Last updated: May 8th, 2026 at 09:46 UTC+02:00
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LTPO+ panels offer improved power efficiency.
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Abhijeet Mishra / SamMobile
Samsung Display will once again supply OLED panels for Apple’s upcoming iPhones. The South Korean firm has reportedly been finalized by Apple as one of the two suppliers for the OLED panels used in the iPhone 18 Pro series, which is expected to launch in the second half of this year.
A new report from The Elec claims that Apple has approved Samsung Display and LG Display as suppliers of OLED panels for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. The two companies will manufacture Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Oxide Plus (LTPO+) OLED panels, which offer improved power efficiency while supporting variable refresh rates.
This technology applies oxide materials not only to switching TFTs but also to driving TFTs, allowing more precise control of the current supplied to the OLED layer for light emission. It is an improvement compared to LTPO panels used in the iPhone 17 and the iPhone 17 Pro series.
While BOE supplied OLED panels for some iPhone 17 series models, the company reportedly failed to produce LTPO+ OLED panels in the quantities and quality required by Apple for the iPhone 18 Pro lineup. Samsung Display has reportedly increased its production capacity by 10 to 15 percent compared to the first half of 2025, which likely helped secure the order. As a result, BOE has reportedly been excluded from the iPhone 18 Pro supply chain, benefiting both Samsung Display and LG Display.
According to the report, Samsung Display could supply around 146 million OLED panels to Apple, while LG Display may supply more than 82 million units.
BOE is still expected to supply OLED panels for older or lower-end iPhone models, including the iPhone 14 (12.5 million units), iPhone 15 (5.8 million units), iPhone 16e (12.5 million units), iPhone 16 (6 million units), iPhone 17e (12.5 million units), and iPhone 17 (2.5 million units).
The report also claims that the technology gap between the South Korean display makers and BOE has widened significantly since Apple adopted LTPO displays even for the base iPhone 17 models. Although BOE can manufacture LTPO panels, it reportedly cannot produce them in the volume Apple requires.
Asif is a computer engineer turned technology journalist. He has been using Samsung phones since 2004, and his current smartphone is the Galaxy S23 Ultra. He loves headphones, mechanical keyboards, and PC hardware. When not writing about technology, he likes watching crime and science fiction movies and TV shows.
