Apple’s range of smartphones may be getting a much-needed upgrade in 2016, with a report Wednesday claiming the company is planning to use Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) screens in new iPhone models.

According to Reuters , LG Display Co., Ltd. and the panel-making unit of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. have been tapped by the tech giant to supply OLED screens; the screens themselves, currently used across most of Samsung’s range of smartphones, are thinner and offer better picture quality than the liquid crystal display screens currently used by Apple.

If true, it would be the first serious change in iPhone screens since 2010 when Apple rolled out its “retina” displays.

A date for the change is not clear at this point; however, there is some speculation that OLED screens won’t be seen in iPhones until 2018, which would mean they would appear in either the iPhone 7s or iPhone 8, depending on which way Apple decides to go with their naming scheme in the next few years.

Overdue

While Apple has always managed to deliver amazing devices from otherwise underpowered technology, such as with the iPhone camera, the adoption of an OLED screen will see the company finally catch up with rival Samsung while opening the door to other possibilities.

It’s unlikely Apple would go down the path of something like the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge with rounded edges, or even an LG G Flex, which offers a curved screen, but what the OLED screen delivers from the start is that it is considerably thinner than the LCD screens in the current iPhone lineup, and that potentially means future iPhone models will be losing some weight as they become proverbially skinnier.

Although arguably Apple’s existing “Retina” LCD screens are best of class, the new iPhone’s will also sport a screen resolution that offers a quality and depth of color that will surprise even hardened Apple fanboys as it simply is a better technology … you only have to play the same video on a current Samsung Galaxy S6 beside an Apple 6S to see the difference with your own eyes.

Apple for its part has made no comment on the report, nor has Samsung or LG.

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