Apple is preparing iPhones with bigger screens for a launch next year. Although the iPhone 8 design isn’t final yet, Barclays analysts Blayne Curtis, Christopher Hemmelgarn, Thomas O’Malley, and Jerry Zhang provided some new details about Apple’s next iPhone in a note distributed to clients on Friday, according to a new report from MacRumors.
The Cupertino tech giant’s next smartphone, which will most likely be called the iPhone 8, will ship with bigger screens, according to the analysts. They say the iPhone 8 will offer a 5-inch screen and iPhone 8 Plus will deliver a 5.8-inch display, both with bezel-free designs. The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus offer 4.7- and 5.5-inch screen sizes, respectively.
“[The] iPhone 8 design didn’t sound 100% locked down but we believe the move is to a bezel-less design with screen sizes getting larger and curved edges in the original envelope,” said the analysts. “The iPhone 8 moves to 5″ (from 4.7″) and the Plus moves to 5.8″ (from 5.5″).”
In order to deliver this bezel-free feature, the iPhone 8 would need to ship with organic light-emitting diode (OLED) screen technology. It would be the first from Apple to offer OLED technology in its smartphones. All iPhone versions through the iPhone 7 have run on LCD technology.
“By using a plastic OLED screen, the screen can bend at the edges to allow a curved bezel-less edge,” the analysts reportedly told investors.
These comments come after several recent were released stating that Apple is currently working on an OLED-based curved screen. Apple has yet to confirm that is is even working on a new phone, however, let alone new display technology. The Barclays analysts have acknowledged that the company has not yet made a final decision on the next iPhone screen.
