New iPhone display causes problems for Apple suppliers

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2018 iPhone screen protectors
A look at the screen sizes for this year's new iPhones.
Photo: Benjamin Geskin

Mass production is gearing up for Apple’s 2018-era iPhone refresh, but as per usual it’s not without its problems. According to a new report, the 6.1-inch LCD handset is causing Apple particular trouble with an LED backlight leakage. The issue has pushed back manufacturing by one month.

The claim is from Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty, who cites sources in Apple’s supply chain. But don’t worry: Apple’s apparently got the problem covered.

As per Huberty, this “LED backlight leakage [has] caused a 1 month delay in mass production of the 6.1″ LCD iPhone, although this is down from a 6-week delay baked into the original production forecast, according to suppliers.” Huberty suggests that there is no delay in the ramp-up for Apple’s 5.8-inch or 6.5-inch OLED iPhones.

Troubles with LCD?

On first glance, it would seem ironic that the problem affecting Apple would involve an LCD display, as opposed to the OLED display Apple has far less experience working with. However, it makes sense given that, of all the iPhones set for this year, the LCD iPhone display is the newest for Apple.

This year’s 6.1-inch LCD iPhone will reportedly carry over the slimmer bezel design of last year’s OLED iPhone X to the LCD model. This bezel supposedly won’t be quite as slim as the iPhone X version, but will nonetheless allow Apple to slim its LCD handset bezel to just 2mm.

Apple is said to also be adopting new LCD technology from the LG G7 ThinQ smartphone, which will offer a wider color gamut to match the iPhone X.

Don’t worry, though: Suppliers reportedly experience manufacturing problems each year when making the new iPhones. Given the quantity involved, that’s no surprise. As Huberty notes, this is factored into their production estimates — meaning there’s next to zero chance of this causing any actual delay for customers.

Source: Barrons

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