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A new Apple Watch Ultra with a microLED display will be launched in 2024 or 2025, according to Taiwanese supply chain publication DigiTimes. According to the report, Apple plans to bring the technology to iPhones, iPads and MacBooks as well.
By report It further states that Apple has been actively developing microLED technology since acquiring the Californian company LuxVue in 2014. Since microLED displays are still difficult to produce, manufacturing costs are higher. For this reason, Apple will first introduce the technology with the Apple Watch Ultra and later with larger devices. The European company ams OSRAM will be Apple's main supplier of microLED chips. However, there is a possibility that Taiwanese suppliers such as Epistar will become additional suppliers of microLED chips by 2026-2027, according to the report. Several sources, including Ross Young, CEO of Display Supply Chain Consultants, Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, and Jeff Pu, an analyst at Haitong International Securities, have made predictions about a new Apple Watch Ultra with a microLED display.
Apple Watch Ultra: Will it be the first product with a microLED display?
Gurman said the transition to microLED displays could begin by the end of 2024, but noted that the timeframe could be pushed to 2025. Young also mentioned 2025, so the technology could still be at least two years away. Pu said the new Apple Watch Ultra will likely have a larger 2.1-inch display and that microLED technology will allow for higher brightness compared to the current Apple Watch models with OLED displays. The current Ultra has a 1.9-inch display. In the meantime, Apple is making the long-drawn-out transition from LCD to OLED display technology. The Apple Watch has used OLED since its launch in 2015, and iPhone models have been gradually transitioning to OLED since 2017. Rumors suggest the first iPad Pro and MacBook models with OLED displays will launch in 2024. (Photo by Unsplash / David Dias)
