A 5.8-inch AMOLED iPhone in 2017?

It may be happening, according to a note given to investors by KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, a man with a strong track record of predicting upcoming Apple products, most recently accurately predicting the 4-inch iPhone SE back in November.

According to AppleInsider, the note claims the new 5.8 inch AMOLED iPhone will have a design similar to that of the iPhone 4/4s “glass sandwich” form factor, but will employ curved panels on the front and rear; glass is said to be being utilized as Apple is looking to differentiate the iPhone more from competitors, and, in addition, the material is easy to mold.

The phone is also expected to include wireless charging and new biometric recognition technology that will support access to the phone with iris and/or face scanning through the phone’s front camera, using technology Apple acquired when it bought Emotient and 3D rendering firm Faceshift.

Distribution and timing

While the note is positive the phone is coming, it’s not nearly as clear on where it will fit in Apple’s lineup.

Kuo speculates that the new 5.8-inch AMOLED iPhone could be released as a replacement for the current 6.6-inch TFT-LCD Plus model, but there’s a problem there in that Apple would struggle to find a sufficient supply of AMOLED screens.

The alternative scenario is that the new iPhone launches as a premium iPhone in addition to the existing 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch phones.

“If the supply of AMOLED panel is sufficient, we believe it is more likely that the first scenario will happen, in which case a 5.8-inch AMOLED model will entirely replace the 5.5-inch TFT-LCD iPhone,” Kuo notes.

Apple has been using LCD screens since they first launched the iPhone in 2007, and while their own TFT-LCD versions have provided superior results to traditional LCD screens, AMOLED screens offer a greater range of color options than LCD screens resulting in more vibrant looking images, and have been adopted by all of Apple’s serious competitors.

It’s likely a given that Apple will switch to AMOLED screens as they should have years ago, but the problem remains that there is little spare AMOLED manufacturing capacity currently available in the market to support a phone that sells in the hundreds of millions, but additional capacity will come online eventually.

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