers, banks, hospitals, rail networks, and more. Computers were stuck in continuous recovery loops, rendering them unusable. The failure was caused by an update to the CrowdStrike Falcon antivirus software that auto-installed on Windows 10 PCs, but Mac and Linux...

Top Rated Comments

christarp Avatar
85 months ago
Kind of wish they'd stop pulling the whole this size is slightly different in some areas.

Wish they'd just release 3 sizes of phones, with the same feature set and keep it simple. Instead you're thinking "hmm, well if I get the 4.7" model iPhone 8, I don't get the best camera, but if I get the iPhone 8 Plus, then I do, but not as great as the iPhone X"

I realize it's not practical, but apple is the king of making the impractical, practical.
Score: 28 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Someyoungguy Avatar
85 months ago
OK, we've covered 1 LCD, 2 OLED and now 1 OLED, 2 LCD. So we just need a couple more geniuses to predict 3 LCD, and 3 OLED.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MrGimper Avatar
85 months ago
So some phones will be released, with some sizes and some screens.

That's what we know.....
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
walnuts Avatar
85 months ago
I don’t buy a lot of this:


* There’s got to be a direct upgrade from current iPhone X to next gen iPhone X
* Just like the wild rumors of last summer about last minute changes to the iPhone lineup that ended up untrue, I believe the designs for iPhones for this fall were locked in last fall. The only way this is true is if it is old info from a few months ago.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
5105973 Avatar
85 months ago
After the visual and migraine difficulties I and some other MR forum members had with OLED on the X, I welcome any rumors that indicate Apple is not done with the very excellent LCD displays they’ve perfected in the last couple of generation of iPhones and iPads. (Well, as close to perfection as these things can get, anyway).

I know there are key advantages to OLED, and that for many people here it’s “OLED or bust”, but it is difficult for Samsung and other makers to get consistent quality yield. Those of us who have owned or seen several samples of the same model of Samsung phones or iPhone X, or even phones with LG OLED displays, have noted marked disparity among different samples in the following characteristics: brightness, color temperature, evenness of luminosity and hue across the display, and degree of off axis color shift.

There is a huge “display quality lottery” out there that a lot of people have yet to realize until they put their phone next to someone else’s. I think at this point it’s more pronounced than what we’ve seen in the variances among LCD displays. In the last couple of generations of iPhones there has been better consistency across samples.

And I don’t know about everyone else’s experiences, but for me, True Tone on the OLED is not a thing of beauty on all iPhone X’s.

It was an atrocious salmon pink on the one I returned. It was nice and worked well on my husband’s. Yet overall, my X had the brighter band more attractive display as long as True Tone was turned off.

I doubt the source of these rumors. But IF Apple is still committing resources to LCD, I would not blame them in the least nor think they are behind the times. The bleeding edge isn’t a comfortable place to be, yet.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JoeInMilwaukee Avatar
85 months ago
LCD display = liquid crystal display display = redundant
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)