EMERGING TECH
EMERGING TECH
EMERGING TECH
Report: Apple is secretly developing screens with experimental MicroLED technology
Apple Inc. is secretly developing a new type of screen for its devices based on MicroLED, an emerging display technology with the potential to enable a vastly improved viewing experience, according to a Bloomberg report published late Sunday.
MicroLED differs from the OLED panels that ship with the iPhone X and other latest-generation handsets on the market in multiple ways. Most notably, it allows pixels to be individually optimized and provides much better image contrast.
These properties are expected to let devices with tomorrow’s equipped OLED displays provide up to 30 percent more brightness than current handsets. Moreover, screens based on the technology will be thinner than their OLED counterparts and are set have lower power requirements. That last feature could enable Apple’s future handsets to have a longer battery life than current models.
The company is reportedly pursuing the development effort at a hush-hush research facility in California close to its headquarters. According to Bloomberg’s sources, the center is home to some 300 engineers who have been working to make MicroLED mass-producible for a few years now. Apple reportedly considered shutting down the initiative last year but reversed course after the lab made several major breakthroughs.
If successful, the project could reduce or outright eliminate the iPhone maker’s dependence on external display suppliers such as Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and LG Electronics Inc. The companies are two of Apple’s biggest competitors in the mobile device market. Apple has been working reduce its reliance on external providers elsewhere as well, most notably when it comes to processor chips.
The company is expected to roll out MicroLED displays to the Apple Watch first. But even though the company has been working on the technology for a few years now, it may not be the first to market. Samsung plans to launch the first MicroLED TVs in the second half of 2018, which means that smaller mobile and wearable screens likely won’t be too far behind.
Image: Unsplash
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