Apple to offer redesigned OLED iPhone with larger model in 2017, claims analyst

Given Apple’s usual upgrade cycle, this spring should see the release of the iPhone 7 with a brand new design – but what if next year is really when Apple plans to significantly overhaul the line?

That’s what Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo at KGI Securities is suggesting with his latest report, which pulls together a few different Apple rumours – and adds more speculation to the fire, as well. Key to the report is the idea that Apple will redesign next year’s iPhone rather than significantly overhauling the line in 2016.

Kuo believes that the next big iPhone overhaul will bring back a glass backing, like the iPhone 4, “as plastic doesn’t offer thin and light form factor designs, and it would not be easy to precisely control the tolerance of ceramic,” claims the report, according to 9to5Mac. However, he anticipates a curved design rather than flat glass surfaces, and an AMOLED display instead of LCD.

He also expects that Apple will introduce an iPhone with a larger 5.8in display, but that the redesigned form factor will ultimately make the device smaller than the current 5.5in iPhone 6s Plus. Kuo believes the current Plus size will be replaced by the 5.8in model, given the design shift and ability to accommodate a larger display without growing the device’s footprint.

Lastly, the analyst’s report suggests that Apple will incorporate wireless charging – a long-demanded addition – and perhaps also an additional biometric recognition feature to supplement Touch ID, such as eye or facial recognition.

This year’s iPhone has been rumoured to drop the headphone port and embrace an even slimmer build, but will those simply be tweaks on the current iPhone 6/6s design rather than pieces of a total overhaul? That remains to be seen, but if Kuo’s projections prove true, next year could see the more significant shifts for Apple’s handsets.

Source: 9to5Mac