Leak shows alleged front panels for Apple's new 5.8-, 6.1- & 6.5-inch iPhones

On Tuesday a prominent leak source showed off what are claimed to be front panels for all of Apple's 2018 iPhones, which if authentic, reaffirm expected features.

The panels are sized at 5.8, 6.1, and 6.5 inches, according to Ben Geskin. All three point to edge-to-edge displays, and iPhone X-style notches to accommodate a TrueDepth camera for Face ID and animoji. Significantly the 6.1-inch panel appears to have slightly thicker bezels, which might back indications that it will use LCD technology instead of the OLED built into its companions.

The origin of the panels is unknown, but parts leaks are common ahead of iPhone launches, and Geskin has produced authentic leaks in the past.

Using LCD on the 6.1-inch phone should allow Apple to sell it at a cheaper price, likely between $600 and $700. While the 5.8-inch phone may be cheaper than the iPhone X, it's still expected to cost between $800 and $900, mostly because of the expense of OLED coupled with Apple's desire to keep up profit margins.

Besides the 6.1-inch LCD iPhone first rumored in January, Apple is rumored to add two new OLED models to its iPhone lineup this fall including a 5.8-inch iPhone X replacement. A 6.5-inch OLED "iPhone X Plus" is also supposedly in the works.

All 2018 iPhones are said to boast logic boards built on substrate-like PCB (SLP) technologies first adopted by iPhone X and iPhone 8. The 5.8- and 6.5-inch OLED iPhone models will sport stacked board designs like iPhone X, while the 6.1-inch LCD model will stick to a traditional single-layer layout, Kuo said.

Manufacturers will adopt a finer pitch of 28-30 nanometers on the boards, down from the 30-35 nanometers applied to 2017 phones, as part of efforts to reduce PCB size and improve energy efficiency.

Current price predictions put the 6.1-inch LCD phone pricing at between $600 and $700.

Moving up the product line, the 5.8-inch OLED model is expected top be between $800 to $900 and the 6.5-inch OLED "iPhone X Plus" will be priced around $900 to $1000.

All the two OLED models will likely ship in quantity in September and early October. One report claims that the 6.1-inch model will be pushed to November because of difficulties cutting an iPhone X-like "notch" out of a LCD panel.

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41 Comments

fastasleep 6450 comments · 14 Years

About 6 years ago

I'm still confused about this lineup. I don't understand how they're going to market the mid-sized LCD model in comparison to the other two. It appears that it'll have slightly thicker bezels, but what other differentiating factors will there be that separates it from the OLED models to the average consumer? I don't think most people are going to know or care about the difference between LCD and OLED. Plastic body like the 5c? :)

tht 5594 comments · 23 Years

fastasleep said:

I'm still confused about this lineup. I don't understand how they're going to market the mid-sized LCD model in comparison to the other two. It appears that it'll have slightly thicker bezels, but what other differentiating factors will there be that separates it from the OLED models to the average consumer? I don't think most people are going to know or care about the difference between LCD and OLED. Plastic body like the 5c? :)

The LCD model is rumored to have a single back camera, no 3D Touch, aluminum frame instead of steel, the aforementioned larger bezels, and the usual segmentation in storage and maybe SoC. It will look less “pretty” for lack of a better term.

No 3D Touch stings imo. That maybe implies no Taptic Engine, or a lessor version of it.

tomahawk 171 comments · 23 Years

fastasleep said:

I'm still confused about this lineup. I don't understand how they're going to market the mid-sized LCD model in comparison to the other two. It appears that it'll have slightly thicker bezels, but what other differentiating factors will there be that separates it from the OLED models to the average consumer? I don't think most people are going to know or care about the difference between LCD and OLED. Plastic body like the 5c? :)

Might be counting on the fact that there is a large portion of the population that doesn't want their stupid phone to get even bigger. There is no phone in this lineup that my dad would even consider using and I'll be forced to buy the 5.8" just to have the smaller sized device (and it's slightly bigger than my current 4.7"). It would be nice if they offered more differentiation on screen sizes and came out with a high end phone with a slightly smaller size.

Their designers should be forced to hold a baby and use the phone at the same time for a week or two before releasing a larger screen. And they have to pay for it every time they drop it...

spheric 2702 comments · 9 Years

tomahawk said:

fastasleep said:

I'm still confused about this lineup. I don't understand how they're going to market the mid-sized LCD model in comparison to the other two. It appears that it'll have slightly thicker bezels, but what other differentiating factors will there be that separates it from the OLED models to the average consumer? I don't think most people are going to know or care about the difference between LCD and OLED. Plastic body like the 5c? :)

Might be counting on the fact that there is a large portion of the population that doesn't want their stupid phone to get even bigger. There is no phone in this lineup that my dad would even consider using and I'll be forced to buy the 5.8" just to have the smaller sized device (and it's slightly bigger than my current 4.7"). It would be nice if they offered more differentiation on screen sizes and came out with a high end phone with a slightly smaller size.

Their designers should be forced to hold a baby and use the phone at the same time for a week or two before releasing a larger screen. And they have to pay for it every time they drop it…

It doesn't sound like you're replying to the post you quoted…?

78Bandit 238 comments · 7 Years

I'm thinking the 6.4" OLED model will be AT LEAST $1,000. I don't see Apple offering it for less than $999 and possibly all the way up to $1,149.

At the reported prices I will be in the market for the LCD model as long as it hits the $699 mark. Now if the 5.8" device can hit $799 I would probably get it instead, but I just don't see that happening.

My prediction is the 5.8" and 6.4" OLED models will have base storage of 128GB and start at $869 and $999 while the 6.1" LCD model will be $699 with 64GB storage.