Apple’s main OLED supplier Samsung has received approval from Apple to begin mass production of displays for all four iPhone 15 models, which are expected to debut in September.
According to Korean-language based The Elec, Samsung Display was granted approval on August 1, ahead of rivals LG Display and BOE. LG Display, which has a contract to provide OLED panels for the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, has received conditional approval for the smaller iPhone 15 Pro panels, with approval for the iPhone 15 Pro Max panels expected sometime in the next month or two. BOE, which will supply OLED displays for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus, is still waiting for its conditions approval from the iPhone maker.
Rumors we saw in July indicated that Apple is having issues with manufacturing displays for its upcoming iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, possibly leading to a constrained supply at launch in September.
Numerous rumors have indicated that the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max will sport slimmer bezels than last year’s iPhone 14 Pro models. Reports said it is the alleged decrease in bezel size that is creating issues.
Apple suppliers are using a new display manufacturing process to shrink the bezel size, which is causing issues with displays manufactured by LG Display. Apple experienced similar issues with the increased display size of the Apple Watch Series 7 in 2019, and that handset’s release was delayed by about a month.
Despite the disruptions, a recent report from The Information suggested Apple will still release all iPhone 15 models in September, although iPhone 15 Pro Max devices could be in tight supply in the first weeks after launch.
