Apple is said to be in plans to adopt a new power-saving backplane technology for the upcoming iPhone and Apple Watch displays with an to contribute to longer battery life, according to research firm IHS Markit. The backplane technology is responsible for turning individual pixels on and off and it plays a significant role in determining a display’s resolution, refresh rate, and power consumption.
Currently, OLED displays in smartphones use LTPS TFT, or low-temperature polysilicon thin-film transistors, as the standard backplane technology. However, things might in the future and Apple switch to LTPO TFT, or low-temperature polycrystalline oxide. Kept in theory, LTPO can save 5-15% in power consumption versus LTPS, resulting in extended battery life on future iPhones. The report says that LTPO has an Oxide TFT structure that can reduce the power leakage of LTPS.
Apple might also develop LTPO technology to gain more control over components of OLED displays. The company currently sources flexible OLED panels exclusively from Samsung, but LG might soon become their number two choice and Apple might require both the companies to look into LTPO. Similar fashion, it might ask display manufacturers to start deploying LTPO first on the Apple Watch and then gradually introduce it in the iPhone display over the long term.