Edible Apple

With Apple’s expected iPhone 5 unveiling just days away, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Sharp, one of the three companies Apple has tapped to produce iPhone 5 displays along with LG and Japan Display, hasn’t begun the manufacturing process yet.

Sharp, a major supplier of liquid crystal displays to Apple, had planned to start shipping iPhone screens by the end of August, the people said, but mass production has been delayed in part by manufacturing difficulties. It remains unclear when the company can start shipping the LCD panels, one of the people said.

It’s worth noting that Sharp had also delayed shipments for the screens used in the iPad 3 (oh woops, I mean the latest iPad) and that this did not have any discernible affect on iPad availability.

Remember that the iPhone 5 will reportedly utilize in-cell touch technology which will result in a thinner screen. The in-cell touch technology works by integrating the touch sensors into the LCD panel itself, thereby removing the need of having a separate touch-screen layer. The end result is a thinner screen and higher quality imagery as well. But as the Journal notes, in-cell touch panels are “more difficult to mass produce compared with conventional LCD panels.”

With a rumored 4-inch screen and 4G support, the iPhone 5 – rumored to launch on September 21 – is poised to be Apple’s most successful iPhone yet.

And below is a video of assembled iPhone 5 parts purporting to show what the finished product may very well look like.

via WSJ