Premium iPhone 8 to Feature Curved Samsung OLED Displays: Report

After a report from a few days ago that claimed iPhone 8 will feature a flat screen, rather than the curved display almost all other rumours have predicted, a new story may shed some light on the screen’s curvature.

According to a new report from Nikkei Asian Review, the iPhone 8’s screen will indeed be curved, but not as curved as the Galaxy S7 edge. It won’t be flat like the screen on the iPhone 6/6s/7, and instead may be slightly curved to follow the 2.5D edges of the glass face.

“The curve will be gentler than screens in Samsung’s Galaxy S7 Edge handsets,” reads the report. “This is partly due to the challenges of making curved glass covers to match screens, according to the source. While the curved screen will allow a viewable area of about 5.2 inches and make the iPhone even sleeker, it will not offer significant new functions, the person said.”

This feature is in contrast to other manufacturers, namely Samsung and its Galaxy Edge handsets, who have used curved OLED displays for features like notifications that can be viewed when the handset is resting on a table, or new edge gestures that take advantage of a wraparound display. Many critics have dismissed those additions as largely gimmicky.

Hardly new, curved OLED screens on smartphones were pioneered by Samsung, and Chinese companies including Vivo and Huawei have also released high-end handsets with the feature. Smartphone makers have pounced on the new display as they seek to differentiate their designs from a plethora of Android phones available in the saturated global market.