Apple may drop its usual OLED display suppliers, Samsung and LG, for the forthcoming iPhone SE 4.
That’s the claim being put forward by The Elec, which has pegged Chinese supplier BOE (Beijing Oriental Electronics) as the likely source for the phone’s new OLED display.
BOE has apparently dropped the ball with its allotment of iPhone 15 panels for later in the year, and has now been tasked with supplying panels for Apple’s forthcoming affordable phone revamp.
Reports suggest that Apple is finally ready to move away from old LCD technology altogether with its smartphone family. The affordable iPhone SE 3 is the only phone in Apple’s six-strong line-up that doesn’t use an OLED display panel, but that could be set to change.
The fourth-generaton iPhone SE, which is set to launch next year, will apparently use up display inventory originally intended for the iPhone 13 and iPhone 14.
In other words, the iPhone SE 4 OLED will be the exact same 6.1-inch 1170 x 2532 panel, with the same 60Hz refresh rate, that we’ve been using for the past few years. That alone would make the iPhone SE 4 a major upgrade over all previous models.
Just a couple of weeks ago, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claimed Apple had changed its mind about abandoning the iPhone SE 4, and that it would launch an affordable option based on the iPhone 14 design in 2024.
Not only that, but Apple will apparently adopt an in-house 5G baseband chip for the project. It’s all part of Apple’s effort to lessen its reliance on third-party component suppliers, in this case Qualcomm.
Apple bought Intel’s mobile modem division back in 2019, so is well placed to bring all such chip design for its phones in-house.
All in all, the iPhone SE 4 is shaping up to be one of Apple’s most interesting phones of recent years. Stay tuned for more.
