Leakage from iPhone 15's Dynamic Island cutout alters its display production plans
All the iPhone 15 models this year will reportedly have a Dynamic Island cutout like the one on the iPhone 14 Pro models. They, however, use the latest LTPO OLED screen technology by Samsung and LG, while for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus Apple will again go with twice cheaper LTPS panels on which its display suppliers will try and replicate the wider cutout from the more advanced models.
At least one of those suppliers, however - BOE - is having trouble piercing the Dynamic Island cutout on its screens for the iPhone 15 and 15 Plus models, reports Korean media The Elec today. Apple had to pull the mass display production schedule for the cheaper iPhone 15 models to May and ask Samsung to make them, instead of June when Samsung is scheduled to focus on the mass iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Ultra screen manufacturing.
This will give Apple wiggle room to sort out the BOE's perennial display production problems and the usual weak point in its screen supply chain may wiggle its way back into the iPhone 15 components if it sorts out the problems. The culprit is said to be leakage, but not of the type LCD panels with their illuminated backplane are prone to, but rather potential for moisture or oxygen to get in around the Dynamic Island cutout area.
The laser cutting and sealing that those big elliptical holes require requires precision equipment that Samsung has a head start on ever since it decided to produce OLED screens with punch hole displays for its Galaxy S series of phones. Apple, however, demanded that Samsung print the Dynamic Island edges to seal them better and keep away anything that can shorten the panel's lifespan. LG also mastered the inkjet printing method for the Dynamic Island edges, but BOE's first foray into the method encountered issues.
Despite Apple's will to diversify its display supply chain with extra providers like LG or BOE, they are often not up to the mass production task, or are a cycle or two behind advanced technologies, so Samsung often has to pick up the slack despite Apple's diversification plans. The iPhone 15 series is expected to be announced in September, as usual, and the summer mass display production plans come as tangential confirmation of Apple's iPhone 15 launch schedule.
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