which iphone has lcd screen brands

How often do you think about your iPhone’s display? Unless you’re a tech nerd (like me), or living with a shattered display (like me in the past), you might not ever give it much thought. Otherwise, it looks nice — what more do you need to know? But you don’t need to be a geek to care about your iPhone’s display. In fact, you might be missing out on some great features if you’re not aware of what kind you have.

Let’s start with the basics. There are basically two different kinds of iPhone displays. The first is LCD, which stands for liquid-crystal display. To simplify the explanation (and this is a significant simplification) let’s look at two of the components that make LCDs work. The first is their pixels, which are what dictate the colours that appear onscreen. Each pixel has three subpixels — one red, one green, and one blue — which each change in intensity. That combination of colours creates the images that appear when you scroll on Instagram, watch a YouTube video, or look at your photos.

The second component with LCDs is the backlight. The backlight is a panel that sits behind the pixels, and shines light through them in order for you to see what you see. When you change the brightness of your display, you’re really controlling the backlight, and it covers the entire display; think of it like a lightbulb — you can’t decide to have one part of the lightbulb getting brighter while another part gets dimmer.

The other type of iPhone display is OLED, short for organic light-emitting diode. The major difference between LCD and OLED displays is that there is no backlight in an OLED panel. Instead, the pixels lightthemselves up. That gives you some significant benefits; for one, you can have more finely detailed images, since each pixel stands out on its own, rather than requiring a backlight that covers all surrounding pixels as well. The biggest benefit, and the one you might see people talk about most, is that OLED pixels can turn themselves off, giving you incredible contrast between light and dark images.

Here’s an example of why that’s great: Let’s say you’re watching a movie on your phone. Anytime there are dark scenes in that movie, those areas of your display will quite literally turn off. A night sky goes completely black; if the movie is widescreen or a square 4:3, the bars that appear top and bottom or left and right are suddenly completely dark. It results in a very good-looking image, especially if you’re watching in a low-lit room.

These benefits are why I love OLED TVs in particular. The image is fantastic, and, when watching in a totally dark room, letterboxing bars just disappear; you only see the part of the screen you should (whether it be super widescreen or the old square format).

When it comes to iPhones, if you compare an LCD iPhone and an OLED iPhone and fill each display with a black rectangle, it would perfectly visualise the difference. The OLED iPhone would look like it was turned off; the LCD iPhone would still appear dark, but the display would be illuminated.

Because OLED pixels can turn themselves off, there are huge implications for battery life. You can save your iPhone some juice just by using dark mode, specifically the kind of dark mode that uses black backgrounds. (Grey ones won’t turn the pixels off, so you really need all-black elements to save your iPhone’s battery from having to power each and every pixel.)

Traditionally, the main flaw with OLED displays is burn-in. You see this a lot with OLED TVs, unfortunately; after an extended period of use, sometimes the “shadow” of static images will always remain on your screen. People who watch a lot of news, for example, complain that they can see the outline of the chyron, news ticker, and outlet logo on their TVs at all times.

That said, Apple has done a good job to prevent burn-in on OLED iPhones and it just isn’t a common complaint with these devices. The first OLED iPhone — the X — has been out since 2017, and in those four years, residual images haven’t been a noted issue. That’s to say, you don’t need to go out of your way to choose an LCD iPhone if you’re afraid of burn-in.

Below, I’ve listed each and every iPhone that Apple has ever made, complete with their display type. Some of these iPhones are quite old, but I’d love to know if you’re still rocking them. I should note that there are no new LCD iPhones; the last one Apple produced was the 2020 iPhone SE, and the iPhone 11 before that. The entire iPhone 12 and 13 lineups are made using OLED displays.

iPhone (2007), iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPhone 5C, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, iPhone SE (1st Gen), iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone XR, iPhone 11, iPhone SE (2nd Gen).

iPhone X, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 Pro Max, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max.

Apple, when compared to other smartphone manufacturers, has been sticking to LCD screens on its phones for longer than it should. Until the iPhone 12 lineup last year, all of its flagship lineups released in September included at least one LCD iPhone, and that includes the iPhone 11. For a while, Apple has resorted to keeping OLED screens exclusively for the highest-end models, usually called "Pro" iPhones. We were hoping Apple would ditch the use of dated LCD screens on lower-end models, like the iPhone SE, considering how good OLEDs have proliferated the price ranges. However, it seems like this won"t be happening for at least two more years.

While the Cupertino tech giant has completely switched to OLED screens on the iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 lineups, it still plans to release an LCD "iPhone SE Plus" next year. These expectations come from Ross Young -- CEO of Display Supply Chain Consultants (DSCC). He posted a tweet earlier stating that Apple will be releasing a 5G-equipped iPhone SE Plus in 2022 that has a 4.7" LCD screen, similar to that of the iPhone 8.

This points at a phone similar to the previous-gen iPhone SE, but with some updated internals. Young also mentions that Apple has pushed the 2023 iPhone SE 3rd Gen to 2024. Rumors suggest that it will have a 5.7" - 6.1" hole-punch LCD screen. So this means that we will still be seeing LCD iPhones till at least 2024, unless Apple scraps its plans. This isn"t very surprising to see on the iPhone SE models because they"re significantly cheaper than high-end ones. Apple has to sacrifice certain features and build materials to keep the production costs low, though arguments can be made on how the company keeps healthy margins for itself in several other products.

It"s not very clear why Apple is resorting to the "Plus" naming. The phone will share the size of an iPhone 8, rather than an iPhone 8 Plus. It could be because it"ll probably feature 5G capabilities, but that doesn"t make much sense. The Plus used to indicate a larger screen on older iPhone models before the "Max" switch took place. Ross has a 100% accuracy rate, so it"ll likely be the case, unless Apple changes its plans. The tech overlord could be releasing the new iPhone SE Plus around Spring 2022, considering the SE 2020 came out in April. Until then, we won"t be able to confirm any rumors revolving around it.

The Super Retina and Super Retina XDR displays use organic light-emitting diode (OLED) technology. Super Retina and Super Retina XDR includes further advancements over traditional OLED displays to enable an incredible viewing experience, for the first time rising to the standards of iPhone.

If you look at an OLED display off-angle, you might notice slight shifts in color and hue. At reduced display brightness levels against black backgrounds, you might notice a slight blur or color change while scrolling. These are characteristics of OLED and are normal behavior. With extended long-term use, OLED displays can also show slight visual changes. This is also expected behavior and can include “image persistence” or “burn-in,” where the display shows a faint remnant of an image even after a new image appears on the screen. Image persistence is temporary and disappears after a few minutes of normal use. Burn-in can occur in more extreme cases such as when the same high-contrast image is continuously displayed at high brightness for prolonged periods of time.

We’ve engineered the Super Retina and Super Retina XDR displays to be the best in the industry in reducing the effects of OLED burn-in. This includes special algorithms that monitor the usage of individual pixels to produce display calibration data. Your iPhone uses that data to automatically adjust the brightness levels for each pixel as needed to reduce visual effects from burn-in and to maintain a consistent viewing experience. The auto-brightness function can further reduce the effects of burn-in and image persistence.

In addition, all displays, including OLEDs and LCDs, might be susceptible to reduced brightness levels as the display ages over time. This can occur on any consumer-electronics product.

Of all the new phones announced at Apple’s September iPhone event, the iPhone XR is arguably the most interesting. Compared to the significantly more expensive iPhone XS and XS Max, the XR is eerily similar.

Sure, it doesn’t have a dual-lens camera. But Google has shown what single-lens cameras are capable of. If Apple’s software improvements are as good as what the company claims, the XR will be no slouch in photography.

Beyond that, there aren’t many significant differences. All three devices use the same A12 Bionic processor. They all have Face ID and support for wireless charging. The XR has IP67 water resistance compared to the IP68 in the XS and XS Max.

It’s the type of display. The XS OLED panel against the XR’s LCD. With the base model of the XS and XS Max models starting at $350 and $490 more respectively, that’s a lot of money for an OLED panel.

We’ll start with a quick look at the actual statistics. The XS models both have 458 pixel-per-inch (ppi) displays. The XR has a 326ppi display. In other words, the XS devices have higher resolution displays.

It’s worth noting that OLED or LCD doesn’t affect the resolution of the display. Regardless, higher resolution means higher image quality. However, more pixels means more power usage.

The XS models also have 3D Touch. Again, not related to the type of display — the 7 and 8 had the feature with LCD displays. However, the XR has Haptic Touch, a sort of ‘press-and-hold’ variation that borrows the haptic feedback of MacBook trackpads.

Finally, the XS models have significantly higher contrast ratios. Apple’s website lists both XS devices with 1,000,000:1 contrast, compared to the XR’s 1,400:1. This is where the OLED and LCD differences come in.

It all comes down to how the displays work. Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) has a constant backlight. A panel the same size as the display creates a steady white light that illuminates the display. Manufacturers layer polarizers and filters in front of the backlight control the amount of light that shines through. Additionally, they shape the images you see on the screen.

LCD isn’t bad by any stretch. It’s been the go-to flat-panel display technology for some time. But it has some drawbacks when it comes to mobile devices — most related to that backlight.

That difference is visible in the image above. The iPhone 7 Plus with an LCD panel (left) next to the iPhone X with an OLED shows the contrast difference. There’s more detail in the Earth image, specifically on the dark side of the planet. Furthermore, the lights on the continent are sharper on the OLED. It’s hard to see in the photo, but the black is deeper as well.

Getting rid of the backlight has other advantages as well. It makes the display thinner overall, allowing for thinner phones or phones with more stuff inside — like a bigger battery.

Furthermore, OLED can save battery. With OLED screens, dim colours use less power. Black uses no power at all. This could counteract the extra battery drain from having a high-res display like the XS has.

Because they’re often static, those bright spots wear faster than other parts of the screen. When those elements go away, for example when watching a full-screen video, users often notice the burn-in.

Software has gotten pretty good at mitigating wear, however. My Pixel 2 XL, despite havingan LG display prone to burn-in, exhibits almost no sign of burn-in. After almost a year of heavy use, my phone has less burn-in than my first-gen Pixel after the same period of use.

This ultimately comes down to personal preference. I’d take an OLED over anything because I love the vivid colours and contrast. However, when it comes to the new iPhones, an extra $350 is a lot to ask for an OLED screen.

Considering that every iPhone except 2017’s iPhone X had an LCD display — and great looking LCDs at that — I think most people will be more than happy with the XR.

OLEDs are great, but I don’t think they’re $350 great. If you’re that interested in OLED, it’d be worth looking at Android options like the S9. For just a little more than the iPhone XR, you can get an S9+ with one of the best OLED displays in a phone right now.

While Samsung will continue to supply approximately 80 per cent of iPhone displays, rumours claim that a little-known company called BOE looks set to become Apple’s second-largest OLED supplier. Not only is this a sign that Apple’s lowest-cost iPhone 12 model will likely make the leap from LCD to OLED this year, but it’s also a sign that Apple is looking to diversify which manufacturers it uses, and potentially looking to ready itself for a move into the display market itself.

You, like many of us when we first read the rumours, are probably wondering who the hell BOE is, and how it managed to score such a big deal despite its relatively unknown status. However, BOE is, in fact, the largest display manufacturer in China, supplying screens for smartphones, TVs and other electronic devices and home appliances.

The company, which was founded in Bejing in 1993 and acquired SK Hynix"s STN-LCD and OLED businesses back in 2001, is ranked second in the world when it comes to flexible OLED shipments, holding a market share of 11 per cent during the first quarter of this year. It, naturally, is still a long way behind market leader Samsung, which owned 81 per cent market share of the OLED market in the same quarter. Still, with a sizable chunk of the OLED market already under its belt, it perhaps won’t come as too much of a surprise – now, at least – that the firm already has some big-name allies.

BOE’s display technology is currently being utilised in Huawei"s most popular smartphone models, including the high-end P and Mate series, and it reportedly will manufacturer the palm-stretching screen set to appear on this year’s Huawei Mate 40.

BOE even provided the flexible OLED used in the foldable Huawei Mate X, which has proven way more reliable than Samsung’s flexible OLED efforts. Perhaps, then, it’s somewhat unsurprising that Samsung is reportedly considering using BOE screens for its future devices, likely at the expense of its own industry-dominating Samsung Display unit.

BOE’s surprising alliance with Apple isn’t the only time the two companies have worked together, either; the Chinese manufacturer already makes LCD screens for Apple"s older iPhones, and its tiny OLED panels are currently used in some Apple Watch models. It’s unclear how much BOE and Apple’s latest deal is worth, but it’s likely in the billions. According to online reports, Samsung’s deal with the iPhone maker is thought to be worth around $20 billion annually, so if BOE manages to secure 20 per cent of Apple’s display orders going forward, such a deal could be worth as much as $4bn.

Although BOE has managed to muscle its way into Apple’s exclusive list of OLED suppliers, and has invested heavily in facilities and equipment in order to meet the firm’s demands, the new partnership hasn’t got off to a flying start. According to reports, the company’s flexible OLED panels have not yet passed Apple’s final validation. This means, according to rumours, that BOE’s screens might not show up in the first batch of iPhone 12 models, and will instead start shipping on handsets at the beginning of 2021, with Apple instead set to re-increase its reliance on LG in the short term.

The display market could be Apple’s next target. Not only does the company already manufacturer screen technology in the form of its Pro Display XDR, but a recent Bloomberg report claims that Apple is “designing and producing its own device displays” and is making a “significant investment” in MicroLED panels. This technology utilises newer light-emitting compounds that make them brighter, thinner and less power-intense than the current OLED displays.

Apple’s efforts in MicroLED are reportedly in the “advanced stages”; the company has applied for more than 30 patents, and recent rumours suggest the firm is also considering investing over $330 million in a secretive MicroLED factory with the goal of bringing the technology to its future devices.

LG Display has ceased making LCD iPhone screens, and abandoned hopes of doing so in the future, according to a supply-chain report. Separately, the company has stated that it may cease making its own smartphones.

LG once rivaled Samsung as a key supplier of iPhone screens, and Apple benefited from having two companies able to meet both technical and volume requirements. Two suppliers provided redundancy in Apple’s supply-chain, as well as giving the company negotiating strength when it came to allocating orders to the two companies.

Things changed when Apple began transitioning to OLED with the iPhone X. LG was late to recognize the industry trend from LCD to OLED, and was ill-prepared for Apple’s switch. That left Samsung as the sole supplier for Apple’s flagship phones for some time.

LG Display has halted production of liquid crystal display (LCD) panels for iPhones, TheElec has learned […] LG Display halted iPhone LCD production at its AP3 line at Gumi in the third quarter. The line also stopped making panels for other phones as well in the fourth quarter.

For LG Display, the LCD line for iPhones has been low in profitability. Apple also used organic light emitting diode (OLED) panels instead for its iPhone 12 series. Sales of iPhones with OLED is also expected to exceed that of those with LCD panels this year.

Apple’s LCD model, iPhone SE, which launched last year, will use LCD panels by JDI and Sharp instead. LG Display had previously attempted to supply LCD for the 2019-model iPhone SE but failed.

The factory which made the LCD screens is reportedly being repurposed to make display panels for cars. LG is the current market leader in automobile displays of nine inches or larger.

limited at first. Will be benefits of the new screen make it worth the wait? Here’s a quick rundown on OLED (organic light emitting diode) technology and how it differs from today’s LCD (liquid crystal display) screens.

iPhone 8 and 8 Plus are built on a backlight—a panel as large as the screen itself that produces a constant white light anytime the screen is on. A series of polarizers and filters are layered in front of the backlight to control the light and produce the image you see on screen. It’s been the dominant technology used in flat-panel displays for almost two decades, but keeping that backlight on draws a lot of power—and that’s a big disadvantage in a portable device.

An OLED does away with the backlight completely. Each individual pixel has a tiny amount of organic material that fluoresces when current flows, so the pixels produce light directly. It’s also possible to control brightness at a per-pixel level.

The display is typically the most power-hungry component in any phone because of the backlight. By removing it, the iPhone will be more power efficient, which is great for users.

It’s not the only reason to applaud OLED. Getting rid of the backlight allows for the entire display module to be thinner, which is an important consideration in a smartphone. Apple could use the extra space to make the phone thinner or add a little more battery capacity.

Just as important is the image. OLEDs display more vibrant colors, have deeper blacks and brighter whites and a greater contrast ratio so most people find them superior to LCD.

No. OLED screens began appearing in smartphones several years ago and are used today in phones from Samsung, LG, and other competitors. Several companies also offer OLED monitors and TV screens and flexible OLEDs are increasingly used in smartwatches, fitness bands, and automobile dashboards. Apple is already using an OLED in the Apple Watch.

In part it’s a problem of production. As the iPhone is the world’s best-selling smartphone, Apple needs to be able to ensure a reliable stream of OLED panels from its display partners, but OLED has proved a difficult technology to master.

To date, most of the world’s smartphone OLEDs are produced by Samsung Display, which leaves Apple at the mercy of a single supplier for a key component—typically a position the company has tried to avoid.

While Apple doesn’t comment on its supply chain, the availability of OLED panels is already expected to impact availability of the high-end iPhone with limited supplies being available at launch and back orders being the norm. It will also contribute to the expected record-setting price of the new handset.

Samsung continues to dominate the OLED smartphone market with the best smartphone display ever on the Note 7. LCDs are another display technology used for smartphones, and this year DisplayMate testing proves that Apple"s iPhone 7 and 7 Plus have the best LCDs it has ever tested.

The Apple iPhone 7 and 7 Plus have the same display size and resolution as we have seen on these two models for years. Prior to reading these test results, since I do not yet have my iPhone 7 Plus, I didn"t give much thought to the display since it appeared to be the same as before. I was actually a bit disappointed given what we see with Samsung on devices like the Galaxy S7 and Note 7.

It turns out that the new iPhone 7 and 7 Plus displays seriously impressed Dr. Ray Soneira. He notes the following enhancements and improvements with details of each covered in full in his article:The iPhone 7 has two standard color gamuts, the new DCI-P3 Wide Color Gamut that is used in 4K UHD TVs and Digital Cinema, and also the traditional smaller sRGB / Rec.709 Color Gamut that is used for producing most existing consumer content for digital cameras, TVs, the internet, and computers, including photos, videos, and movies. What"s more, on the iPhone 7 both color gamuts have been implemented with Absolute Color Accuracy that is visually indistinguishable from perfect. That"s impressive... Plus, only three manufacturers currently have the wider DCI-P3 color gamut on their smartphones or tablets, so it is a major competitive advantage.

The iPhone 7 produces up to an impressive peak brightness of 705 nits when Automatic Brightness is turned on in high ambient light, where high brightness is really needed.

There are rumors that Apple will move to OLED screen technology in 2017. Dr. Soneira pointed out that OLEDs have many advantages over LCD, including being much thinner and lighter with a much smaller bezel, providing a near rimless design, and they can be made flexible and into curved screens. Plus, they have a very fast response time, better viewing angles, and an always-on display mode. OLED screens are also more power efficient.

For newer models, you will get a display message after repair, regardless of what screen we fit. This is because screens are serialised. This shows up an an "Unknown Part" in service history. More info here.

We only fit compatible screens for older models: iPhone 4, 4S, 5, 5S, 5C, SE, 6, 6 Plus, 6S & 6S Plus. This is because compatible screens are very similar to original, and therefore better value. Also, both supply and demand for old original displays is very low.

Why We Offer Both OptionsWhilst we"d prefer to only fit OEM and original parts, replacement OEM screens can be expensive to buy, and so a repair is not within everyone"s budget.

Whilst most repair centres will only offer copy screens (and perhaps tell you that they"re original); and Apple only offer their own original screens; we like to give our customers the choice.

The screens are manufactured to the same specification as the original, or are original LCD’s/OLED"s (display panels) that have been refurbished with brand new OEM-quality glass and touchscreen, so it looks and works just like the original part. In most cases, we refurbish original displays.

Display quality and resolution is not quite as good. For LCD screens, these components utilise a medium brightness backlight, as opposed to a high brightness backlight.

For models that use OLED screens; iPhone X, XS, XS Max, 11 Pro, 11 Pro Max, 12 series, 13 series and 14 series; we offer one or two compatible options:

HQ Non-OEM (Compatible OLED)LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display. OLED stands for Organic Light-Emitting Diode. OLED is a newer, more advanced technology which offers superior quality and performance to LCD. OLED screens have better contrast, higher brightness, fuller viewing angle, wider colour range and faster refresh rates.

Aftermarket manufacturers have created an LCD that is compatible with iPhone"s that use OLED screens. The display quality is not as good as an OLED screen. LCD screens consumer more power, so battery life may be slightly lower. An LCD screen is the cheapest available option.We use Soft OLED screens, which are significantly better quality than Hard OLED versions. They fit into the frame properly and are more durable. The overall quality and functionality of these screens are close to original screens, yet not as expensive.

original iPhone X, the iPhone XS Max has notable improvements including higher Full Screen Brightness and higher Absolute Color Accuracy, all the more

Tests and Measurements the iPhone XS Max receives ourDisplayMate Best Smartphone Display Awardearning DisplayMate�s highest ever A+ grade by providing

iREphone is revolutionizing the market with our unique collaboration with the largest smartphone LCD manufacturers with the latest in-cell and OLED technology, and have now also the ability to provide the best screen replacement available for small/medium businesses and repair shops!

Say goodbye to the Mainstream commercial Outcell and say hello to the unique In-Cell OEX screens. Take the advantage of providing the best screens the market have to offer. 20% Better Color Saturation and brightness than the original factory installed iPhone screen

You don’t have to be a big roller anymore to get the best of the best. But you can be a big roller with this advantage over your competition. Untill now, this quality has only been available for large companies with a minimum order of 50,000 units

This is our (and your) advantage among the competitors who in 95% of cases use the cheap low quality iPhone screens from various well-known mainstream shopping sites, which market them mostly as high quality (AAA, A +++++) OEM / Original etc.  Which you probably already know is unfortunately far from the truth.

With a defective rate as low as 0.76% and over 40 strict inspection procedures, plus a lifetime warranty, you can rest assured that any screen not damaged during install or use are covered in full.

The aftermarket quality in the mainstream market have been bad for so long and real premium quality have only been available for the big rollers, who normally can order MOQ of 50,000 Units, But our mission is to change this trend and we can now finally offer all the smaller/medium businesses and repair shops the best quality their customers iPhone deserves, for a lower price than the refurbished original, with a much more stable supply!

Under the eligible circumstances, all the Screen Display Assemblies from iREphone can enjoy a lifetime warranty. The Warrany does not cover these following situations:

“Original” screens are those containing LCDs manufactured for Apple. “Copy” screens are compatible replacements entirely designed and manufactured by third-party companies not associated with Apple.

LCD display panel can have poorer resolution (i.e. looks “coarser”), worse brightness, contrast and vibrancy and reduced refresh rate amongst other problems.

Changes in specification from original can result in battery and performance issues. Certain badly-engineered screens could even damage the backlight circuitry.

Customers who bring their iPhones to us for a screen repair are offered two choices of replacement- an original or a “copy” screen. The most common response is “Is there a difference- and which one would you recommend?”

Originals are those screens containing LCDs that were manufactured for Apple. So-called “copy” screens are compatible replacements, but designed and manufactured entirely independently by third-party companies, typically in China.

Our answer is simple- the original screen is the one we’d go for ourselves, every time. Some people think we make more money on them, but this isn’t the case. We recommend originals because they’re far higher quality and the price difference is fairly small.

We’d rather only fit original screens. The only reason we don’t is that many people will shop around and choose purely on price. As such, we need to offer the cheaper copy screens to remain competitive and avoid losing these customers. In some cases, they didn’t even know there was a difference in the first place- especially since it’s not in some shops’ interest to draw people’s attention to the issue!

This may well be the worst copy screen we’ve ever come across. As a result, the unfortunate customer has ended up paying twice to have their screen replaced- we’re sure that had they been properly informed, they would have chosen an original in the first place.

While the difference in price between copies and originals can vary across devices, it’s generally around £10 – £14 extra to have an original screen fitted. This really isn’t a lot considering the improved quality and reliability.

We compare our prices to our competitors- and we know that we come out of it favourably. While we have to offer copy screens to remain competitive, we always advise customers to go for the original.

When you’ve spent- directly or indirectly- several hundred pounds for an iPhone with a Retina display, it doesn’t make sense to replace it with a lower-quality screen that can make a £400 phone look like a £40 one! Not only that, but you’re likely to have fewer issues, and a longer-lasting screen.

Many- if not most- don’t even acknowledge the existence of copy screens, let alone explain the difference to the customer. Hardly in their interest to do so if they only fit cheap, low-quality copies. Some of them can hardly be blamed- they know so little, they’re not even clear on the differences between OEM, non-OEM and copy displays themselves! Others can be more deliberately misleading… and some outright lie.

Generally, these shops are looking for the cheapest price on replacement screens.. When offered a copy at a half or a third of a price of the original, they’re going to go for that. That might be fine if they offered the customer a cheaper price- what we disagree with is selling “supermarket beans” (i.e. the copy screens) at “Heinz beans” prices!

Heading towards the “blatantly fraudulent”, we’re aware of companies that shamelessly fit copy screens while claiming them to be original. Worse, they’ll take your broken original screen and sell that to a recycler for more than they paid for your copy!

Apple tightened up their supply chain around 2015, which reduced the number of screens available for repairs and increased their price dramatically. A lot of companies went bankrupt, and Chinese manufacturers responded by making their own “copy” screens from scratch. At first, these weren’t much cheaper than the Apple ones, but the price soon fell.

We should be clear that- despite the name- “copy” screens aren’t direct copies of the Apple originals. Rather, they’re compatible replacements that have been designed from scratch and- as a result- vary in some respects that have an effect on usability and quality.

One of the most important differences between an original and a “copy” screen is how the digitizer (touch sensor) is designed. Apple has it manufactured as part of the LCD itself, whereas the copies have it on the glass.

Although there are only a small number of manufacturers of the bare LCDs themselves, these are then bought by countless other companies who add the remaining components needed to turn these into a complete working screen. As a result, you could easily end up with an LCD from the best “copy” manufacturer, but the digitizer/touch (as part of the separately-manufactured glass) from the worst.

There are countless digitizers out there, and you can only take the supplier’s word that the quality is good. Many ship good ones at first, then switch to cheaper parts to make more profit. This is particularly bad with the iPhone 6S and 6S+, since Apple moved the chips responsible for touch processing onto the LCD itself. As a result, you’re not just getting a copy screen- you’re getting copy chips too.

The performance specification (power drain, etc.) of most copy screens isn’t identical to the originals. As a result, they can drain the battery more quickly and mislead the operating system which was optimised for the original screen design.

It’s even possible that this mismatch could damage your backlight. We do a lot of subcontracted repairs for less-experienced shops, and get backlight repairs in almost every day. We’ve had cases where we fixed the circuit, fitted the new copy screen to test it, and had it break the circuit again!

Copy screens can disrupt the touch ID fingerprint reader. With the 6S, 6S+, 7 and 7+, the home button- part of the 3D touch- is part of the screen assembly. Frequently the home button flexes on aftermarket designs don’t work properly and stop the touch ID working- annoying if you use it to unlock the phone or log in to your bank.

We’ve seen many lift away from the frame that holds them in place. This usually results in the flex cable getting torn, and the screen needing replacing. You don’t even need to have dropped the phone- this often happens through general everyday wear and tear.

That brings us to another major issue with the copies. When you drop an Apple original, the glass often breaks, but if the LCD itself is intact, you can continue to use it until it’s fixed. With the copies, the touch/digitizer is on the glass and stops working when that’s broken. Even worse, the LCD itself is more likely to break due to the thinner and more fragile glass.

We’re not convinced this will happen, since Apple recently changed their repair policy to accept iPhones with third-party screens. However, it is possible that copy screens could be stopped from working via an iOS update, since those make a number of security checks.