The Apple Watch Series 6 will likely use the same display technology as its predecessors – OLED. However, MicroLED technology is not too far off.
This year's Apple Watch will be equipped with an OLED screen like its predecessors. But that could change in three to four years. DigiTimes quotes a comment from the chairman of Epistar, Taiwan's main LED producer, which is reportedly working on a factory to produce MicroLED displays specifically for future Apple products. is called it:
Smartwatches will be the first major applications for MicroLEDs, which are likely to be widely adopted in 3-4 years, said Epistar Chairman Lee Biing-jye.
Epistar has overcome many technological difficulties with micro-LEDs, such as mass transfer, and expects to achieve reliable production capability in 2-3 years and bring end-use applications to market in 3-4 years, Lee noted.
Apple has already invested over $330 million in this Taiwanese MicroLED factory to produce displays for future products such as the iPhone, iPad and MacBook, according to various reports. However, MicroLEDs - measuring 20-50 microns - are too small for PCB substrates that support a minimum size of 50-100 microns, so glass substrates are used.
MicroLED screens are thinner, more energy efficient and more
Taiwanese LCD panel maker AU Optronics is now expected to supply the glass substrates for the displays. Epistar, meanwhile, is expected to focus on improving MicroLED epitaxy yields and reducing bulk transfer costs. MicroLED screens have several advantages over LCD and OLED displays, including being thinner and more energy efficient. For example, the power consumption of MicroLED screens is only one-tenth that of LCD screens, and color saturation is close to that of OLED. In addition, MicroLEDs can support higher brightness, higher dynamic range, and wider color gamut, while achieving a faster refresh rate, wider viewing angle, and lower power consumption. Due to the difficulties associated with developing MicroLED technology, early designs are expected to be based on MiniLEDs, which fall somewhere between traditional LED and MicroLED technology.
First prototypes under discussion since 2017
However, Apple still considers MicroLED technology to be a “top priority”. According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple has six MiniLED products in Work, which are due to come onto the market in 2020 and 2021. These include a 12.9-inch iPad Pro, a 27-inch iMac Pro, a 14.1-inch MacBook Pro, a 16-inch MacBook Pro and two smaller iPad models. However, rumors about Apple Watch models with MicroLED are nothing new. The first prototypes are said to have been tested in 2017. However, no one has yet been able to provide any concrete information about the possible launch of the first MicroLED Apple Watch. Observers, however, assume that the iPhone will follow suit at some point. Similar to OLED, the popular smartwatch could once again set the trend - we remember the iPhone X. (Photo by DedMityay / Bigstockphoto)
