A number of stories this yr have prompt that the Apple Watch Extremely would be the first of Apple’s wearables to achieve new microLED know-how. Now, it seems that this variation may make it even bigger than it’s now.
At 49 millimeters, the Apple Watch Extremely already dwarfs the Apple Watch Sequence 9. Even if you take the most important 45mm mannequin and put it in a rugged case, it nonetheless barely reaches the dimensions of the Apple Watch Extremely.
Nevertheless, whereas this yr’s Apple Watch Extremely 2 retained the identical design as its predecessor — to the purpose the place you’ll have a tough time telling them aside — by 2026, Apple’s excessive sports activities wearable may get even bigger.
That’s if a brand new report by TrendForce is to be believed. The Taiwanese analysis agency has predicted that when Apple makes the change from OLED to microLED, the show will develop by as a lot as 10 %.
To place that in perspective, the present Apple Watch Extremely has a diagonal show measurement of 1.93 inches. The microLED panel Apple is sourcing reportedly is available in at 2.12 inches. If Apple continues down this street, the Apple Watch Extremely 5 may find yourself being a 54mm mannequin.
Experiences of Apple’s work on microLED shows for the Apple Watch return to not less than 2018. Nevertheless, whereas Apple has clearly been arduous at work on the know-how — together with opening a brand new show manufacturing unit in Taiwan in 2020 — it appears the shows haven’t been prepared for prime time till extra lately.
Rumors of a microLED Apple Watch gained extra traction earlier this yr when DigiTimes prompt it may come to the Apple Watch Extremely as early as 2025. Nevertheless, South Korea’s The Elec threw some chilly water on that over the summer time when it revealed that the manufacturing of the brand new shows wasn’t slated to start till not less than the ultimate quarter of that yr — far too late to make it into the 2025 run of Apple Watch fashions, which usually begin manufacturing a lot sooner.
Though a number of sources recommend that Apple finally plans to carry microLED to each Apple Watch mannequin throughout the board, it plans to start out with the Apple Watch Extremely, as that higher-end mannequin provides it probably the most room to cowl the prices of the brand new display screen know-how. It most likely additionally doesn’t damage {that a} higher-end display screen will make the Apple Watch Extremely much more premium.
In any case, the change to MicroLED would enable for shows which can be even brighter than the Apple Watch Extremely 2’s eyeball-searing 3,000 nits, together with extra vibrant colours, sharper viewing angles, and a display screen that appears prefer it sits on high of the Apple Watch, relatively than being buried below a bit of glass.
Whereas show producers are nonetheless ramping up microLED manufacturing, they’ve been affected by “low yield charges” — a time period meaning most of the shows that come off the manufacturing line are flawed and should be tossed out. Apple’s suppliers, reminiscent of LG Show, have been engaged on new methods to both restore these failed screens or enhance yields by getting them proper the primary time.
Sadly, low yields translate to larger prices, and TrendForce predicts that Apple should pay 2.5–3 occasions extra for the microLED shows than it does for the OLED know-how used within the present Apple Watch Extremely. Even with Apple’s “sturdy bargaining energy within the provide chain,” that might push the price of the screens as excessive as $120 every, which is able to undoubtedly be mirrored within the worth of the primary Apple Watch Extremely to characteristic the brand new show tech.
[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.]