Apple has been trying to narrow the bezels on the iPhone every year and the company might announce an iPhone with zero bezels in the future. The Cupertino giant has reportedly asked its display partners— Samsung and LG —to develop bezel-free OLED display panels for future iPhone models. The iPhone 15 series comprising vanilla iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro, and iPhone 15 Pro Max models are expected to go official in September with slimmer bezels compared to its predecessors. The iPhone 15 Pro Max is said to come with bezels as thin as just 1.55mm. Additionally, multiple media reports suggest that iPhone 15 Pro could be delayed due to a hiccup with the screen production. However, as per a new report from Display Supply Chain Consultants, the LG display has solved the display woes.
According to a report by The Elec (in Korean), Apple is working on an iPhone with a bezel-less display. The company has requested Samsung and LG Display to develop flat OLED panels with zero bezels. Samsung and LG Display will have to upgrade the thin film encapsulation (TFE) and under-panel camera (UPC) technologies to eliminate bezels. The display suppliers also have to ensure antenna space. The Face ID sensors and cameras would be arranged under the display, the report suggests.
To achieve a bezel-less display, the outer film encapsulation of the product should be thinner than now, and the UPC should be made indistinguishable from the rest of the display to expand user immersion, said the report.
Samsung is using a bezel-less curved display for its flagship Galaxy S series handsets, but Apple is reportedly reluctant to follow technology and make a shift towards curved edges. The iPhone maker wants to stick to the current iconic design of its iPhone models. The curved screens are said to be more vulnerable to external shocks than flat panels.
Samsung Display and LG Display are reportedly developing organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) that remove all front display bezels (bezel-less) of the iPhone at Apple’s request. Apple is expected to make the front display bezel of the iPhone 15 models thinner. However, the ultimate goal is to make the bezel zero. The iPhone 15 Pro Max is expected to boast impressively thin bezels measuring just 1.55mm.
In addition, several reports last week claimed that iPhone 15 Pro models could hit the markets in short volume at the time of launch due to screen manufacturing issues. A latest release from Display Supply Chain Consultants contradicts this report saying the production woes are not impacting the supply of iPhone 15 Pro models. “Although several articles have reported that LGD was having technical issues for the narrower bezels on the iPhone 15 Pro models, our supply chain sources have noted that LGD has solved those issues,” DSCC said in a release on Monday.