Apple’s upcoming iPhone 17e, which is widely-expected to debut early next year, will continue to use the OLED display panel that originated with the iPhone 14 and is also used for the current iPhone 16e, but will feature slimmer display bezels.
According to a new report from The Elec, its supply chain sources say BOE will again be the main supplier for the new budget-priced “e” iPhone model. Samsung Display and LG Display will provide the rest of the panels. The report doesn’t mention whether or not the iPhone 17e will boast a Dynamic Island as has been rumored previously. The current iPhone 16e features a notch at the top of the display.
As for the slimmer display bezels, Apple could slim down the bezels without changing the display panel itself, by modifying the frame and adjusting how tightly the screen fits into the chassis. Such an update that would provide a noticeable design change, without costing too much more to manufacture.
The Elec report also repeated previous rumors about the iPhone 17e, including it continue to offer a 6.1-inch OLED display with a 60Hz refresh rate.
While Apple recently dropped BOE as a supplier for OLED panels for the iPhone 17 Pro, after the Chinese supplier failed to fix reliability issues ahead of mass production of the panels, the company has proven to be capable of reliably producing low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS) TFT panels, which the iPhone 16e uses.