Apple Reportedly Secures Better Deal for iPhone 18 Pro Series’ OLED Panels; iPhone 18 Leak Hints at New Upgrades

iPhone 18 Pro Max is expected to be launched next month as the Cupertino-based tech giant's new flagship smartphone. The handset will reportedly be unveiled along with the iPhone 18 Pro and the iPhone Ultra. Meanwhile, the standard iPhone 18 could launch early next year. Reports suggest that Apple will be increasing the prices of its old and new handsets next year with the debut of the iPhone 18 Pro series. To control costs, the tech giant has reportedly been able to secure a new deal with LG and Samsung to get their OLED panels at lower prices. Separately, an analyst has reportedly predicted that the iPhone 18 will ship with various upgrades over its predecessor.

Apple Could Be Acquiring OLED Panels at Lower Prices for Its New iPhone Models

Citing industry sources, DealSite (translated from Korean) reports that Apple has managed to secure new deal terms for acquiring OLED display panels from LG and Samsung. The Tim Cook-led tech giant will reportedly equip the soon-to-be-launched iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. The price per OLED panel for Apple is said to be lower than what the company was paying for the OLED screens on the iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Apple will reportedly pay LG and Samsung about $68 (roughly Rs. 6,500) for each OLED panel for the flagship iPhone 18 Pro Max. This is said to be significantly lower than what the company is paying for the iPhone 17 Pro Max's OLED panel. The report highlights that the company was paying between $110 (about Rs. 10,500) and $120 (roughly Rs. 11,500) to the same suppliers for each OLED screen for the current-generation iPhone 17 Pro Max. This is said to help the company reduce the manufacturing cost, which has been rising because of the increasing prices of memory and storage components.

iPhone 18 Might Launch With Two Notable Upgrades

Moreover, new details about the iPhone 18 have surfaced online. According to a research note seen by 9to5Mac, market analyst Jeff Pu predicts that the iPhone 18 will be launched with two significant upgrades over the iPhone 17. The smartphone will reportedly be equipped with 12GB of RAM. If this is true, it would be a notable upgrade over the 8GB of RAM on the iPhone 17.

On top of this, the analyst predicts that the Cupertino-based tech giant will equip the iPhone 18 with a redesigned Dynamic Island feature on the front, which will reportedly be first seen on the iPhone 18 Pro series. The standard iPhone 18 model is said to launch next year. However, the company has yet to confirm these new details.