Apple planned to release the iPhone 18 with a completely frameless display, but the partners responsible for creating this technology told the company that they would not have time to finalize it for mass production by 2026.
For many years, Apple has been trying to reduce the width of the frames around the display on the iPhone or get rid of them altogether, but the company will not be able to finally solve this issue for some time. The American manufacturer worked on this technology together with Samsung Display and LG Display, but so far the project has encountered insurmountable obstacles, reports the Korean publication The Elec.
Apple does not want to remove the display bezels due to its curved shape; it does not like the magnifying glass effect that was previously seen on Samsung and Xiaomi smartphones. The American manufacturer insists that the bezel-less screen remains flat without rounding the corners, but with a smooth expansion at the edges, as is done in the Apple Watch.
It turned out to be impossible to achieve this goal with existing means: Samsung Display and LG Display need to refine two existing technologies: thin film encapsulation (TFE), which will protect the OLED display from environmental influences; and an optically clear adhesive (OCA) that will bond transparent films at curved edges. In this case, it is necessary to provide space for components such as the telephone antenna. OCA technology still faces the greatest difficulties: existing solutions suffer from side view distortion; The problem of damage from side impacts will also need to be addressed.
Apple hoped that mass production of such displays would be launched by the time the iPhone 18 was released in 2026, but for this to happen, negotiations with suppliers would have to be completed by now. But they are still ongoing, insiders say, and the appearance of a “zero frame” around the iPhone display will most likely have to be postponed to a later date.