Bloomberg says that Apple could start using its own screen technology to replace the screens in its mobile devices as early as next year. Reports say that Apple will replace the OLED displays on its most expensive Apple Watches with displays that use the company’s own microLED technology starting in late 2024.
According to Bloomberg, Apple’s in-house display technology will eventually make its way to the iPhone and other products. Supposedly, the new screen’s enhanced brightness and vivid colours will make the watchfaces and other content appear to be painted directly onto the glass. On top of that, it’s more aesthetically pleasing when viewed sideways.
The news about Apple developing its very own display was first reported five years ago. According to reports, Apple had planned to release the technology in 2020, but it was delayed due to the high costs and technical difficulties of doing so.
It was for this reason that the company decided to make the Watch the first device to feature its own screen instead of planning for larger displays.
Despite the setback and potential future setbacks—Apple may push back the display’s debut to say, 2025, with Bloomberg reporting that the initiative is one of the company’s most critical projects.
The tech giant is already testing the new display on an updated Apple Watch Ultra, and it is said to have cost several billion dollars to develop. It is also producing test units of the screens at its Santa Clara, California, headquarters, with the possibility that mass production will be outsourced.
Apple’s potential switch to in-house displays, as reported by Bloomberg, would be devastating news for its main display vendors, Samsung and LG. It’s possible, though, that the manufacturers have been anticipating this for some time.
For one thing, it’s common knowledge that Apple has been making an effort to develop its own components so as to reduce its reliance on outside suppliers.
Apple is rumoured to be planning to use its own wireless chipsets in iPhones by 2025, following its departure from Intel processors for Mac computers.
