Apple has ceased its internal work on microLED display development for smartwatches, as per a report by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The company had allocated significant funds towards this technology, intending to introduce it initially in the Apple Watch Ultra range. However, Gurman's latest findings indicate that Apple found the microLED technology too expensive and intricate to pursue further.
Apple's Shift in Focus
The decision to abandon the project has led to restructuring within Apple's display engineering teams and job cuts in the U.S. and Asia. While some employees might be reassigned internally, others will receive severance packages.
MicroLED Technology
MicroLED, an advanced display tech utilizing tiny LEDs for individual pixels, offers advantages such as enhanced energy efficiency, contrast, color accuracy, and response times over traditional LED and OLED technologies. Furthermore, it eliminates issues like burn-in commonly associated with OLED displays.
Future Prospects
Despite scrapping the current microLED project, Apple is expected to maintain interest in the technology. Gurman mentions that the company will explore external suppliers and novel manufacturing methods but the timeline for microLED's integration into upcoming Apple products remains uncertain. In the interim, Apple Watch models will likely continue utilizing OLED displays for the next one to two years.
