OLED displays are the best as they offer deeper blacks and greater amount of screen brightness compared to LCD panels. At present, Apple only offers OLED panels on its premium iPhone models – the Pro versions.
On the iPhone XR, the regular iPhone 11, and the iPhone SE 2020 – Apple is using LCD displays to cut costs and pass the savings to buyers. However, as OLED panels are not relatively new anymore and a lot of research has been done on it, it is time to see OLED panels on budget phones as well.
Starting this year (fall of 2020), all of the latest iPhone 12 models which are speculated to release sometime in October this year will use OLED panels. Apple is expected to launch four new models – the 5.4” iPhone 12, the 6.1” iPhone 12, the 6.1” iPhone 12 Pro, and the 6.7” iPhone 12 Pro Max.
It’s a trend in the technology industry (other industries as well), as something starts to become old and widely adopted, its value decreases. OLED panels are still relatively expensive compared to LCD but there will be a decrease in price.
Apple is reportedly planning to use OLED panels manufactured by BOE for its regular iPhone 12 models to cut costs. On the other hand, the iPhone 12 Pro models will use displays manufactured by Samsung which cost much higher compared to BOE. Samsung is a leader in the OLED panels industry and its dominance allows it to set the price according to its liking.
LG did try to beat Samsung with its OLED panels and Google did LG OLED panels in its Pixel 2XL which suffered from a set of various issues. LG reportedly to support a wider color gamut limited the colours on the display from popping – something which not many people like.