The 6.1″ LCD iPhone rumoured for release later this year could miss Apple’s usual September launch window, instead releasing two months later in November, according to a report from Korean publication “The Bell”.
It has been predicted for a while now that the LCD smartphone would join two new OLED models in Apple’s 2018 iPhone line-up, with all three releasing in September. However, The Bell’s sources have indicated that display makers JDI and LG Display are struggling with issues involved in applying the notch design to an LCD panel.
These include light leakage, which can affect the performance of the device’s TrueDepth camera and thus, features like Face ID unlocking.
Other analysts have suggested that the delay could be more to do with Apple wanting to push its OLED models to the forefront of the line-up and focus sales for a short period, before releasing the lower-cost LCD version.
Last year, the LCD iPhone 8 and 8 Plus both released in September, while the OLED iPhone X was delayed until November due to display manufacture delays. According to various reports released over the past eight months, the iPhone X has seen lower-than-expected sales. Production of the handset was cut by half in early 2018.
