Apple is not expected to have an iPhone with a real screen with a hole until next year, when Samsung will help it push the rest of the Face ID kit under the OLED screen of the iPhone 15 device.
To do that, Apple will reportedly resort to Samsung’s technology under the panel (UPC), which had its premiere on the internal screen of the Galaxy Z Fold 3 phone. Z Fold 4 will continue to use the same technology this year, but for Z Fold 5 Samsung is reportedly developing new under-screen camera technology in partnership with Canadians from OTI Lumionics.
Their new solution results when “organic cathode material for sampling (CPM) is applied with a fine metal mask (FMM) sample and then the anode is applied with an open metal mask (OMM) to avoid CPM”. Thus, the anode material of the magnesium-silver alloy (Mg-Ag) can cover the area without CPM deposition, transmitting light so that the camera sensor below captures the image, while the pattern on the screen looks continuous.
This new camera technology under the panel will reportedly be used first on the Galaxy Z Fold 5 next summer, followed by a big deal – to hide Face ID modules that will still be visible in the pill-shaped cutout on the iPhone 14, below the screen.
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That would leave only the front selfie camera visible on the front of the iPhone 15, or, in other words, Apple will not release a single-screen phone in 2024, which has been the main product of the Android phone manufacturer for some time. Apple will reportedly apply the new single-hole front design to the iPhone 15 Pro only.
LG is also reportedly working on a similar solution for the camera under the panel and aims to achieve 40% transparency of light by 2024, at which point it could become a viable candidate to supply iPhone 15 Pro screens.
