It’s been a small however persistent rumor for years that Apple will finally carry microLED display know-how to its wearables. In actual fact, the rumors have been circulating since at the very least 2017, making them virtually as outdated as stories of the ill-fated Apple Automotive. Nevertheless, some new rumors this week recommend that the microLED Apple Watch might have confronted an identical demise.
A microLED Apple Watch is a kind of issues that appeared prefer it was simply across the nook for some time, with a 2018 report revealing Apple’s secret analysis and growth facility for microLED shows adopted by rumors that it might come to the 2020 Apple Watch.
In fact, that didn’t occur, and issues acquired fairly quiet till a couple of yr in the past when a provide chain rumor surfaced suggesting that Apple was engaged on bringing microLED to the Apple Watch Extremely. These stories continued, with probably the most optimistic analysts predicting it will present up in a 2025 mannequin earlier than later being revised to 2026.
Nevertheless, some stories from Apple’s provide chain this week have led some people to conclude that Apple might have scrapped its microLED show plans for the Apple Watch, though the reality of that isn’t totally clear.
Maybe it’s simply disappointment from this week’s unhappy information of the Apple Automotive, however it appears at the very least some folks could also be drawing the incorrect conclusions from what seems to be restricted information.
The unique stories have been triggered by a press launch from AMS Osram, an Apple show provider, who mentioned that one in all its “cornerstone” microLED initiatives had been all of the sudden cancelled with the implication that Apple was the shopper that had accomplished so.
A cornerstone venture underpinning its microLED technique acquired unexpectedly cancelled at present, triggering the corporate to re-assess its microLED technique.
That’s already a stretch, because it wasn’t even sure that AMS Osram was set to produce microLED screens for Apple. Nevertheless, even when it was, it appears unlikely to be the solely provider that Apple had lined up. Final summer time, we noticed stories that LG was engaged on perfecting the show know-how, and Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman means that “there are a number of others.”
In spite of everything, Apple tends to keep away from placing all of its eggs in a single basket with regards to suppliers. It recurrently sources shows from Samsung Show, LG Show, and BOE, to call only a few. Cancelling an order from a single provider doesn’t imply a lot, particularly when the corporate isn’t ready to say why that call was made. Maybe it simply couldn’t produce microLED panels to Apple’s specs or wasn’t geared up to supply sufficient of them to satisfy demand.
On this case, 9to5Mac’s Ben Lovejoy put it finest:
An organization which can or might not have been a future Apple provider, and which can or might not have been the corporate’s sole deliberate micro-LED associate, has a venture cancelled by a shopper who might or might not have been Apple, and which can or might not imply the entire micro-LED Apple Watch Extremely plan has been deserted.
Ben Lovejoy
Nonetheless, the report seemingly gained some extra credibility when Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo chimed in to notice that Osram was certainly Apple’s “unique LED chip provider for Micro LED” and that the suppliers he’s spoken to imagine that Apple has certainly cancelled the microLED Apple Watch as “not economically viable.”
Show analyst Ross Younger additionally weighed in with the information that Apple’s different microLED-related initiatives have been cancelled and echoed Kuo’s report that Osram was certainly the one provider Apple had lined up.
We imagine the LTPS backplane and MicroLED switch initiatives have been additionally canceled. We don’t count on Apple to construct its personal MicroLEDs at this level however might purchase from one other provider sooner or later if the prices, yields and quantity are there. One other moonshot venture kicked to the…— Ross Younger (@DSCCRoss) March 1, 2024
Whereas that single provider relationship was additionally confirmed by TrendForce, it was significantly extra circumspect about declaring the microLED venture totally useless, suggesting Apple may very well be courting different potential companions.
Nevertheless, all hope isn’t misplaced. TrendForce stays optimistic citing three compelling explanation why Apple’s enterprise into Micro LED know-how might nonetheless flourish. For starters, Taiwan and South Korea boast a sturdy lineup of producers for Micro LED chips, backplanes, and associated switch processes, who’re able to fill the hole and provide Apple a possibility to hunt new provide chain companions.
TrendForce
Additional, Gurman has doubled down on his earlier feedback, saying it’s “not true” that Osram was the one microLED provider for the venture and obliquely calling out Ross Younger by saying he’s nonetheless anticipating a microLED Apple Watch “in just a few years.”
The disagreement amongst these normally dependable sources reveals the dangers of focusing solely on provide chain stories, that are the one sources of data that Kuo and Younger have obtainable to them. Whereas Gurman’s sources aren’t good both, he usually has a lot better perception into what’s occurring contained in the partitions of Apple Park and would, due to this fact, know what Apple’s longer-term sport plan is.
Whereas Apple’s suppliers might now not be making microLED parts, Gurman’s certainty means that the microLED Apple Watch Extremely remains to be on in some type. At most, this information casts some doubt on the timeframe — it might not are available in 2026 as we’d beforehand heard — however it’s possible Apple plans to go there finally, significantly since microLED is the following logical step in show know-how.
[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]