A new material for Samsung Display's OLED panels will increase iPhone battery life

As many smartphone users already know, the battery life they get on their handsets can be improved by lowering the brightness setting for the screen. With that in mind, The Elec (via AppleInsider) reports that Samsung Display plans on adding blue phosphorescent material to its OLED screens as a way to reduce the power needs of the panels. However, the change might not occur until 2026 when the iPhone 18 line should be released.

The red and green phosphorescent materials used in OLED panels both have an internal luminous efficiency of 100%. Blue uses fluorescent materials with an efficiency of only 25% so by replacing the blue fluorescent material with phosphorescent material, an OLED display should not need to consume as much power as it does now. UBI Research deputy director Daejeong Yoon, who appeared at the 2023 Second Half UBI Research Analyst Seminar in Seoul today, said that Samsung is currently working to create the blue phosphorescent material.

The material being developed by Samsung Display has a lifespan equal to only 55% of the lifespan of the blue fluorescent material used in the M11 OLED material set employed on the iPhone 13 series. Even so, Samsung Display plans on using the blue phosphorescence material starting in the second half of 2025. UBI analyst Yoon said that the original plan was to introduce the new material with Samsung's foldable smartphone line in the middle of 2024 but the analyst notes that "the development of (blue phosphorescent material) does not seem to be going smoothly."

The report adds that Samsung plans to increase the luminous efficiency of the materials by more than 65% compared to the materials used in Samsung Display's M13 OLED material set which was used in the Pixel 8 Pro and will be employed on the upcoming Galaxy S24 series next year. The blue phosphorescence material won't be used until the M15 material set is ready.

Yoon forecasts that next year's iPhone 16 line and 2025's iPhone 17 series will both use the M14 OLED materials set. Samsung is reportedly using a pattern where Apple devices get the even number OLED material sets and the odd number sets are used by Samsung and Chinese manufacturers. Each set is used for two years.

As a result, it would seem that the new blue phosphorescence material won't be used on an iPhone display until 2026 which, as previously noted, is when we should see the iPhone 18 series released.