While we’re not expecting to see the Samsung Galaxy S24 series arrive until early 2024, a new report suggests that we could see a next-generation display debut on the company’s next flagship phone line, before the technology makes its way onto Apple’s expected iPhone 16 series as well.
We’ve already heard a number of tidbits specific to the display experience that the next (presumed) trio of Galaxy S-series phones will bring to the table, but a new report from South Korean digital media outlet Chosun states that industry insiders are confident that the S24 line will be the first of the company’s phones to debut M13 OLED displays.
The ‘M’ in ‘M13’ refers to the quality of the materials used in the OLED panel, with the number referring to the generation of the technology at play. More advanced materials (as well as their configuration within the panel and whether the panel uses a polarizer) all help to improve transmittance efficiency (i.e. the efficiency of the display’s output) and reduce power consumption.
The likes of both 2022’s Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4, Galaxy Z Flip 4 (along with this year’s Fold 5 and Flip 5), and Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro Max all use Samsung Display-made M12 OLED panels, while, somewhat surprisingly (as identified by XDA Developers’ Dylan Raga), this year’s Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, uses a modified M11 panel that’s actually more efficient than the screen used by the 14 Pro Max.
Regardless, the Chosun report states that the Galaxy S24 Ultra will be the most likely candidate for an M13 panel, with the expected standard Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus also potential beneficiaries of this new display technology too, provided the scale of mass production grows large enough.
The report also expects the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max to stick with M12 panels, with the M13 technology destined for the Galaxy S24 series unlikely to debut on Apple smartphones until the iPhone 16 line comes along the following year, in 2024. While this may give Samsung an edge in terms of display power efficiency over Apple, iPhones have grown to become impressively power efficient by other means, meaning the battle for better battery life between Apple’s a Samsung’s flagships is a constantly close-fought comparison.
The more the memorier
As well as more advanced screen technology, this latest report also suggests that we could finally see a jump up in the baseline amounts of RAM that ship with each series entry.
Samsung settled into a baseline of 8GB of RAM on its devices as far back as the Galaxy S20 series, with the S20 and S20 Plus sporting 8GB, while the Galaxy S20 Ultra was made available with 12GB of RAM (or 16GB in the case of the 512GB storage model).
Now, however, that floor might be raised to 12GB for the Galaxy S24 and 16GB for the S24 Ultra. Samsung’s current flagship phones already use some of the fastest and most power-efficient (LPDDR5x) memory and (UFS 4.0) storage available on the mobile market, so this development only serves to further their lead, adding yet more performance headroom to a lineage of already-capable flagship phones and some of the best phones on the market, period.