TechingToday

iPhone 16 display could get a major upgrade - but there's a problem

General

The Elec reports (quoting industry sources) that the iPhone 16 will have thinner bezels around the display. This is due to the new Border Reduction Structure (BRS) process.

As reported previously, BRS allows for a thinner bottom bezel on the display, which is usually the thickest part of the border on any phone, by grouping circuits more closely together and rerouting wiring. The current iPhone has a symmetrical bezel, so if the bottom bezel becomes thinner, the other three sides of the display should shrink accordingly.

The only problem is that this would make the screen more difficult to manufacture, with both LG Display and Samsung Display struggling to produce panels with yields (percentage of usable parts) high enough to satisfy Apple. Apple also sources many of its displays from a third company, BOE, but because it lags behind its competitors in OLED quality, it tends to focus on lower-priced iPhone models each year.

LG Display is working on these new OLED panels with the help of display driver integrated circuits (or ICs) supplied by two different companies, Novatech and LX Semicon, as well as LX as in previous years. according to The Elec this appears to be an effort to reduce costs while producing a larger percentage of this year's iPhone displays.

It is currently unclear which models will receive the BRS treatment. Hopefully, it may be applied to all four of the expected iPhone 16 models, but it is also possible that it will only be applied to the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max.

If the rumors are true, those will not be the only display changes seen on the Pro models. We have previously seen claims that these two new iPhone Pros will be larger: the Pro model measures 6.3 inches (up from 6.1 inches on the iPhone 15 Pro) and the Pro Max measures 6.9 inches (up from 6.7 inches on the iPhone 15 Pro Max) They are.

If you are interested in these new iPhones, mark your calendars for early to mid-September. While you wait, you can also check out the iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max hubs for other rumors.