Apple's upcoming foldable iPhone will feature a new type of display panel developed by Samsung that has never been used in a foldable product, claims a source with links to Apple's supply chain.
According to the account yeux1122 on the Korean Naver blog, the foldable iPhone will use a custom display process for which Apple will hold branding trademark rights, and that meets Apple's stringent requirements for thinness, power efficiency, and brightness levels.
The report suggests Samsung has achieved a breakthrough in thinness by integrating the touch sensor directly into the display panel, reducing overall thickness by approximately 19% compared to current Galaxy Z Fold components. The engineering advancement is said to result in both a lighter build and more rigid display structure.
According to industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, the book-style "iPhone Fold" will have a 7.8-inch inner display, a 5.5-inch outer display, two rear cameras, one front camera, a Touch ID power button instead of Face ID, and a high-density battery. He expects the device to be as thin as 4.5mm when unfolded, and between 9mm and 9.5mm when folded.
Samsung uses a separate touch layer placed on top of the OLED in its current foldables, typically implemented using on-cell touch technology, rather than true in-cell integration. With on-cell touch for recent Samsung Galaxy Fold models, touch electrodes are deposited on the top layer of the OLED panel (under the cover film).
The new display panel for Apple reportedly goes further and uses in-cell touch, which is Apple's standard for its iPhones. Here, the touch layer is integrated within the display's TFT layer, and offers lower thickness, faster response, and no lamination gap. In-cell touch is much harder to achieve on a foldable OLED due to the mechanical stress and durability concerns at the hinge.
The display is being described as a "bar-type" design, suggesting that when unfolded, the screen will appear virtually identical to a standard iPhone, with no visible crease or hinge gap that typically characterizes foldable devices. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman recently said the foldable iPhone will have a "nearly invisible" crease when unfolded.
Interestingly, the report claims that Samsung's recent push to dramatically reduce thickness in the upcoming Galaxy Z Fold 7 may have been a strategic move to satisfy Apple's manufacturing requirements as a display supplier.
The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is expected to be significantly thinner than its predecessors. Reports suggest a folded thickness of approximately 9.5mm (including the camera bump) and an unfolded thickness of about 4.5mm. If accurate, this would be a notable reduction from the Galaxy Z Fold 6, which measures 12.2mm when folded and 5.6mm when unfolded. It would also make the Z Fold 7 one of the slimmest foldable smartphones available, rivaling even the Oppo Find N5 – the world's thinnest smartphone – which boasts an unfolded thickness of 4.2mm.
Beyond the structural improvements, the new display technology being developed for Apple reportedly delivers significant enhancements in color reproduction and brightness performance, with gains in both peak and typical brightness levels.
Apple plans to release its first foldable iPhone next year, according to several reporters and analysts who cover the company, and it could have a premium price tag of over $2,000.
