Apple Is Working On New MicroLED Displays For Future iPhones

Apple has been quietly working on a way to rid themselves of Samsung’s influence on their mobile devices. They currently get all of their displays from the Korean manufacturer, but that could all change very soon. Apple purchased a company back in 2014 called LuxVue, and they specialized in making displays using MicroLED technology. According to a report in Bloomberg, Apple has been quietly testing these new screens on the Apple Watch, but will implement them into every other device afterwards.

Apple has been long rumored to be trying to move beyond Samsung as the supplier of their displays. This is the first time that we’ve seen the extent of the urgency behind the move however. Apple began the transition by moving into OLED with the iPhone X, but the long-term plan will revolve completely around MicroLED displays. 

According to Bloomberg, these displays won’t make their debut on the iPhone for a few years. We could potentially see them on the Apple Watch as early as next year though. The displays are being developed in-house, at a secret Apple R&D facility in Santa Clara, CA which will also be where they open their new employee medical facility.

This will be the first time that Apple will be manufacturing their own displays. If successful, they could not only increase their profitability by becoming a supplier of said screens, but they could also kill off a healthy portion of their competition in the process. Coincidentally, these displays aren’t easy to produce by any means, and early reports show Apple has already spent at least a year trying. In the end, Bloomberg seems to think that Apple will eventually end up outsourcing the development of these displays. The cost and time involved could prove to be too much for Apple who have neither the facility size nor man power for mass production.