A new story from The China Times seems to back up well-connected KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo’s claims about Apple’s upcoming 6.1” LCD iPhone, expected to sport an edge-to-edge display like the iPhone X (including the camera notch) but only a single rear-facing camera. Where Apple offered one LED iPhone last year as the high-end model, this year’s three-iPhone lineup is expected to feature only one LCD model, aimed at users who don’t want to fork out for the more expensive flagship iPhones.
The stripped down device is expected to come with an aluminum frame instead of stainless steel and only 3GB of RAM where the other two will have 4GB.
The 2018 LCD iPhone is also thought to lack 3D Touch, and Apple is reportedly moving its LCD display orders from Samsung to Japanese Display Inc. as it switches to a thin-film touch display instead of its existing touch panel.
The switch might actually end up costing Apple more to produce — since it’s moving away from the plug-style touch panel that’s been in use since the iPhone 5 — which could account for Kuo’s prediction that the iPhone will cost between $700 and $800, up from his previous prediction of $650 to $750. The new report also suggests the phone will have an 18:9 aspect ratio instead of the iPhone X’s current 19.5:9, but unless all three of the devices get the same ratio that’s a more unlikely prediction given the difficulty such a change could present in scaling apps.
