Sorry iPhone 8, No Curved OLED Display for You

Apple is ditching its plan to use a curved OLED display on this fall’s iPhone 8, or at least that’s what the latest report claims. Instead, Apple is said to be going with a flat OLED panel with rounded edges—and I think they’re right.

IHS Markit analyst Wayne Lam says Apple could change the iPhone 8’s display aspect ration from 16:9 to 2:1, and do away with the physical Home button. Other reports have also been saying the Home button will go away.

Want a full-on curved iPhone display? Not gonna happen.

Mr. Lam said, “Much like the recently announced LG G6, we anticipate a touchscreen with a new longer aspect ratio design to take advantage of higher coverage area of the iPhone in its entirety.” He added it will be flat glass instead of curved.

Rumors have been pointing to—depending on your interpretation—a curved surface for the iPhone 8 display. It’s a way to get more screen realestate without needing to make the phone wider, but I don’t think that’s the route Apple is taking.

Instead, I expect Apple will stick with the flat surface, trim away more of the bezel creating more of an edge-to-edge display, and curved edges that blend into the iPhone’s body. If that sounds familiar, it’s because we’re already seeing it on Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge smartphone.

Dude, You Already Have a Curved Display

What we’ll likely see on the iPhone 8 is 2.5D glass, which sits between truly flat 2D glass and what’s known as 3D glass. 2D glass is the traditional flat panel with right angle edges we’ve seen on phones for years, where 3D glass has a prominent curve at the edges so the display image can wrap around onto the sides of the phone. 2.5D glass is more like 2D glass, but with a curved bevel edge that blends into the smartphone’s body.

To see 2.5D glass first hand, you can look at the iPhone 6 or the iPhone 7, and even the Apple Watch. All have glass that curves along its edged to fit more seamlessly with the rest of the device’s body.

It’s Curved…It’s Flat…It’s Both

Curved glass sounds sexy, but I think Mr. Lam nailed it and Apple is taking a more practical approach to increasing the iPhone 8’s display. Apple can squeeze screen space into the iPhone 8 by trimming away some of the bezel, or removing it completely. That would make the new model a true edge-to-edge device, and that sounds a lot sexier than a curved screen.

There’s plenty of speculation surrounding what features we’ll see on the iPhone 8 this fall. OLED sounds like a sure thing for the display. Embedding the Touch ID sensor in the display glass and ditching the Home button is sounding pretty plausible, too.

Reports saying the front-facing camera is getting a serious upgrade might be on track. Those claim we’ll get a higher resolution camera with 3D scanning technology for facial recognition and 3D selfies.

We’re also looking at wireless charging support, and a glass back, too.

Curved glass has been on that list for a while, although I think in this case of misinterpreting the information. Curved glass could mean the whole surface is convex, or that just the edges have a bend in them.

I think it’s the latter. Curved edges fits with Apple’s existing design, has two iPhone generations worth of testing, and looks good. That’s the iPhone 8 display I’m hoping for.

[Thanks to BusinessInsider for the heads up]

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