A few years ago, with the launch of the iPhone X in 2017, Apple added a notch on top of the screen and it has continued so far, with the recently launched iPhone 13 models also featuring a notch. But the company is now expected to change that with upcoming phones.
If the new report coming from The Elec is to be believed, which is based on the display suppliers, then the upcoming iPhone 14 series models with OLED displays could have a punch-hole cutout instead of a notch.
The report claims that Samsung has already started receiving machines from Philoptics and Wonik IPS for laser-cutting holes in the OLED panels.
It is being said that Apple has decided to get rid of the notch on the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max models as the company is confident about Samsung’s ability and expertise in hole punching for displays, which the South Korean giant has already been doing for years with the introduction of its own Galaxy S10 lineup.
If the report is true, the iPhone 14 Pro Max, featuring a 6.7-inch display with a punch-hole cutout could end up being the smartphone from Apple with the best screen-to-body ratio the company has ever designed.
The upcoming Apple iPhone 14 Pro models will be using Samsung’s HIAA (Hole-in-Active-Area) method which is said to be the most advanced OLED hole-punching technology so far. HIAA employs laser drilling between the OLED deposition and thin-film encapsulation (TFE) which is more challenging to do with Samsung‘s flexible OLED displays that use plastic instead of a glass substrate.
So far, Apple is dependent on Samsung Display for the OLED LTPO panels but LG is also reportedly working on the same but LG is yet to conduct trials that will determine if its production meets the needed quality and cost.
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