A Nikkei Asia report says Apple will begin mass producing its own microLED displays as part of an effort to increase its own control over supply, lessening its reliance on Samsung. The move is seen as laying the groundwork for the Cupertino company’s goal of bringing the microLED display technology to its iPhones.
The publication’s sources tell it that Apple has spent at least $1 billion on microLED research and development over the past decade. Once mass production starts, the iPhone maker intends to perform the critical “mass transfer” step of the manufacturing process itself, which involves placing at least tens of thousands of tiny microLED chips onto substrates.
The tiny microLED chips will be fabricated directly on wafers, and Apple will partner with ams-Osram for the microLED components, LG Display for the substrates, and TSMC for 12-inch wafers. This process will reportedly be performed at Apple’s R&D facilities in the Longtan District in the northern Taiwanese city of Taoyuan.
The report says Apple’s display R&D teams are working on the displays in the U.S., Taiwan, and Japan, and that they have designed not only the driver integrated circuits for the microLED screens but also some of the production equipment itself.
Production of microLED displays remains challenging and manufacturing costs are higher, which is why Apple will first use the display technology with the Apple Watch Ultra before ultimately rolling the microLED displays out to the iPhones.
microLED displays have several advantages over OLED displays, including higher brightness, decreased power consumption, improved contrast ratio, and other benefits.
The Apple Watch Ultra is not expected to make the move to a microLED display until 2025, meaning the iPhone likely won’t use the technology for several years to come.
Although Apple is initiating a move to microLED, the company is still in the process of transitioning from LCD to OLED display technology. The Apple Watch has always used OLED displays since it first hit shelves back in 2015, and iPhone models began a gradual switch to OLED displays starting in the 2017 model year. The first iPad Pro and MacBook models with OLED displays are rumored to be getting ready for a 2024 release.
