iPhone 16 OLED Panels May Use Micro-Lens Technology to Increase Brightness/Power Efficiency

Apple is weighing up the use of micro-lens technology to maintain or increase the brightness of OLED displays on next year's iPhone 16 models while potentially reducing their power consumption, reports The Elec.

iPhone 14 Pro Display Two Times Brighter Feature
According to the Korean outlet, Apple display suppliers Samsung and LG have offered to apply micro-lens arrays (MLA) to the OLED panels, but the technology has both pros and cons that Apple needs to consider.

MLA works by using a uniform pattern of billions of lenses inside the panel that reduces internal reflections. These lenses turn the path of light reflected backwards from the inside of the panel towards the screen, which can serve either to increase perceived brightness while maintaining the same level of power consumption, or maintain brightness levels while consuming less power compared to conventional OLED panels at the same luminance.

However, while MLA straightens the path of light to increase frontal luminance, in some use cases it can also reduce side luminance, which from a user perspective narrows the display's field of view. Not only that, applying MLA to the OLED panels would increase the manufacturing cost.

Another complicating factor is that the material sets being developed by the two suppliers are different, and both are still said to fall short of Apple's standards. Apple has yet to give a final response to the MLA application proposal from the Korean companies, according to the report.

Apple's decision appears to hinge on whether the efficiency of the OLED material set can be improved upon between now and when ‌iPhone 16‌ mass production begins in the second half of 2024.

If the amount of light sent to the front of the panel can be at least maintained at a reduced power consumption rate while avoiding a narrowing of the viewing angle, then MLA implementation may be considered worthwhile. However, this depends on the performance of the OLED material set, and the sets of the two domestic panel companies are said to be different.

Samsung has more experience applying MLA to OLED panels. For example, it has used the technology in some of its own Galaxy S Ultra models, and has also delivered MLA-applied OLED panels to Chinese mobile vendors such as Vivo. LG meanwhile has applied MLA to some of its larger OLED smart TVs, but has little to no experience of applying it to small and medium-sized panels, where the direction of light is adjusted differently.

Looking further ahead, a separate report in May claimed that Apple intends to mass produce more advanced microLED displays in order to lessen its reliance on Samsung and increase its own control over supply, laying the groundwork to realize its ultimate goal of bringing the next-generation technology to iPhones.

Related Roundups: iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Pro

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Monday March 31, 2025 11:27 am PDT by
Apple today released new firmware updates for all AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 models. The new firmware is version 7E93, up from the 7B21 firmware that was installed on the AirPods Pro 2 and the 7B20 firmware available on the AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC. It is not immediately clear what new features or changes are included in the new firmware, but we'll update this article should we find ...
top stories 2025 03 29

Top Stories: WWDC 2025 Announced, iPhone 17 Pro and iOS 19 Rumors, and More

Saturday March 29, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
Apple's big developer event is a little over two months away, and rumors about what we can expect to see in Apple's next major operating system updates are becoming increasingly frequent. A public release of iOS 18.4 is also imminent with a number of updates and improvements, although we won't be getting the major Apple Intelligence Siri upgrades that had reportedly been planned for this...
macOS Sequoia Feature

Apple Releases macOS Sequoia 15.4 With Mail Categorization and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:04 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sequoia 15.4, the fourth major update to the macOS Sequoia operating system that launched in September. macOS Sequoia 15.4 comes two months after the launch of macOS Sequoia 15.3. Mac users can download the ‌‌macOS Sequoia‌‌ update through the Software Update section of System Settings. It is available for free on all Macs able to run macOS 15. With...
iOS 19 visionOS UI Elements

Apple Codename Provides Clue About iOS 19's Rumored New Design

Sunday March 30, 2025 6:40 am PDT by
Multiple sources have claimed that iOS 19 will introduce a new design with more translucent buttons, menus, notification banners, and more, and there is now another clue that points towards this glass-like appearance. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said the new design project is codenamed "Solarium" internally. A solarium is a room with glass walls that allow in plenty of sunlight, so this...
watchOS 11 Thumb 2 1

Apple Releases watchOS 11.4 With Sleep Alarm Update

Tuesday April 1, 2025 10:34 am PDT by
Apple today released watchOS 11.4, the fourth major update to the operating system that runs on the Apple Watch. watchOS 11.4 is compatible with the Apple Watch Series 6 and later, all Apple Watch Ultra models, and the Apple Watch SE 2. watchOS 11.4 can be downloaded on a connected iPhone by opening up the Apple Watch app and going to General > Software Update. To install the new software,...

Top Rated Comments

TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
21 months ago
iPhone 16 is starting to look like a bigger upgrade. The best iPhone Apple has ever worked on? ?
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
andreiru Avatar
21 months ago
We need a breakthrough in the battery department. :-)
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Makosuke Avatar
21 months ago
I'm not sure whether I'd actually want it or not, but to at least some people (those averse to "eavesdropping") a narrower viewing angle would actually be a plus not a minus.


Sure nobody forces an upgrade, but the smartphone business is still one with yearly iterations, unlike other tech that have a longer shelflife than a year.
Cars are about the longest-lived consumer good in the United States, and even the most regular upgraders probably buy on a 3-year lease, but they're iterated yearly. Very slightly in most cases, but every car on the market has a model year specified because of it.

Nobody in their right mind upgrades their TV every year, and most people buy one and use it for half a decade at minimum, but they're iterated yearly.

Washing machines aren't iterated every year, but that technology is basically static at this point. Phones might get there eventually, but we're a long way from that.

Manufacturers upgrade every year if the technology improves, most people will buy and use something for as long as the generation of tech they bought works and it doesn't break (I know someone still using an iPhone 6s, because he doesn't care about any of the new features) and it makes sense even from a longevity standpoint.

Think of it this way:

Let's assume that at the current rate of technological improvement most people will want to upgrade a phone when the hardware is 5 years old, and in any case because of the fundamental wear-and-tear a phone isn't likely to last more than 7 years. And let's pretend that the smartphone industry does what you seem to want and only upgrades phones every 5 years, when there's actually a big difference.

If you buy a new phone right after the old model comes out, you use it for 5 years, then get the new one. Exactly the same outcome as if there were annual iterations.

But if you happen to need a new phone when the current model is 4 years in, you just bought a phone with 4-year-old technology, and by the time it's time to buy a new one you now have a 9-year-old phone--you were stuck with an iPhone 6 instead of an Xs. You'll likely upgrade sooner instead of waiting 5 years because of the clunker you got stuck with. The same goes for everyone who buys a phone in the off-years, just to discourage the small number of aggressive updaters. If, on the other hand, there were incremental upgrades during that time, then your 5-year-old phone still has 5-year-old technology, regardless of when you happen to buy it.

Even in the case of people who do aggressively upgrade every year, it's not like their old phones go in the trash--T-Mobile is not in the business of giving you an $800 trade-in credit on a perfectly-good, 1-year-old phone that they're throwing away. Or if you sell it on the open market, the person you sell it to for $600 isn't spending that so they can throw it away next year.

The majority of old phones will stay in use as long as they have resale value, which is quite some time, and even when they don't a lot of the time they'll get handed down to someone.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Ultracyclist Avatar
21 months ago
Here come the ooh‘s and aah’s but wait until you see the iPhone 17!
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
w_aldo Avatar
21 months ago

I'm just tired about...

[1] Yearly iteration so more ewaste is produced...
[2] That there is still not a focus about longevity despite everything going bottoms up...

Sure nobody forces an upgrade, but the smartphone business is still one with yearly iterations, unlike other tech that have a longer shelflife than a year.
Since when do iPhones only have a shelflife of a year? They get updates for at least 5. There is absolutely 0 reason to upgrade every year, or even every 2 years for that matter. It may sound controversial but the people who upgrade every year clearly have a problem with FOMO which they need to control, an addiction to the the "latest and greatest".

I'm upgrading to the iPhone 15 Pro Max this year, from an XS Max which I've had for 5 years. The phone was built to last.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bLackjackj Avatar
21 months ago

Sure nobody forces an upgrade, but the smartphone business is still one with yearly iterations, unlike other tech that have a longer shelflife than a year.
What other major manufacturer doesn't release a yearly upgrade? TVs, laptops, computers,..hell even fridges get a yearly update. It doesn't mean that YOU HAVE to buy one.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)