Curved Glass iPhones with Larger Screens in 2014
On the heels of Samsungs recent declaration of producing denser OLED screens for 2014 and 2015, rumors have surfaced about Apple using pressure sensitive curved displays on future releases of the iPhone. A curved screen means that Apple will probably be transferring from the current LED technology to OLED in the nest release.
This also means that Tim Cook, may be eating his words. Back in February the Apple CEO told Goldman Sachs that the the color saturation of OLED displays is “awful” and that users should really think twice before they depended on the color from an OLED display.
OLED technology is currently planned for use by Samsung and LG in the Galaxy Round and the LG Flex. Apple may be forced to make the change because the technology to produce OLED keeps glass from cracking when it is curved. Other signs that Apple will be making the jump to OLED is the iWatch, which rumors have as being produced with a plastic OLED screen in Taiwan.
Apple has been talking about larger screens for a while. Word has it that the upcoming iPhone models will have 4.7” and 5.5” screens. The new larger screen will throw Apple into the market of the phone-tablet hybrids, giving them their first phablet and improving their market share. Rumors have the new iphones with larger screens, and the curved screen technology, possibly hitting the market late in 2014.
The most interesting rumor circulating about the tech is that they are developing pressure sensitive screens that can distinguish between light and heavy touches. The touch sensitive screens are still under development which means that they probably won’t be seen on the market until at least 2015.
This would open a whole new world for application designers, giving them a whole new level of programming possibilities and open up the gaming world to touch screen units. Current touchscreen technology provides limited input options, variable touch sensitivity expands those options. This could be the direction that Apple is currently looking as the iOS7 includes support for game controllers.
Image courtesy of Martin Hajek