There’s been a lot of talk recently about Apple possibly switching the iPhone’s display technology from LCD to OLED, or AMOLED, or perhaps something different, altogether.
And while the pressure is definitely mounting for the company to adopt some sort of change — even if just to enhance the viability of future iPhones in the increasingly competitive mobile market, we thought it’d at least be appropriate, if not informative, to compare and contrast the main differences between what Apple’s baby currently offers, and what’s been rumored to be just over the imminent horizon.
Before we get started, let’s do a quick recap on the technology powering both displays. AMOLED, for starters, stands for Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode (LED). Pixels of an AMOLED display utilize individual electrical currents to stimulate light, and therefore, pixels that aren’t simulated remain pitch black. This is why AMOLED displays are notorious for their deep blacks, and easier sunlight legibility when reading.
Alternatively, as is currently employed by the company in it’s iPhones and iPads, IPS LCD — In-Plane Switched, Liquid Crystal Displays — rely on a backlight (typically a thin line of white LED light, located at the corner of the unit) to project light across the entire display.
To date, AMOLED displays have typically been used in some high-end Samsung, Nokia, and Microsoft Lumia handsets — all of which are known for their darker themes and richly saturated color schemes. Alternatively, IPS-LCD screens have largely been used by Apple, in addition to other manufacturers, often on devices featuring brighter, more colorful and animated themes.
There are, of course, several pros and cons to each technology. And so we’ve gone to the liberty of laying out the statistics in comprehensive lists as outlined below.
AMOLED Advantages:
- Significantly less battery power is used when displaying a darker theme — for example, an interface featuring white text with a black background.
- ‘The blackest that black can get!’ — displays boast impressive showings of black themes, especially when playing media.
- ‘Always-on’ displays provide time, date and notifications in vivid detail, because the display only lights-up certain pixels — which is what makes AMOLED technology so power efficient.
- Thinner displays, since no layer of backlighting is required.
- Have the power to “flex” — as evidenced, at the moment, in Samsung’s top-tier Galaxy Edge phones.
AMOLED Disadvantages:
- Uses A LOT more power when displaying a white-theme. (In practice, that constitutes almost all web content, as well as most of iOS’ default interface) — which is something Apple will just have to keep in mind if it’s considering the jump.
- Based on a “pentile” layout at higher resolutions, which causes the device to display fuzzy text — if you look close enough. (In practice, if the screen resolution is set high enough, then this ‘fuzziness’ of which we speak is beyond the limits of human eyesight.)
- If certain UI elements stay on screen for long periods of time — for example, top-of-the-screen status bars — that area of the display tends to ‘burn-in’ much faster — which is essentially due to natural deterioration of the organic polymers utilized by AMOLED
- Brightness tends to reduce as the device ages; again, due to the deterioration of organic polymers.
- Manufacturing costs! AMOLED display panels tend to run on the more expensive side of the spectrum, when compared to their LCD
LCD Advantages:
- Drain on battery doesn’t vary wildly according to the theme of displayed content, which is good news for iOS — and for the internet, and most other services, generally speaking.
- Whiter whites, and overall, just a more accurate balance of colors. (Whites are a piece of cake for LCD, primarily in light of the fact that white is the natural hue of the backlight
- Crisper, more authentic display of colors at any given resolution, primarily due to the RGB (Red/Green/Blue) color matrix.
- ‘Burn-In’ is substantially slower, and generally exceeds even the life of the device, itself.
- Brightness stays constant over the course of many years (Dimming, for instance, would take well over a decade of regular use!)
- As opposed to AMOLED, LCD panels tend to be cheaper to manufacture — especially in large quantities.
LCD Disadvantages:
- Quick glance and/or Always-on screen elements are either not practical, or have to be backed by an ominous ‘glow’ — especially, for instance, when viewed in the dead of night.
- Display has to be thicker due to the need for a backlight panel.
In Conclusion: AMOLED or LCD for iPhone?
Well, as you can see, it’s pretty clear that both display technologies have their fair share of advantages AND disadvantages, respectively. However, in my honest opinion, one needs only to consider the facts in order to ascertain what might be the best move for Apple moving forward.
With the release of the company’s 3D Touch feature on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus, it’d be quite difficult to ‘think thin’ — insofar as display thickness is concerned, at least, which would more than likely prove to be a problem when tossing around the idea of AMOLED. Additionally, Apple needs to consider — and it likely has, already — the longevity of the iPhone.
LCD, all variables not withstanding, can last up to five, or even 6 times longer than AMOLED, which makes for a pressing case, since the company is known for selling long-lasting, time-tested tech — although at a price, as always, you get what you’re paying for!
So if we take just those two, key variables into consideration, it’s almost plain as day that Apple probably isn’t going to make the switch to AMOLED anytime soon.
In fact, given the company’s market cap, it’s reasonable to assume they’d sooner develop an all-new technology of their very own. And let’s face the facts here — it’s not like the Silicon Valley tech-giant hasn’t suggested it has some ideas in the works, already, right?
So perhaps it’s only a matter of time until we see the fruits of Apple’s technological prowess at work; after all, with the tech-market evolving at it’s current pace, I think they’d have to do something (sooner or later) just to stay ahead of the constantly bending curve.
Learn More: iPhone 7 Rumor Round-Up: Here’s What We Expect from the Next iPhone