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Next year's iPhone will have a much nicer screen

One of the suppliers that manufactures Apple's iPhone screens is reportedly making a new type of iPhone screen that's expected to be released in 2017, according to Bloomberg.

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Applied Materials, the iPhone screen supplier, made a large equipment order to retool its production line, which indicates it'll be making the new display for Apple's iPhones.

iphone 6s Plus
Rafi Letzter/Tech Insider

The new screens are said to be of the organic light-emitting diode (OLED) variety, which offers a brighter, sharper image than the LCD screens currently used on iPhones.

The timing of the suppliers' retooling suggests that it'll start making OLED displays for the 2017 iPhone, as opposed to the iPhone coming this fall.

Indeed, rumors and analyst predictions claim that Apple is saving the biggest iPhone changes for 2017, which would be the iPhone's 10th anniversary. Those rumors include an all-display front surface that doesn't have borders or bezels, as well as a full glass build similar to the iPhone 4 generation.

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Samsung has been using OLED displays on its smartphones for years now, and it's true that they're better than the LCD displays used on iPhones.

iphone lcd screen vs samsung amoled screen black level
Samsung's OLED display (right) can display much better black levels than the iPhone display (left). Antonio Villas-Boas/Tech Insider

For one, OLED displays can display better blacks, which helps colors and the brightness pop out to look more dynamic and striking. OLED displays can also be brighter and sharper than LCD displays.

Either way, we'll have to wait over a year until Apple's fall 2017 event to find out. 

As for this year's iPhone, the so-called iPhone 7 apparently won't be too much different than the current iPhone 6s, based off the rumors we've seen. Leaked images of the iPhone 7's design make it look very similar to the iPhone 6 generation, and only the larger iPhone 7 Plus model is expected to have a special dual-lens camera. It's also rumored that the iPhone 7 won't have a headphone jack.

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