Apple Said to Aim for Trial Production of Micro-LED Displays by End of 2017

A new report posted by DigiTimes today has taken a look into the micro-LED ambitions of multiple companies, including the timeline by which Apple might begin its trial production of micro-LED displays. Although it's yet to be confirmed, Apple is likely to use such display technology on a version of the Apple Watch launched in 2018 or later.

The report, citing industry sources, states that Apple's current aim is to manufacture a "small volume" of products with micro-LED displays towards the end of this year. Reports over the past few weeks have referenced similar timelines for Apple's micro-LED plans, and today's news also corroborates the location of Apple's trial production run, expected to be housed in a plant in Taoyuan, Taiwan.

apple watch 3 splash

A few makers engaged in R&D for micro LED display products, despite many technological bottlenecks, are expected to take the initiative to begin trial production in the second half of 2017 at the earliest, according to industry sources.

Apple has been keen in the development of micro LED technology following its acquisition of LuxVue in 2014, and recent market speculations also indicate that Apple is likely to crank out a small volume of micro LED display products from its plant in Taoyuan, northern Taiwan at the end of the year.

Rumors of an Apple Watch with a micro-LED display began last summer, when it was suggested that such a device may launch in 2017, but with the current reports of late-in-the-year trial productions on micro-LED displays it's likely that the 2017 "Apple Watch Series 3" will continue to use OLED technology. In regards to advantages, devices with micro-LED have the chance to be thinner, lighter, see an improved color gamut with increased brightness, and sport higher resolutions.

Apple's production on micro-LED is said to be the final realization of its acquisition of low-power microLED-based display maker LuxVue in 2014. Similarly, Samsung has been rumored to acquire micro-LED company PlayNitride, which is expected to begin a trial production on the displays sometime in the second half of 2017. Foxconn has also announced plans to acquire display startup eLux, "for development of next-generation micro-LED display technology."

Although no direct connection with Apple has been made by the manufacturers, their previous history as suppliers for the Cupertino company points toward either company, or both, as additional micro-LED suppliers for a future generation Apple Watch. According to industry sources speaking on Foxconn's eLux purchase, "The acquisition could provide a fast track for Foxconn to commercialize micro-LED technology," bringing it to a wider range of consumer products.

Related Roundup: Apple Watch 10
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now)

Popular Stories

election results 2024 live activities

Track 2024 U.S. Election Results Live on Your iPhone Lock Screen

Tuesday November 5, 2024 5:02 am PST by
Apple News is providing Live Activities support for the 2024 U.S. presidential election, allowing iPhone and iPad users to track electoral results in real time directly from their Lock Screen. The feature is rolling out for U.S. users over the course of Election Day, November 5, providing continuous updates of the electoral count. So if you're interested, you don't need to repeatedly check...
Generic iOS 18

Everything New in iOS 18.2 Beta 2

Monday November 4, 2024 12:34 pm PST by
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 18.2 and iPadOS 18.2 updates to developers, and Apple is continuing to refine the Apple Intelligence capabilities. There are also a handful of smaller features that are worth knowing about. Find My Find My has a new option to Share Item Location with an "airline or trusted person" that can help you locate something that you've misplaced....
iCloud General Feature

Here's What's New in Apple's Updated iCloud Terms and Conditions Taking Effect Next Week

Friday September 13, 2024 7:39 am PDT by
Apple has started notifying users about an upcoming revision to its iCloud Terms and Conditions, which takes effect on Monday, September 16. We compared the text of the upcoming iCloud Terms and Conditions with the current U.S. version from September 18, 2023 and identified four key changes: "Apple ID" references have been changed to "Apple Account" throughout. iCloud users must agree to ...
ipads early bf deals

The Best Early Black Friday iPad Deals

Tuesday November 5, 2024 7:02 am PST by
Black Friday is still a few weeks away, but you can already find great prices on numerous iPads, including the 9th generation iPad, 10th generation iPad, iPad Air, and iPad mini. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running. Of course, there is a chance that ...
ios 18 2 chatgpt plus

iOS 18.2 Beta 2 Shows Siri ChatGPT Limit, Offers 'Plus' Upgrade Option

Monday November 4, 2024 10:54 am PST by
With the second beta of iOS 18.2 that's available for developers today, Apple has further fleshed out the ChatGPT integration that's available with Siri. In the Settings app, there's now a section that shows the ChatGPT daily limit, and offers an option to upgrade to the paid ChatGPT Plus plan. The beta includes an Advanced Capabilities section with a "Daily Limit" reading that shows up as...
M4 MacBook Pros Thumb

M4 MacBook Pro Reviews: Processor Benchmarks Impress, New Nano-Texture Option Worth the Extra $150

Thursday November 7, 2024 6:14 am PST by
The first wave of reviews of Apple's new M4-powered MacBook Pro models were published this morning. We've collected some of the latest impressions from YouTube channels and select media outlets below. Apple last month announced the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models, adding next-generation M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chips, with Thunderbolt 5 ports on higher-end models, display and camera ...
early apple watch black friday

The Best Early Black Friday Apple Watch Deals

Wednesday November 6, 2024 6:33 am PST by
Black Friday is just around the corner, and Apple Watch deals have begun appearing ahead of the shopping holiday on November 29. In this article, we'll take a look at all of the best early Black Friday Apple Watch deals, including the new Series 10 models. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small...

Top Rated Comments

Appleaker Avatar
97 months ago
I can't wait to see this in all Apple products in the future, although it'll be a very long wait.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jiggad369 Avatar
97 months ago
OLED is a big Apple gotcha to Samsung. They are going to get them to build plants and spend billions of dollars to be able to supply OLED screens for iPhones, but Apple's never had any intentions of using OLED! They'll go right to Micro LED!
Yeah it seems is if Apple wants to jump and skip right over this OLED craze.

I can wait couple more years.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Keane16 Avatar
97 months ago
mLED is really exciting tech. Hope it's commercialised in the next few years.

"Along with OLEDs ('https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OLED'), mLEDs are primarily aimed at small, low-energy devices such as smartwatches ('https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartwatch') and smartphones ('https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartphone'). OLED and mLED both offer greatly reduced energy requirements compared to conventional LCD systems. Unlike OLED, mLED is based on conventional GaN ('https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GaN') LED technology, which offers far higher total brightness than OLED products, as much as 30 times, as well as higher efficiency in terms of lux/W. It also does not suffer from the shorter lifetimes of OLED, although the multi-year lifespan of modern OLEDs has mitigated this issue in most roles."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MicroLED
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
goobot Avatar
97 months ago
A
Essentially, Micro-Led allows for a much brighter display, wider color gamut and eliminates Back lighting. Also, with less power draw from the display being more efficient, it helps increase the battery longevity.

I can't speak if I will ever make its way to a laptop, but it's been rumored that Apple will use micro LED with the Apple Watch in the future. Samsung is also been reportedly testing micro LED is well. Suspect it will start with smart watches and/or smart phones, for makes its way into larger scale products.
Are its blacks as good as oled?
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kdarling Avatar
97 months ago
Essentially, Micro-Led allows for a much brighter display, wider color gamut and eliminates Back lighting. Also, with less power draw from the display being more efficient, it helps increase the battery longevity.
That is describing the advantages of xLED in general over LCD, not mLED over OLED.

What are the benefits of this new technology? Will it make its way into laptops?
Being LED, microLED has the same display advantages as OLED over LCD.

The primary difference between mLED and OLED is that the former uses inorganic LEDs, which can be brighter than organic, but are also much larger at this point except in labs.

As for using it in laptops, well maybe in another ten years.

Are its blacks as good as oled?
They're both LED tech, so they both can be turned completely off.


* I think people are misled by the term "micro" in front. It'd be more accurate and less confusing to laymen, to instead simply say ILED vs OLED (inorganic vs organic).

(It's similar to the way that many people get confused and excited over the trademark "Liquid Metal")
Sony have already released a microLED product for commercial use only, but they call it CLEDIS. It is an 8Kx2K 32'x9' display. Yes, those measurements are in feet! I think that counts as larger scale.
It's also less than 20 PPI. Even Sony's first attempt at a mLED consumer TV was only 40 PPI. The Apple Watch OLED display is 290 PPI. Not even in the same ballpark.

Ironically, that's the problem with "micro" LED right now; its pixels are larger and more difficult to manufacture, at low yield and high expense. So they tend to make smaller display modules of them and then stitch many modules into a larger display, as was done for that Sony wall display.

Eventually mLED could be mass produced in a decent resolution, but at this point... barring a breakthrough... that seems still to be years away. In the meantime, OLED is here, mature, high resolution, not expensive, and constantly improving.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
44267547 Avatar
97 months ago
What are the benefits of this new technology? Will it make its way into laptops?
Essentially, Micro-Led allows for a much brighter display, wider color gamut and eliminates Back lighting. Also, with less power draw from the display being more efficient, it helps increase the battery longevity.

I can't speak if I will ever make its way to a laptop, but it's been rumored that Apple will use micro LED with the Apple Watch in the future. Samsung is also been reportedly testing micro LED is well. Suspect it will start with smart watches and/or smart phones, for makes its way into larger scale products.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)