Here’s what’s on my mind.

Production on the 2017 iPhone is moving along, with Apple recently having placed orders for 70 million OLED panels, reports Nikkei. Samsung, as we already know, will be Apple’s sole OLED supplier, and will provide Apple with the panels.

Demand for the 2017 iPhone, which is expected to feature a major design overhaul with an edge-to-edge display, glass body, and a premium price tag, is expected to be high as it typically is in a year when a new look is unveiled. Apple and Samsung are gearing up to meet demand with the large panel order.

“iPhone X” concept via Gabor Balogh

Nikkei‘s info comes from a supply chain source and also matches with estimates provided by IHS Markit analyst David Hsieh.

“Apple has ordered 70 million units of OLED panels from Samsung this year, while Samsung is preparing to churn out as many as 95 million for Apple in 2017, in case demand exceeds expectations,” Hsieh said.

There have already been rumors suggesting the OLED iPhone will be in short supply when it launches in September, with the majority of the stock unavailable until later in the year, and Hsieh also believes that could be the case. “It is also possible that some of these 70 million handsets will not be shipped to customers this year and be carried over to next year depending on demand,” he said.

Nikkei‘s industry source, in addition to covering panel orders, also shared some details on the upcoming device that echoes many rumors we’ve heard in the past.

The site believes we will see a premium OLED iPhone with a 5.2-inch screen and no home button, which will be sold alongside standard 4.7 and 5.5-inch devices with LCD screens and home buttons. All three iPhones will include wireless charging functionality (lately said to be inductive) and waterproofing, while at least one model, presumably the OLED iPhone, will include a 3D sensor that supports facial recognition.

Other features rumored for the iPhone 8 not mentioned in Nikkei‘s report include camera improvements, a faster and more efficient A11 processor, Touch ID built into the display, True Tone ambient light adjustment, and perhaps augmented reality functionality enabled through the camera.

Discuss this article in our forums

JEDEC, the organization that develops global standards for computer memory, has announced it will be previewing its next-generation DDR5 standard for RAM in June 2017. The standard is expected to be finalized by 2018, at which point chipmakers like Intel will be able to add support for the technology.

As noted by Ars Technica, DDR5 RAM will double the speed of current DDR4 RAM while offering greater power efficiency.

DDR5 memory will offer improved performance with greater power efficiency as compared to previous generation DRAM technologies. As planned, DDR5 will provide double the bandwidth and density over DDR4, along with delivering improved channel efficiency. These enhancements, combined with a more user-friendly interface for server and client platforms, will enable high performance and improved power management in a wide variety of applications.

It might be quite a while until DDR5 RAM goes mainstream, however, as the first computers with DDR4 RAM did not arrive until two years after that standard was finalized. Apple itself has yet to even adopt DDR4 RAM, with nearly every current Mac equipped with older LPDDR3 RAM, which maxes out at 16GB.

• MacBook: 8GB of 1866MHz LPDDR3 RAM

• MacBook Air: 8GB of 1600MHz LPDDR3 RAM

• MacBook Pro: 8/16GB of 1866/2133MHz LPDDR3 RAM

• iMac: 8/16/32GB of 1867MHz LPDDR3 RAM

• Mac mini: 4/8GB of 1600MHz LPDDR3 RAM

• Mac Pro: 12/16GB of 1866MHz DDR3 ECC RAM

Apple said the 2016 MacBook Pro does not support DDR4 RAM because of battery life considerations. DDR4 memory’s low-power variant LPDDR4 is not supported by Intel’s Skylake processors powering the latest MacBook Pro models, and using regular DDR4 RAM would have reduced space for batteries.

Apple marketing chief Phil Schiller in November:

The MacBook Pro uses 16GB of very fast LPDDR memory, up to 2133MHz. To support 32GB of memory would require using DDR memory that is not low power and also require a different design of the logic board which might reduce space for batteries. Both factors would reduce battery life.

The often reliable Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities said Apple will release a 15-inch MacBook with 32GB of desktop-class RAM later this year, but it is unclear which Intel processor the notebook would use.

Intel’s next-generation Kaby Lake and Coffee Lake processors do not support LPDDR4 RAM beyond ultra-low-power chips, while Cannonlake processors expected by early 2018 are not designed for the MacBook Pro.

Discuss this article in our forums