The iPhone 15 may get a display material upgrade over the iPhone 14

(Image credit: iMore / Stephen Warwick)

Apple's upcoming iPhone 15 might be about to get a display material upgrade over the outgoing iPhone 14, giving it the same technology as the iPhone 15 Pro in the process.

According to a new report, Apple will give the iPhone 15 the same display material as the Pro version for the first time — the iPhone 14 had a different material to the iPhone 14 Pro — but it isn't immediately clear what that will mean in terms of user experience.

None of this will mean that the iPhone 15 will have the same 120Hz ProMotion technology as the iPhone 15 Pro, for example, although we're already expecting all four iPhone 15 models to feature the iPhone 15 Pro's Dynamic Island.

M11, M12, and M13

According to The Elec, Apple's iPhone 14 used Samsung Display's M11 material, whereas the iPhone 14 Pro used the M12 alternative. For the 2023 iPhones, it's thought that all four will use the M12 material for the first time.

"According to the industry on the 10th, it was found that Samsung Display will expand the organic light emitting diode (OLED) material set M12 to all four Apple iPhone 15 series scheduled to be released in the second half of the year," the report says.

This news means that you won't have to buy the best iPhone to get Samsung Display's most advanced material, but no iPhone will have the latest and greatest that the display maker has to offer.

The Elec also reports that a new M13 material is available, with Google set to use it on its Pixel Fold — the company's foldable phone that is expected to be released in the second half of 2023.

Whether anyone will notice a difference between these generations isn't clear, however. The Elec notes that "the OLED material set refers to the OLED material composition that panel companies apply to smartphones." The report goes on to say that "the OLED material set consists of a light-emitting layer and a common layer such as red (R), green (G), and blue (B) individualization, such as dopant (emitting body), host (lighting layer), and prime (adjury layer)."

Apple isn't expected to use the M13 generation at all, with the report saying that the 2024 iPhone 16 will use a new M14 instead.

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.