Apple to Develop In-House Custom Displays for Watches, iPhones in 2024

Inno Flores, Tech Times 10 January 2023, 11:01 pm

Apple is currently planning for in-house screen development both for its mobile devices and watches, to be launched as early as 2024. This decision was part of the company's effort to reduce its reliance on its technology partners.

(Photo : BRITTANY HOSEA-SMALL/AFP via Getty Images)
The new Apple Watch Ultra is displayed during a launch event for new products at Apple Park in Cupertino, California, on September 7, 2022. - Apple unveiled several new products including a new iPhone 14 and 14 Pro, three Apple watches, and new AirPod Pros during the event.

Shifting to In-House Custom Displays

Apple has always been reliant on its main suppliers for its custom displays, which are Samsung Display Co. and LG Display Co.

As the company develops more in-house components to its devices, like replacing Key Broadcom Chips for iPhone and Intel Corp. Chips for Mac, their partnership with the two mentioned companies might be affected.

As early as now, Apple is starting to plan for the development of its in-house screens for its Apple Watches, which will begin production in 2024. Bloomberg reported the company is aiming to begin shifting out the current display in the highest-end Apple Watches by the end of next year.

While this may be news to everyone, a previous report reveals that this has been in the plans of the company since then.

Apple has been aiming to design and produce its own device display since 2018 in a 62,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Santa Clara, California, where a small number of screens were produced by Apple for testing purposes. This facility is just fifteen minutes away from the company's headquarters.

This project is being led by Wei Chen who also runs the company's display technology group within the Hardware Technologies Division of Johny Srouji. The offerings for the new screen display may be limited in the first few months, as the company transitions to a new venture.

Aside from Samsung and LG, Apple also sources their screens from different manufacturers, including Japan Display Inc., Sharp Corp., and BOE Technology Group Co.

Also Read: Apple Watch Safety Tips: How To Turn on Water Lock Feature

microLED Display

WCCF Tech reported that several manufacturers have been working to perfect the microLED display technology for years now, as it is new to the industry and offers several enhancements.

This will upgrade the current standard OLED (organic light-emitting diode) display into microLED technology. Aside from its watches, Apple also plans to bring this display to other devices like iPhones. 9To5Mac reported that once production starts in 2024, the first product is set to release in the spring of 2025.

microLED panels will offer users a number of improvements from the standard and current display of Apple Watches. This can reach much higher brightness levels, with more consistent color output. Additionally, the LEDs down to the pixels as it offers enhanced color accuracy, a higher contrast ratio for improved HDR, and wider viewing angles.

This is also much less susceptible to burn-in artifacts and more power-efficient, which is very important, especially to these kinds of devices that every minute of battery life counts.

Haitong International Tech Research Analyst Jeff Pu revealed that the 2024 variant of Apple Watch Ultra is expected to come with this display with a much bigger screen and improved specs.