Apple could be working to launch a 5.8-inch iPhone – its largest iPhone yet – equipped with an AMOLED display possibly as soon as next year, judging from a pre-publication note in DigiTimes.
In this note quoted from by The Motley Fool, the Taiwan-based DigiTimes cites local Apple supply chain manufacturers as it reports rumor that the Cupertino company has “plans to launch a 5.8-inch iPhone featuring rigid AMOLED display panels in 2018 or even earlier in 2017.”
Reportedly, Samsung Display is the “first candidate” to supply these panels, while LG Display and Japan Display will also later help with the panel production. Supply chain sources are said to have told DigiTimes that 50 million of these phones should be shipped within the first year of availability.
Though the 5.5-inch iPhones are already physically large, with a hefty price tag to match, it’s possible that Apple intends to bring out an additional line of iPhones targeted at an even more premium market.
Indeed, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo recently reported that Apple plans to release two versions of the iPhone 7 Plus this year – the more advanced model sporting a dual-lens camera in place of the typical single-lens shooter.