It seems Samsung – not LG – produced the iPhone XS Max OLEDs

Way back in June, we reported on a new partnership between Apple and LG, with the latter agreeing to supply organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays to the former. Supposedly, the OLEDs were going to be used in the next batch of iPhones, which then launched in September.

However, according to DisplayMate, the OLED display in the iPhone XS Max is made by Samsung Display, which is the same company that made the previous iPhone displays. What happened to the reported partnership with LG Display?

Allegedly, Apple entered into the LG partnership to drive down prices for the very expensive OLEDs needed to create the high-quality screens on the iPhone X (and now the iPhone XS and XS Max). The cost of the display is one of the main reasons the iPhone X and XS start at a whopping $1,000.

Since Apple is pretty much exclusively reliant on Samsung to create these displays, Samsung has little incentive to drop the price. But if Apple partnered with LG, the competition would drive down the pricing across the board.

Was it all a power play? Did Apple enter the partnership just to push Samsung to drop its prices, or did Apple really want to work with LG — but something happened that made the agreement not possible? Or is the original information wrong and LG Display never had an Apple partnership to begin with?

We reached out to both Apple and LG for comment, but neither company responded by press time.

Apple partnering with LG would be a boon for other smartphone companies in the Android ecosystem, as more competition against Samsung — which arguably makes the best displays in the industry — would likely drive down pricing for everyone. This would mean better displays in all manner of phones, and we’d have Apple to thank for it.

However, here we are with the iPhone XS Max having a Samsung display, which suggests that nothing’s changed. Help us LG, you’re our only hope!

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