An Apple E Ink display could be a game-changer-even without a folding iPhone

The unique screen tech opens up some real opportunities.

- JASON SNELL

Earlier this week, supply-chain analyst extraordinaire Ming-Chi Kuo suggested that Apple's investigating E Ink displays (fave.co/3GJIS1U) for future foldable iPhones. Now, Apple surely investigates lots of things-and most of them never make it across the finish line to become real products.

But as a long-time admirer of E Ink as a technology, I'm excited about the possibility that Apple might use it in future devices. E Ink is a niche technology with some very real limitations, but it's also got some huge advantages.

WHAT'S E INK?

E Ink is a display technology (fave.co/3MSstUF) that's fundamentally different from LCD, OLED, and other display technologies. It works by using electricity to set tiny capsules of pigment to show or hide. The result is a surface that works more or less like traditional ink on paper, hence the name.

Since an E Ink screen only uses power when the screen is being rewritten, it's great for applications in which the display doesn't update very often. Most people know E Ink displays from e-readers like Amazon's Kindle and Rakuten's Kobo. These devices can have very long battery lives because they're generally only using battery power when you turn the page.