Next iPhone to have thinner in-panel screen?

Will the next iPhone have a screen that is thinner and lighter than the OLED one in bitter rival Samsung's smartphones?

 

A report on The Wall Street Journal cited people familiar with the matter saying that the screen will use new so-called in-cell technology for the iPhone screen.

 

The WSJ report said Sharp, Japan Display Inc. and LG Display Co. are mass-producing panels for the next iPhone, with the new panels integrating touch sensors into the LCD.

 

Without a 0.5-mm touch sensor layer, the screen is thinner, and the display quality may improve, it quoted DisplaySearch analyst Hiroshi Hayase as saying.

 

Presently, the 4.8-inch OLED screen in Samsung's new Galaxy S III is thinner than the 4S, Apple's current iPhone.

 

OLED screens do not require backlighting, and tend to be thinner than conventional LCD panels.

 

On the other hand, the new technology would "scrap" the added layer and would simplify the supply chain and help cut costs.

 

Also, a thinner screen may mean make extra room for other components such as batteries or wireless hardware.

 

But the WSJ report noted in-cell touch screens are more difficult to manufacture, even as makers of conventional touch panels like Taiwan's Wintek Corp. and TPK Holding Co., which supplied the touch-panel layer for the present iPhone, no longer got orders for the next iPhone. — TJD, GMA News