MicroLED Apple Watch Ultra 3 to cost more than iPhone 15 Pro Max so don’t hold your breath،
The highly anticipated Apple Watch Ultra 3, which was originally scheduled to release alongside the iPhone 16 series, could be delayed by two years. No, not that ordinary Ultra, but one with a revolutionary microLED display that will give a big boost to the Apple Watch line's battery life and screen brightness, two of the most important things that the company needs to work on. for its otherwise high-end sturdy watch. How come?
Apple and microLED displays
Cost futility
Apple has been investing in microLED research and development for years in hopes that the technology could one day replace OLED panels for which it now relies primarily on Samsung and LG.
The Korea Institute for Information and Communication Technology Promotion has released an analysis of the potential impact of the microLED display switcher on Samsung or LG's display business. It says there could be an initial drop in orders as Apple develops the superior screen technology in-house, but it could then outsource production to LG or Samsung and offset that.
As part of its efforts in display technology and supplier diversification, Apple has continued the development of its own microLED technology with which it plans to gradually offset its dependence on OLED panels from Samsung, LG, BOE or any other future component supplier that it manages to offer. source.
Apple is expected to
start by equipping its Watch Ultra series with microLED panels, just like it did during the OLED screen transition. This should have happened this year and, after testing the performance of microLED technology in action, Apple should then have replaced the OLED panels in its iPhones and even iPads with microLED panels.
As mentioned, the advantages of microLED technology are numerous, such as much lower power consumption, hence longer battery life with the same battery capacity compared to OLED displays. They're also brighter on average and have the nearly infinite contrast of current OLED displays, so why wouldn't Apple just go with microLED?
MicroLED screens have a more frugal and bright structure
$1,500 for a microLED Apple Watch?
2-inch microLED > 15 Pro Max 6.7-inch
We'll spare you the suspense. Apple will have to nearly double the retail price of the Watch Ultra 3 if it decides to release it with a microLED display instead of the current OLED panel. Apparently, it is precisely the inability to reduce the price of the microLED screen of an upcoming Apple Watch Ultra with the new screen technology that will delay its release. The same goes for all the other Apple devices it plans to equip with microLED displays, like iPads, iPhones and even Macs.
Apple would have reduced its microLED ambitions by simply launching it on a Watch Ultra 3 with the iPhone16, because achieving such large-scale displays has proven more difficult than expected. A MicroLED Industry Association white paper that first detailed the viability of microLED displays for wearable devices came to the conclusion that such an Apple Watch Ultra 2 could cost double what the Apple Watch Ultra display commands Current OLED.
When is a 2 inch screen more expensive than a 6 inch?
More recent research summarized by
The Elect, however, shows a much more prohibitive cost difference. According to market research firm Omdia, the display manufacturing cost estimates for an Apple Watch with a 2.13-inch microLED panel having a density of 325 PPI, a 10-micrometer chip and pixel spacing of 80 µm would be $115.
However, Korean display industry insiders say local companies ran a simulation of manufacturing microLED panels and came up with an even higher figure, at $150 a piece. Compare that to the $38 Apple is currently paying for the OLED Watch Ultra 2 display, and you'll see why the Cupertino team is hesitant to move forward with the original 2024 release plan.
Following Apple's typical MSRP strategy means it will have to release an Apple Watch Ultra 3 with microLED display at around $1,500 instead of the current $799. So the Cupertino sales team may have rightly concluded that there won't be many customers for its watch at a price that beats that of the iPhone 15
Pro Max.
In fact, Apple would pay more to LG Display, Epistar, OSRAM, TSMC, Luxview and all other suppliers involved in its microLED display supply chain for a 2-inch Apple Watch panel than it currently pays Samsung or LG for 6.7-inch screens. of its iPhone 15 line which costs $120 at most.
Summary
Don't wait with bated breath
Long story short, don't hold your breath for Apple microLED display devices anytime soon, as they're only in the Watch Ultra line. A microLED iPad or microLED iPhone are even more advanced, barring a surprise break in manufacturing costs.
By then, we'll probably have to get acquainted with the relatively short battery life of the Apple Watch series, where the “official”up to 36 hours with normal use“The specs aren’t even close to reality.
