The iPhone 5S may have shipped with iOS 7 and a brand new flat, minimalist design courtesy of Jony Ive, but that may all be moot if a report from Bloomberg is to be believed; the iPhone 6 just might come with a curved display. The business-centric publication quoted unnamed sources in saying that Apple is working on iPhones with larger display sizes, with some of those handsets sporting curved displays. Apart from that, the publication also stated that Apple is “working on enhanced sensors that can detect different levels of pressure,” meaning displays that recognize whether a user is lightly tapping on the screen, or pushing forcefully against it.
According to Bloomberg, Apple may have two devices in 2014 with curved displays, one with a 4.7-inch screen and one with a 5.5-inch screen. It’s not sure yet whether the iPhone 6 will be one of these devices, but the rumors of multiple screen sizes larger than the four-inch diagonal of the iPhone 5, 5C and 5S blend in well with earlier ones that suggested Apple is toying with screen sizes that measure between 4.5 and 6 inches.
For industry watchers, this could mean Apple may have to turn to Samsung, which has long mastered OLED technology and recently come up with the Galaxy Round, a limited-production device with a flexible display that only launched in South Korea. LG could also be an option, especially since it will be launching the LG G Flex in Korea and Europe before the year ends. Regardless of which supplier Apple goes with, even if it’s another company outside of Samsung or LG, the Bloomberg report suggests that a flexible display iPhone 6 may not be farfetched at all.
On the other side of things, the possibility of a touch-sensitive display that could recognize pressure levels may be something to expect beyond 2014, based on the report. The iPhone 6 is expected to be launched sometime in the middle of 2014, which is slightly earlier than the usual fall launch/release schedule for Apple’s iPhones.
