Apple Inc. has reportedly canceled an internal effort to develop microLED screens, which offer better display quality than competing technologies and are less susceptible to certain malfunctions.

Bloomberg reported the move today, citing people familiar with the matter. Apple reportedly scrapped the project around the same time it ended a long-running internal effort to design an electric car. Like the latter initiative, the microLED development push reportedly experienced several major delays before it was canceled.

A traditional LED display comprises two layers: a layer of pixels and a so-called backlight that provides illumination for those pixels. In a microLED screen, the pixels are implemented as tiny semiconducting structures that can generate their own illumination. That removes the need for a separate backlight, which lowers microLED screens’ space and power requirements.

The technology has other advantages as well. It allows as many as millions of pixels to be placed on a single display, which improves resolution. Additionally, microLED panels are less prone to screen burn-in, a type of hardware malfunction that commonly affects traditional displays. 

Apple reportedly began working on its own microLED panels seven years ago. According to Bloomberg’s sources, the company planned to integrate the technology into the Apple Watch first and then bring it to other devices. The effort experienced several major delays before it was canceled: Apple reportedly hoped to debut its first microLED smartwatch in 2020, but later pushed the launch date beyond 2025.

The iPhone maker is believed to have axed several dozen positions in connection with the move to scrap the project. According to today’s report, the layoffs affected multiple display engineering teams in Asia. Many of the other impacted employees are said to have worked at a screen manufacturing facility the company operates in Santa Clara, California.

Apple reportedly planned to relegate several key display production tasks to partners. Those tasks included the so-called LED transfer process, one of the most complicated steps involved in display manufacturing.

A microLED’s pixels are manufactured separately from the substrate, or base layer, on which they sit in the final product. The process of placing the pixels on the substrate is known as the LED transfer. The reason it’s challenging is because a single microLED panel can include up to millions of pixels that must be placed only a few microns from another one, which creates many opportunities for errors.

Apple’s iPhones and other devices currently feature screens based on industry-standard OLED technology. The company reportedly plans to continue using the technology for the foreseeable future, but will explore whether microLED displays could be incorporated into some of its products. It’s believed Apple is currently evaluating new suppliers and manufacturing technologies that could advance the effort.

Photo: Andrew/Flickr