Apple's iPhone 12 partner BOE just reportedly missed its first OLED shipment date

By Oliver Haslam
published

iPhone 12 concept
iPhone 12 concept (Image credit: ConceptsiPhone)

What you need to know

  • Chinese firm BOE is expected to produce OLED panels for iPhone 12.
  • A new report claims the company missed its first shipment date.
  • Apple is already expected to push the iPhone 12 launch back to October.

Apple is thought to have lined BOE up to produce the OLED panels that will go into at least one iPhone 12 model, but according to a report that isn't going according to plan. A report by Korean language outlet DDaily claims that BOE has already failed to meet its delivery date for the first load of panels.

Worryingly, the issue seems to be BOE's inability to produce panels at the required quality level.

However, the report doesn't make it clear whether this is an issue that will impact overall iPhone manufacturing or if the quality control failures have already been built into the iPhone 12's production window.

Display analyst Ross Young previously noted that BOE will produce the screens for the upcoming iPhone 12 Max. Those panels are thought to be 6.06 inches with a resolution of 2540x1174. Notably, LG Display is also thought to be working on producing panels for the same handset.

Apple is already thought to be planning an iPhone 12 lineup drop in October due to the ongoing COVID-19 difficulties. It isn't yet clear whether this setback will further impact those plans.

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.