Apple is reportedly working on designing its own internal microLED screens for use in devices such as the iPhone and Apple Watch. according to Bloombergby Mark Gurman. According to the report, the screens could appear on devices as early as next year, after nearly five years of planning and development.
Currently, Apple uses displays designed and produced by different vendors – the OLED panels for the iPhone 14s are allegedly made by Samsung, LG and BOE. According to Gurman, Apple will likely still have other companies manufacture its displays, but they will do so using Apple’s designs and specs rather than another company’s.
It’s a similar move as the company uses its own chip designs in laptops and desktops, dropping Intel and enjoying huge performance and battery life benefits. The job of actually making those processors falls primarily to TSMC, but Apple has full control over the design.
The report says Apple is expected to ship its microLED screens first in the Apple Watch, possibly as early as 2024, replacing the OLED screens they are currently equipped with. That seems like an ambitious goal, given that one of the difficulties of microLED is making it small – currently Samsung’s huge TVs like The Wall are the only real commercial product using the technology. But Apple has reportedly been planning this move for some time.
It also seems that Apple is trying to do something similar to what it has been doing with its in-house chip efforts: start small with the technology, but make sure it can scale.
With the Watch, it would start small both literally and figuratively – while the Apple Watch is selling well, it’s not on the level of the iPhone – giving itself time to iron out any wrinkles with its display designs before taking them to its flagship project. According to Apple, it will take “years” before Apple’s screens make it to the iPhone Bloomberg.
Gurman also says, similar to one rather rumor offered by display analyst Ross Young, who plans to equip the Apple Watch with microLED, may shift to 2025 instead of 2024.
