Slash LaneTaiwanese industry publication Digitimes published a conversation with its senior analyst, Ming-Chi Kuo, on Wednesday, in which he broke down the numerous rumors regarding Apple's fourth-generation handset.
With regards to the display, the interview revealed that Apple spoke with Samsung about active matrix OLED panels as far back as in the development of the iPhone 3GS, released last summer. But supply issues were reportedly only one part of the problem with OLED for Apple.
"AMOLED also has display weaknesses," Kuo said. "(Samsung Mobile Display) uses PenTile technology developed by Clairvoyante to produce AMOLED, which is less suitable for displaying text. With Apple quite keen on pushing e-reading businesses, AMOLED may not be the best solution at the moment."
Originally released for the iPad, Apple's iBooks application will make its way to the iPhone with the introduction of iPhone OS 4 this summer. iBooks includes the iBookstore, Apple's digital marketplace for books. The new iPhone application was highlighted as one of the key features of iPhone OS 4 at the operating system upgrade's unveiling in April.
In February, a scientific analysis of the Nexus One's OLED screen found that it was soundly beaten by the LCD display on Apple's iPhone 3GS. Dr. Raymond Soneira, president of DisplayMate Technologies, found that the Nexus One's bright, eye-catching display also has lots of noise of artifacts, and doesn't accurately reproduce colors.
Though it reportedly will not have an OLED screen, the new iPhone is rumored to have the same in-plane switching (IPS) technology for superior viewing angles found in the 9.7-inch display of the iPad. The screen will also reportedly include fringe-field switching, or FFS, technology, which is said to improve the device's e-book reader functions.
In his discussion with DigiTimes, Kuo also said that Apple began work on the fourth-generation iPhone — codenamed N90 — at the end of 2008, but Apple actually has another project, dubbed N91, which is a lesser upgrade.
"It's a parallel product to back up the N90 in case there are major delays due to significant modifications in casing, display resolution, digital camera support and so forth," he said.
Finally, he noted the new iPhone will feature Apple's custom ARM-based A4 processor, built on the Cortex A8 architecture — the same processor found inside the iPad. Apple did not upgrade to the multi-core Cortex A9 reference design because it requires support at the operating system level to take advantage of the greater horsepower.
"Since the launch schedule of the Cortex A9 processor is estimated for year's end and iPhone 4.0 is not ready to fully utilize a multi-core processor, the A4 is the most likely candidate," Kuo said.
Wesley Hilliard
AppleInsider Staff
Christine McKee
Andrew O'Hara
William Gallagher
137 Comments
That was a wise decision by Apple.
I guess the backup plan is standard procedure, like they did with the iPod Touch last year. They are expected to announce a new iPhone, so they will have to deliver. Imagine the outrage if apple didn't announce an iPhone on the 7th ? (not so funny actually, because I want it!!)
Maybe the 3GS was their back-up model last year?
Just a thought: as iPhone OS 4.0 still seems to be in beta, how long would it take to put it on iPhones and ship those, as I guess the new ones will not ship with some temporary solutions and you will have to do an update first thing when you buy it. Just wondering how the impact of this will be on the launch date. Any thoughts on that ?
Good! But I do hope that they are using a better LCD quality, like IPS or FFS, so long as they have more battery life, too.
I guess the backup plan is standard procedure, like they did with the iPod Touch last year. They are expected to announce a new iPhone, so they will have to deliver. Imagine the outrage if apple didn't announce an iPhone on the 7th ? (not so funny actually, because I want it!!)
Maybe the 3GS was their back-up model last year?
Just a thought: as iPhone OS 4.0 still seems to be in beta, how long would it take to put it on iPhones and ship those, as I guess the new ones will not ship with some temporary solutions and you will have to do an update first thing when you buy it. Just wondering how the impact of this will be on the launch date. Any thoughts on that ?
1) If the 3GS was their "back-up model" what was their original choice for the iPhone and why didn't they release it?
2) The only reason that a new iPhone is inevitable, besides the historical elements, is the lack of supply of current iPhones.
3) Can you restate your "thought"? All Apple has to do is send the GM to the factory and use that for the first batch. It's not uncommon for an x.x.1 update to come a few days after launch. I expect the GM to hit after the next Beta.
My favourite bit was this:
So how is the 11MB shortfall going to be made up?
Looks like it will need to be software optimisations.
1) What do you mean "backup plan"?
Backup plan = back-up phone in case something goes wrong.
2) If the 3GS was their "back-up model" what was their original choice for the iPhone and why didn't they release it?
Maybe the new design with fewer tweaks than this year (No front facing camera and stuff like that). I actually have no idea how long it takes to bring this kind of product to market, so if it started in 2008, I thought it might have been planned for the 2009 release if it goes well enough.
3) The only reason that a new iPhone is inevitable, besides the historical elements, is the lack of supply of current iPhones.
Sorry, I don't get your point.
4) Can you restate your "thought"? All Apple has to do is send the GM to the factory and use that for the first batch. It's not uncommon for an x.x.1 update to come a few days after launch. I expect the GM to hit after the next Beta.
I am hoping for an early release, so I am trying to speculate on the release dates possible. When they sell the new iPhone, it obviously comes with the GM. So my question is, how long does it take to put the GM, or the actual software, on the phones and ship them. Do they have those things lying around waiting to get the OS copied on the memory and then just to package it and ship? And if thats the case, how long does this procedure take in general. I mean they will need a couple of million units for the first week(s).
So if there is another beta coming next tuesday ( 1st, for example), then I guess they will have the GM by next friday (4th). So if they want to launch the friday after that (the 11th), I guess it will be to short a time span to do so. I guess in that case, even 2 weeks (18th) will not be feasible, would it ?