Click to Skip Ad
Closing in...

New report suggests that the iPhone 8 won’t be Apple’s last LCD phone

Published Nov 22nd, 2017 6:11PM EST
Apple iPhone 8s
Image: Zach Epstein, BGR

If you buy through a BGR link, we may earn an affiliate commission, helping support our expert product labs.

Whatever you think of the iPhone X, there’s no debating that it’s the most drastic evolution that Apple’s smartphone line has ever seen. With it’s all-screen design, OLED display, lack of home button and sensor array, it looks unlike any iPhone we’ve ever seen. But alongside the iPhone X, Apple launched a more traditional phone: the iPhone 8. Though it looks like a relic next to the X, it might not be the last LCD iPhone that Apple ever releases.

In a new report this week, Rosenblatt Securities analyst Jun Zhang said that as “steady” as iPhone X sales have been, the price is still a hurdle for many customers. Some customers simply aren’t willing or able to pay $1,000 for a smartphone, which is why he believes that next year, Apple will release a new phone next year that retain the LCD display of the iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus, but feature a similar design to that of the iPhone X.

“We believe Apple might bring down the cost of an iPhone X by using an LCD screen next year making the iPhone 8S a more differentiated product from the iPhone 7 and 8,” Zhang said in his report. This follows and seemingly backs up a report from KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo earlier this month which featured a similar prediction:

We believe the major hardware difference in the two new OLED models is size, in a bid to satisfy various needs of the high-end market. The new TFT-LCD model will differ significantly from the OLED models in hardware and design specs (for instance, the PPI will be lower). The primary selling points of the TFT-LCD model may be the innovative user experience of an integrated full-screen design and 3D sensing with a lower price tag (we expect it will likely be US$649-749)

The iPhone 8 is already “stuck in the middle” in the current lineup, with the iPhone 7 priced more competitively and the iPhone X offering a brand new experience. If Apple does release two, or even three, all-screen phones next year — especially if one is markedly cheaper than the others — the iPhone 8 will be in an even tougher spot.

Jacob Siegal
Jacob Siegal Associate Editor

Jacob Siegal is Associate Editor at BGR, having joined the news team in 2013. He has over a decade of professional writing and editing experience, and helps to lead our technology and entertainment product launch and movie release coverage.