Apple, the tech behemoth, still relies on other companies to develop various parts for its gadgets. The company outsources the manufacturing of its displays for its iPhone lineup to its South Korean smartphone rival, Samsung.
However, it may change in the future with reports saying that Apple has a secret facility in California that is currently working on MicroLED displays. The reports also state that, Apple may finally start working on its own displays but at the end, the company will very likely outsource the manufacturing process. MicroLED is the upcoming (futuristic) display technology that improves on the current standard, OLED.
According to Bloomberg, the display tech is being developed for an upcoming Apple Watch. The current generation Apple Watch uses an OLED display made by LG. Just like OLED, microLED also lights up every pixel for much greater backlighting, greater contrast, and also much more efficient in terms of power usage and better viewing angles.
MicroLED also doesn’t suffer from the problems faced by OLED panels like low-brightness levels and also increases the longevity of the display compared to the present technologies. Samsung is another company, that has been working on MicroLED panels for sometime, and at the last CES, the company showed-off a 146-inch modular TV named “The Wall” based on the same technology. The TV is expected to hit the stores in August of this year, however, the pricing details haven’t been revealed.
As the tech related to MicroLED is still in research, it’s not exactly ready for production and Apple joining the race is a sign that it wants to have more control over its products. Apple starting working on display technology that is not even mainstream might sound odd but it’s great to see Apple finally entering the market as its known for making great strides with newer technologies and other companies usually follow.
For now, the company is only working on displays for the Apple Watch but if things work out, we may see Apple making screens for its much popular products like the iPhone, the Mac, and the iPad in the future.
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