Track Hyper | 2025: Apple's Rare "Major" Upgrade

Author: Zhou Yuan/Wall Street News

In recent years, Apple has been lacking innovation. Its stock price has dropped from its all-time high of $199.38 on December 14, 2023, to $169.12 on March 6, 2024, a decrease of nearly 15% (14.47%), and has been downgraded three times in January 2024.

The upcoming iPhone 16 series to be launched in September this year, according to current supply chain information, does not show significant upgrades. As for the iPhone 17 in 2025, in terms of the screen, there will be a significant upgrade compared to all previous models: full support for LTPO (Low-Temperature Polymer) OLED 120Hz high refresh rate.

What is LTPO? Lei Jun, the founder, chairman, and CEO of XIAOMI-WR, stated in a Weibo post on November 7, 2023, "LTPO functionality is currently very expensive. It is a symbol of top-tier screens."

2025: Apple's Big Move

Apple's lack of innovation in smartphones over the past 5 years is no longer news.

Although Apple started using LTPO technology on the iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max, full support for this high refresh rate (120Hz) technology will have to wait until the iPhone 17 series in 2025.

This will be a first in the history of Apple smartphones.

Currently, LTPO technology is only used in the two flagship models of iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, with the biggest advantage being the ability to achieve a smoother high refresh rate. In addition, the most significant technical advantage of LTPO, compared to LTPS technology, is the ability to achieve lower power consumption.

Starting from the iPhone 13 series in 2021, Apple equipped the two Pro models of that series with LTPO variable refresh rate screens; while the other two standard models still maintained the LTPS (Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Silicon) screens. According to the supply chain, the iPhone 16 series set to be released in September this year will continue with this approach.

Until 2025, apart from the high-end version, for the standard version, Apple will still maintain a 60Hz refresh rate. Apple has been holding on to the 60Hz refresh rate for many years. In contrast, domestic competitors have long embraced this direction as the norm.

For example, the recently released Xiaomi 14Ultra (including its predecessor Xiaomi 13Ultra) jointly developed a screen by TCL Huaxing Optoelectronics and Xiaomi, using an LTPO 1Hz-120Hz adaptive refresh rate OLED screen. In addition, the Huawei Mate60 series, Honor Magic6 series, OPPO Find X7 series, vivo X100 series, iQOO12 series, realme GT5 Pro, OnePlus 12, and Ace3, etc., have all embraced this trend.

• All screens are using LTPO technology OLED screens.

• In the domestic LTPO technology screen suppliers, the most prominent ones are BOE, Visionox, and Huaxing Optoelectronics. Among them, BOE has even entered Apple's smartphone supply chain.

• According to media reports, BOE and other screen suppliers are currently providing LTPO panel samples to Apple, and related technical tests are being accelerated.

• In the field of LTPO technology, BOE has recently released a lot of information.

• On January 19, BOE A stated on the interactive platform that the company's annual shipment of flexible AMOLED in 2023 is close to 120 million pieces, reaching a new high in annual shipments, and the annual target has been basically achieved.

• In terms of production line layout, BOE continues to consolidate its leading advantage in semiconductor display products and technology. In the AMOLED field, the company is investing in the construction of an 8.6th generation AMOLED production line. Based on the technological capabilities accumulated in the 6th generation flexible AMOLED production line, this production line will apply upgraded display technology, focusing on high-end IT products, and collaborating with many well-known domestic and foreign brands to jointly explore the broad market of medium-sized OLED screen products.

• In the metaverse field, BOE is investing in the construction of a 6th generation new semiconductor display device production line, applying LTPO technology, focusing on AR/VR related products. The layout of new technologies and production lines will help BOE seize the high-end market and continuously enhance the overall competitiveness of the company.

• On December 28, 2023, BOE A stated on the interactive platform that BOE is investing in the construction of a 6th generation new semiconductor display device production line project compatible with LTPO LCD technology and LTPS LCD technology.

• "The company has recently announced plans to invest in the construction of an 8.6th generation AMOLED production line project. This production line will further improve the preparation process of the backplane and OLED emitter based on the technological foundation of the existing 6th generation AMOLED production line." BOE stated, "Products using this technology have lower power consumption and longer lifespan compared to the previous generation products."

What is LTPO? What are its advantages?

• Lei Jun posted a Weibo post on November 23 last year, which was later quoted by Li Jie, the president of OnePlus China, when launching the OnePlus Ace3 on January 4 this year.

• Lei Jun's Weibo post stated, "LTPO functionality is currently very expensive. It is a symbol of top-notch screens."

• LTPO, short for Low-Temperature Polycrystalline Oxide, is also known as "Low-Temperature Polymer" in English. This technology was first applied by Apple, in the two high-end versions of the flagship iPhone 13 in 2021.

• From a technical perspective, LTPO is one of the various solutions for the TFT (Thin Film Transistor) backplane of OLED screens. In terms of the screen itself, LTPO is not a completely new screen type but an improvement in OLED screen driving technology. At present, the TFT technology of smartphone screens is mainly divided into a-Si (amorphous silicon), LTPS (low-temperature polycrystalline silicon), and IGZO (Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide).

Before the launch of the LTPO by the high-end version of iPhone13 in 2021, the mainstream high-refresh screens mostly used LTPS technology, which was developed mainly by Sharp.

The advantage of LTPS technology lies in the faster and more efficient switching of liquid crystal molecules, achieving a higher screen refresh rate. At the same time, due to its special crystal structure, it enhances the response speed of each pixel, resulting in vivid colors and a delicate and realistic display.

However, LTPS suffers from serious leakage current issues, leading to high power consumption and the inability to automatically switch refresh rates. LGZO technology, on the other hand, has low electron mobility and drive voltage, high resolution, low power consumption, good light transmission, but with a shorter lifespan and higher usage requirements, mainly used in tablets and high-end laptops.

LTPO is a combination of LTPS and LGZO, with Apple holding multiple patents for LTPO technology.

The benefits of this technology include a redesigned crystal structure that allows each pixel to independently adjust its switching state, enabling adaptive refresh rates. This is different from the drawback of LTPS not being able to automatically adjust based on the environment and application scale.

This advantage means that when displaying static, dynamic, or real-time responsive images, LTPO screens can automatically adjust the refresh rate to save power, extend the device's battery life, while maintaining smooth visuals, enhancing the user experience.

Apple leverages the fast switching and low leakage characteristics of IGZO, improves LTPS backplane technology, and combines LTPS with IGZO lines to create a new type of LTPO backplane technology.

In September 2019, Apple successfully applied this technology for the first time in the new generation Apple Watch Series 5, achieving a balance between display and power consumption.

In simple terms, smartphones with LTPO technology screens have the dual advantages of high refresh rates and lower power consumption (simply put, less battery consumption). The advantage of LTPS is high refresh rates and vibrant, delicate colors on the screen.

It is worth mentioning the OnePlus Ace3 released in early January this year, a mid-range flagship that uses the high-end 8T LTPO screen (1.5K). Li Jie, the president of OnePlus China, believes that the popularization of flagship screens should not just focus on specifications but should return to users and their experience. Li Jie believes that "8T LTPO is definitely a trend, and more importantly, the future."

Even mid-range devices now directly use OLED screens with LTPO technology, while Apple is expected to introduce this technology to the standard version of iPhone17 only by 2025. This approach can no longer be described as dragging one's feet.