Apple will design its own displays, starting with the Watch Ultra in microLED

From 2024 Apple may start designing its own displays: the first should be one microLED screen for Apple Watch Ultra. This change of pace will reduce Cupertino’s dependence on manufacturers such as LG and Samsung.

Apple will design the Apple Watch Ultra display in microLED

Bloomberg analyst Mark Gurman explained that Apple should produce a microLED display for the Apple Watch Ultra. The transition from OLED to microLED is mainly for increase brightness, in order to make it easier to read time and notifications in the sunlight. But the decision to design the display, outsourcing the construction to a supplier, serves to continue Apple’s strategy “bringing the design of the main components into the house”. of their products.

After starting to make its own computer chips and giving up its long-standing partnership with Intel, it looks like Apple will be designing its own 5G modem (now from Qualcomm) and WiFi and Bluetooth ones (from Broadcom). And according to Gurman, displays are the next step. Starting small, with Apple Watches.

Apple is already testing microLED displays for Apple Watch, which it appreciates for the brightness, the brightest colors and the widest viewing angles. According to Gurman, these displays make “content appear as if it were painted on glass.”

It seems that Cupertino has intended to switch to microLED panels as early as 2020, but technical issues have slowed the transition. The Apple Watch is an experiment that comes after billions of dollars of investment: the transition to microLED is one of the “critical projects” most important to Apple.

A delicate throw

For this reason, the project could also shift from 2024 to 2025: Apple does not want and cannot go wrong with the launch of its own screens made in-house.

This decisive step will see Apple internalize a key component, especially if it were to start also produce iPhone screens, which are worth more than half of Apple’s turnover. The display costs more than any other single component for Apple, designing it in Cupertino would reduce costs and increase margins.