Samsung works on 8-inch foldable iPhone display as bendy 11-inch iPad is tasked to LG
Apple is in the advanced stages of testing and proofing the viability of devices with foldable displays. According to a new report, Apple has already distributed the work between suppliers, and has tasked each screen maker with crafting a foldable display for different devices.
Apple will apparently go with Samsung for the display of the foldable iPhone, but for the foldable iPad it will use screens supplied by LG, tips Elec. The iPhone 16 Pro may actually mark the first time when LG has been greenlit by Apple to supply iPhone displays before the device is released.
Before that, LG was only able to ramp up yield and production quality to Apple standards after the iPhone was released with Samsung displays on board. Samsung is still the mass OLED display production king, though, especially when it comes to smaller size panels, while LG has know-how in the manufacturing of midsize and larger OLED screens like those for tablets, laptops, or TVs.
This is precisely where it will help Apple succeed if and when it decides to release a foldable iPad. LG is reportedly working with Apple in a screen that will be in close to 11 inches in diagonal when unfurled.
Its ability to make such foldable screens is rather limited, though, which explains why Apple has tasked it with the foldable iPad screen development, as it will probably remain a niche device with high initial pricing. Apple will allegedly use iPadOS on it, with the necessary layout adjustment tailored to the new form factor.
Samsung, on the other hand, which is now tasked with making the display for the foldable iPhone, would have no issues with yield as it has been making foldable phone displays with plastic substrate for a good while now.
It is preparing to release the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and the Z Flip 6 with a reduced crease via the utilization of thicker cover glass. This effort is now viewed as not only an answer to the Chinese competition, but also as a grand rehearsal for the foldable iPhone.
Apparently, Apple now demands solutions for a drastic minimization of the crease from both Samsung and LG, and its final decision on whether to release foldable devices, or if they would be in book or clamshell form factor, literally hinges on the efforts to make the crease as invisible as possible.
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