iPhone 12 may get thinner, always-on display

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A potentially huge OLED upgrade

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

Among its many anticipated upgrades, the iPhone 12 series could have some of the slimmest, most power-efficient displays yet. According to a new report from Korean news outlet The Elec, LG will be supplying its new Gen-6 OLED panels exclusively for new upcoming Apple phones.

So what's significant about these new displays? They use the same LTPO backplane technology found in recent Apple Watch models, allowing for low-energy OLED displays that are relatively easy to produce. As TechRadar speculates, this could even allow certain iPhone 12 models to pack an always-on display while still maintaining solid battery life, as we've seen on the Apple Watch 5.

The Elec report doesn't specify if the new Gen-6 displays will come to this year's iPhone 12 series, or if we'll have to wait until 2021 for them.

Previous iPhone 12 display rumors point to a possible 120Hz display for Apple's new iPhone, which would surpass the refresh rate of even the OnePlus 7 Pro and Pixel 4. We could see as many as five new iPhones this year based on recent rumors, with four of them expected to pack OLED displays alongside a budget option with an LCD screen (this could be the rumored iPhone SE 2). 

We're expecting plenty more rumors to surface before the iPhone 12's likely September 2020 reveal, so be sure to keep up with our iPhone 12 rumor page for all the latest. 

Michael Andronico
Michael Andronico

Mike Andronico is Senior Writer at CNNUnderscored. He was formerly Managing Editor at Tom's Guide, where he wrote extensively on gaming, as well as running the show on the news front. When not at work, you can usually catch him playing Street Fighter, devouring Twitch streams and trying to convince people that Hawkeye is the best Avenger.