Reports suggest that Apple is has ordered 70 million flexible Oled (Organic Light Emitting Diode) screens from Samsung for 2017.
Apple’s upcoming iPhone 8 is widely expected to feature a curved Oled display unit and as far as we’ve heard, Samsung seems to be the only supplier. Nikkei, which first reported this, also adds that Samsung is preparing to manufacture 95 million units for Apple, just in case.
Contracts with Apple earn Samsung big bucks, especially one that makes Samsung the sole supplier for Apple’s iPhone displays. Last year, Bloomberg has reported that Samsung was looking to invest around $9 billion in Samsung Display, the unit that will manufacture the iPhone’s displays.
A recent report in The Investor confirmed that Samsung was indeed making this investment. Considering the fact that Samsung commands 95 percent of the smartphone market, it’s not like Apple had a choice here. Samsung’s flagship A3 flexible Oled production plant is expected to ramp up production from 30,000-45,000 units a year to over 1,20,000 units a year.
The iPhone 8 is set to be an iPhone unlike any other. Meant to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the iPhone, Apple is apparently throwing everything it can into the project. We’ve heard that the device will feature a curved Oled True Tone display, that Apple will integrate a TouchID sensor under the front display unit, that the body will have an all-glass finish, that bezels will be non-existent and more.
We’ve also heard that it’ll be the most expensive iPhone ever made.
Given Samsung’s position, it has as much to gain from an expensive, sold-out iPhone as Apple.
Publish date: April 4, 2017 9:58 am| Modified date: April 4, 2017 9:58 am
If you thought wireless charging in smartphones was a new thing, you are mistaken as researchers have found a new method to power devices without connecting them to cords.
The new method developed by Disney Research, published in the journal PLOS ONE, for wirelessly transmitting power throughout a room enables users to charge electronic devices as seamlessly as they now connect to WiFi hotspots.
The researchers demonstrated their method, called quasistatic cavity resonance (QSCR), inside a specially built 16-by-16-foot room at their lab.
They safely generated near-field standing magnetic waves that filled the interior of the room, making it possible to power several cellphones, fans and lights simultaneously.
“This new innovative method will make it possible for electrical power to become as ubiquitous as WiFi,” said Alanson Sample, associate lab director and principal research scientist at Disney Research.
“This in turn could enable new applications for robots and other small mobile devices by eliminating the need to replace batteries and wires for charging,” added Sample.
According to Sample, wireless power transmission is a long-standing technological dream.
“In this work, we’ve demonstrated room-scale wireless power, but there’s no reason we couldn’t scale this down to the size of a toy chest or up to the size of a warehouse,” Sample noted.
The QSCR method involves inducing electrical currents in the metalised walls, floor and ceiling of a room, which in turn generate uniform magnetic fields that permeate the room’s interior.
This enables power to be transmitted efficiently to receiving coils that operate at the same resonant frequency as the magnetic fields.
The induced currents in the structure are channelled through discrete capacitors, which isolate potentially harmful electrical fields.
“Our simulations show we can transmit 1.9 kilowatts of power while meeting federal safety guidelines,” Chabalko said, adding that this was equivalent to simultaneously charging 320 smartphones.
While the rumour mill is literally overflowing with news about the upcoming iPhones (there’s 3 of them) this year, we aren’t sure as to where do all of these individual bits of information fit in. Adding to the mix is another leak from Taiwan, which hints that the new iPhone will make use of a forged stainless steel chassis.
The news comes from DigiTimes who’s sources come Apple’s supply line. The publication claims that Apple has made a big decision by sharing component orders between Foxconn and Jabil in order to get their hands on forged stainless steel chassis for an upcoming iPhone. The steel chassis would come from US-based supplier, Jabil and it would be sandwiched between the two sheets of reinforced glass.
Of course the idea does sound very familiar. Apple could be looking back at its design ideas from its earlier days for inspiration. We are talking about the old iPhone 4, which used a similar materials with a soft steel chassis sandwiched between two slabs of glass.
The difference here is that instead of milling the metal, Apple plans forge the metal alloy into the required chassis which would make the end result stronger and a lot lighter than its current series 7,000 aluminium backs on the iPhone 7.
More importantly, this would also make the process cheaper for Apple, bringing down the additional cost of CNC machining needed to cut through a block of aluminium (several times over). As the publication points out, quality control is also more stable with forging when compared to milling.
The added benefit here is that iPhone could also get slimmer.
The iPhone 7 and the 7 Plus made their debut just a few months back. Knowing the popularity of the smartphone, it doesn’t come as a surprise that speculations and rumoursfor the new iPhone have already begun. However the coming year will be quite important for the smartphone maker as 2017 marks the tenth anniversary of the iPhone.
According to a report, the company is testing more than 10 different prototypes for its next big smartphone. One of the rumoured prototypes that is being tested is allegedly using an OLED display without any bezels and could be curved like Samsung’s Galaxy S7 Edge. It could also feature wireless charging, a feature that has been long awaited on the smartphone.
Apple has its tick-tock cycle for naming the iPhone, so technically the new iPhone should be called the iPhone 7s and 7s Plus. However, a lot of contradictory reports suggest that Apple could jump it this time and announce the iPhone 8. It could also see a major design update since it will be ten years since the first iPhone was announced by Steve Jobs back in 2007.
New iPhones are usually announced in the first two weeks of September right before the holiday season. While there hasn’t been any hints about Apple breaking the tradition, so we can expect the annoucnement to be anytime during the first two weeks of September next year. It will be an anniversary special though, so Apple could completely choose a different date, maybe even June 29, the same day the first iPhone was released.
In terms of pricing, the iPhone has always been a premium product. Considering the Apple pricing mechanics, the new iPhone could take the pricing of the current generation while the 7 and 7 Plus could see a drop. This means that the pricing for the new iPhones could start at $649.
Apple products next year are likely to support 3D photography from their dual cameras, according to media reports. The stereoscopic imaging capabilities are the result of a joint effort between Apple and LG Innotek. LG has already put a 3D photography capable smartphone in the market, called the LG Optimus 3D P920.
The Korea Economic Daily cites a source who is aware of the developments as saying “Apple is now studying how to apply its 3D camera technology into LG Innotek’s smartphone camera.” LG Innotek is the exclusive supplier to the dual cameras in the current iPhone 7 Plus. 3D photographs can be viewed in a variety of ways, including head mounted displays or stereoscopic googles. A photo for each eye is needed to create 3D photos.
Last year, Apple acquired an Israeli camera company known as LinX Computational Imaging Limited. The company was developing technologies for dual camera modules in smartphones, that were capable of taking both 2D and 3D photos. Additional capabilities of the cameras included measuring the dimensions of objects and refocusing of photos after the image has been clicked. Refocusing of images after a shot is possible on some dual camera smartphones, such as the Huawei Honour 8.
It hasn’t even been a couple of months since the launch of the iPhone 7 / 7 Plus in India, but rumours of the upcoming iPhone 8 are coming in regularly. The latest report claims that the next iPhone may have a curved OLED display.
Nikkei Asian Review had already reported that the upcoming iPhone would be sporting an OLED display. President of display maker Sharp and another senior executive had hinted that iPhones would stop sporting the LTPS panel in favour of OLED screens.
Addressing students of the Tatung University, Sharp President Tai Jeng-wu said that he did not know if Apple OLED iPhones would be a hit, but if Apple does not transform itself on the hardware front, then there will be a sort of crisis. “We are now building a new [OLED] facility in Japan. We can make [OLED panels] in the US too. If our key customer demands us to manufacture in the US, is it possible for us not to do so?,” said Tai. Sharp makes the LTPS displays on iPhones.
Of the alleged three iPhone variants that are expected to come out next year, the 5.5-inch model will be the premium one. This model is not only expected to have an OLED display according to speculations, but rather a curved OLED display. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has also hinted at a curved OLED display on the upcoming iPhone.
Samsung uses OLED displays on its flagships – the S7 / S7 edge. The OLED displays offer a notably higher contrast ratios than the LCD display on an iPhone. The Samsung S7 edge also demonstrated the ability of OLED displays to be bent.
Apart from an OLED display, the Nikkei report also stated that the upcoming iPhone’s chassis would be similar to that seen on the iPhone 4 with a slab of glass on the back as well. Apple also plans to add in wireless charging on the next iPhone.
A number of reports suggest that the new iPhone will be called the iPhone 8 (rather than the expected iPhone 7s) and that it’ll feature an OLED screen and a bezel-less design.
There are also a great many rumours surrounding the new design, the chipset and even the charging mechanism. Here’s everything we’ve heard:
Design: A bezel-less iPhone
A number of rumours are pointing to three new iPhones in 2017. These rumours suggest that there will be a regular iPhone 8 and 8 Plus, and a special edition, premium iPhone 8 model.
The phones are expected to be redesigned completely, featuring a metal frame to house the components. This frame will apparently be embedded in an all-glass body.
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggests that the frames will be made of stainless steel and aluminium, and that only the premium model will have the stainless steel frame. Kuo also expects to see a bezel-less design for the iPhone 8.
An all-glass iPhone is intriguing, and considering the popularity of the JetBlack iPhone 7 (40-50 percent of pre-orders so far), the idea isn’t so far-fetched.
A source in Israel also spoke of the new iPhone as the iPhone 8 rather than the iPhone 7s. He also suggested that the new iPhone would be “different.”
Display: Enter OLED
A flexible OLED panel
The most fascinating rumour surrounding the new iPhone is the one that suggests Apple will use an edge-to-edge, curved, flexible OLED panel for the iPhone 8. Though Kuo does say that he expects the OLED panel to be available only on the premium iPhone.
Apple has reportedly signed an agreement with Samsung for the delivery of an estimated 40 million OLED panels, which will be supplemented by panels from the likes of LG and Sharp.
Vague rumours suggest that Apple is investing in a secretive Taiwanese lab that develops OLED panels and the company could be investing in an AMOLED panel manufacturer.
OLED is a great choice for a smartphone display because it offers almost perfect contrast ratios, is extremely thin (it doesn’t need a backlight) and can be flexible. It is also very energy-efficient (black pixels don’t consume power).
The downsides to OLED include a shorter lifespan and weakness to water damage. Considering that Apple is already using these panels in the Apple Watch and the fact that the Watch Series 2 is completely water resistant, this is not much of a concern.
Apple has reportedly been working on an integrated touch and display driver unit that is also expected to house all requisite sensors, including Touch ID.
Camera: OIS for all
With the iPhone 7, Apple introduced optical image stabilization (OIS) for the regular iPhone. It was a much needed feature that took it’s time getting to the smaller iPhone. The Plus model introduced a dual-camera system with a wide-angle and normal lens (Apple calls it telephoto, but it’s only a 56mm equivalent lens), but the latter lacks OIS.
While a new and “improved” camera is expected, no one is expecting much from the system other than OIS for the normal lens, says MacRumours.
Wireless charging, A11 SoC and more
Since Apple uses a sequential numbering scheme for its SoCs, the new iPhones will use an A11 chip. Some suggest that the chip will be built on 10nm manufacturing technology, which should further improve the efficiency of the chip. This should yield improved battery life as well as performance.
Apple has also shown a great deal of interest in wireless charging, particularly in WiTricity. The company is also apparently more interested in long-range wireless charging rather than the pad-based wireless charging that is currently popular.
With long-range charging, you’ll be able to use your phone in the vicinity of the wireless charger, without having to place it down on a wireless charging pad. This should also ameliorate that the lack of a headphone jack brings up. You’ll be able to charge your phone and listen to music simultaneously.
Since the iPhone 8 is expected to be an all-glass iPhone, there will be no place for Touch ID. In this scenario, Apple might place the Touch ID sensor and other sensors under the front glass panel, much like Xiaomi is doing in their Mi 5s.
Some rumours are also hinting at Apple’s interest in Xintac, a company that specialises in biometric security, iris scanning and related technology. While we don’t expect to see this technology in the iPhone 8, Kuo does suggest that it tech might make its way into the 2018 iPhone
An Apple employee has revealed that the company is developing iPhone 8 hardware at a facility in Israel. This employee also added that the employees at the Israeli facility work on all new Apple products.
This information was revealed to a Business Insider reporter in Israel. The Apple office in question is located in Herzliya, Israel, just 15km from Tel Aviv.
While the employee didn’t reveal much information on the devices being worked on, he apparently used the words “iPhone 8,” lending credence to rumours that Apple’s upcoming iPhone will be a radically redesigned iPhone 8 rather than an iPhone 7s.
Rumours suggest that the new iPhone will have an edge-to-edge screen with curved glass, a flexible OLED panel and that it will use an all-glass body rather than an aluminium one.
Business Insider reports that the employee solders components for Apple and that he revealed that the new iPhone will be “different” from existing iPhones. He also mentioned that the new iPhone will have a better camera and that nothing is assembled in Israel.
The reporter asked around and determined that employees at the Israeli facility work on the hardware side, “verifications, something like that.”
The facility reportedly works on the chipset, storage system and camera systems used by Apple’s iPhones. Tim Cook also claims that the facility is the second-largest research and development facility that is maintained by Apple.
