Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is rumored to be moving to OLED technology for its next generation iPhone 8 next year. That expectation has some people sitting out the iPhone 7. However, testing shows the new iPhone matches or breaks seven smartphone display performance records, including those previously held by devices using OLED.
Maybe there’s no need to wait after all?
And for that matter, should AAPL even bother with the effort of transitioning to OLED for its next new iPhone?
iPhone 7 Display Shatters Records
DisplayMate is a website with a well-deserved reputation for being the authority on display technology. Whether it’s a 4K TV or a smartphone, DisplayMate Technologies tests it thoroughly and provides a detailed performance analysis.
After testing AAPL’s new iPhones, DisplayMate published results showing the iPhone 7 either met or broke seven records for smartphone displays. Summing up the findings, the reviewer wrote:
“The iPhone 7 display is a Truly Impressive major enhancement and advancement on the iPhone 6 display… and even every other mobile LCD display that we have ever tested.”
The DisplayMate records the iPhone 7 met or set are:
- Highest absolute color accuracy
- Highest absolute luminance accuracy
- Accuracy of image contrast and intensity
- Highest contrast ratio for IPS LCD
- Lowest screen reflectance
- Highest contrast rating in high ambient light
- Smallest color variation with viewing angle
To put all that in plain English, the iPhone 7 display is as good as it gets right now for outdoors use (bright and with minimal reflection), the color is dead on, so what you see onscreen is true to life, and it looks great even when you view it from an angle.
Keep in mind, many of these records saw the new iPhone 7 beat out smartphones employing OLED technology for their displays.
Will Apple Still Switch to OLED (or AMOLED) in 2017?
Given that the Retina LCD display in the iPhone 7 is killing it, will AAPL still gamble on switching to OLED technology as predicted for next year’s iPhone 8?
The answer is yes.
While AAPL has been incredibly successful at squeezing impressive performance out of LED, it will be hitting a ceiling. Making a new iPhone with an LCD display that outshines the iPhone 7’s is going to be extremely difficult.
More importantly, OLED offers advantages that will be critical to the design of the next iPhone. With flexible OLED displays, a new iPhone 8 can offer the curves that Samsung (OTCMKTS:SSNLF) has been adding to its Galaxy phones. In addition, OLED is more power efficient than LCD and OLED displays are thinner. Considering the value AAPL puts on visual design, shaving fractions of an inch off its iPhones and optimizing CPUs to squeeze more battery life out of them, these factors alone make the transition to OLED a no-brainer.
In the meantime, consumers who purchase an iPhone 7 now will be getting one of the best smartphone displays on the planet — despite the fact that it’s using “outdated” technology.
As of this writing, Brad Moon did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
