The next iPhone is said to sport in-touch panels

[dgstorm]

If you missed any of the previous next generation iPhone rumors we just received a fresh stack for you. Apparently Taiwanese website DigiTimes reported that Apple might be planning to implement new in-touch panels into the new iPhone, thanks to the collaboration it now has with Sharp and Toshiba Mobile Display (TMD).

These new panels baptized “in-cell” will be thinner than the ones present in the current iPhone. The technology will help the Cupertino club reduce the thickness of the device, a crucial feature for smartphones today.

“Apple’s new iPhone, which is expected to be released in the third quarter of 2012, is likely to adopt in-cell touch panels rolled out by Sharp and Toshiba Mobile Display (TMD), according to sources in Apple’s supply chain.An improvement in yield rates of the in-cell touch panels at Sharp and TMD has persuaded Apple to choose to cooperate with Japan-based panel makers, the sources noted. “

What this “in-cell” technology represents is the introduction of direct tactile sensors within the screen color filters; As opposed to the ones placed on top of each other, like in the gadgets we use today. Adopting this strategy, Apple will be able to drop off its traditional partners for implementing the newly formed technology. The dimension difference in the touch panel won’t be huge, but combined with other internal modifications, could provide Apple with a 1/2 mm cut from the iPhone's thickness.

by Radu

Source: Apple next-generation iPhone likely to adopt in-cell touch panels, say sources