iPhone 8 Rumored to Ditch Curved Display

For months now we’ve been hearing reports about Apple’s transition to a curved-glass OLED display rumored to be manufactured by Samsung Display Co. The panel would have embodied that of Samsung’s own Galaxy S7 Edge — curving slightly around the edges of the device to promote a truly bezel-free aesthetic.

According to a report that was issued by one prominent analyst over the weekend, however, the massive 5.8-inch display destined for Apple’s uber-premium iPhone 8 apparently won’t come with a curved-edge, but rather a flat 2.5D panel — similar, albeit a tad larger — than that employed on the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.

“We anticipate Apple will adopt a flat implementation of OLED design on their special iPhone model, which is analogous to the current 2.5D glass design,” said IHS Markit analyst, Wayne Lam, in an exclusive interview with MacRumors, while adding that, “Much like the recently announced LG G6, we anticipate a [flat] touchscreen with a new longer aspect ratio design to take advantage of higher coverage area of the iPhone in its entirety.”

This news is certainly bound to come as a disappointment to those who were expecting a ‘truly radical’ redesign of Apple’s upcoming 10th anniversary flagship. After all, not only has the company been rumored to be using the curved OLED panels for as long as we’ve known about the iPhone 8 itself, but Cupertino was even rumored to have inked a multi-billion dollar contract with Samsung Display, which would have supplied Apple with as many as 160 million OLED panels.

Still, despite the seemingly last-minute design change, the news might actually play out to the benefit of users in the grand scheme of things. How can we justify that? Well, for starters: a flat, 5.8-inch panel would obviously entail that all 5.8-inches, from pixel to pixel, would be touch-responsive. If you’ll recall, previous iPhone 8 rumors had alluded to a 5.8-inch display — with only 5.1- to 5.2-inches of it actually being responsive to touch. This is merely a design issue, in which the actual curves of the display on either side would not be touch responsive — similar to the configuration on Samsung’s Galaxy S7 Edge, or even the doomed Galaxy Note 7. Under those pretenses, the company would be able to advertise a 5.8-inch display — although not all 5.8-inches of it would be touch-responsive. So by actually releasing a device featuring a flat, 5.8-inch OLED panel, users would only stand to gain, seeing as how the entire display would be palpable.

Another issue has to do with the bevy of apps that are already available on the Apple App Store — many of which function optimally with current 2.5D display panels, and therefore would have to be redesigned to an extent if they were to work in harmony with a curved display.

Certainly the rumors of a ‘flat display’ on the iPhone 8 may come as a disappointment since the device will supposedly cost a fortune, right? But not all hope is lost, either way, since the top-tier handset is still slated to retain a number of advanced features over the iPhone 7s and 7s Plus, including wireless charging, IP68 dust- and water-proofing certification, advanced 3D facial recognition, and, of course, a fully-functional 5.8-inch OLED display, among other things.

Would you still buy an iPhone 8 if it featured a flat display?
Let us know in the comments!

[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]