Apple is scrapping plans to build a MicroLED display for the Apple Watch. according to the report of BloombergIt's Mark Gurman. The company reportedly stopped work on the display “around the same time it made the decision to cancel work on an autonomous vehicle,” Gurman writes, after deeming it too expensive and complex to develop.
This corroborates an earlier rumor from Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who said the company canceled the in-house MicroLED display because “production costs are too high to make it economically viable.” As a result of the project being halted, Apple eliminated “several dozen” engineering jobs, some of which were at the company's own display manufacturing facility in California.Bloomberg reports.
Rumors about Apple creating its own MicroLED displays for its smartwatches first surfaced last year. At the time, Bloomberg reported that Apple was preparing screens for an Apple Watch that it would launch in 2024 or 2025, which would allow Apple to reduce its dependence on screen designs from companies like Samsung or LG.
Apple currently uses an OLED display on its Apple Watch, which makes the display bright and vibrant. However, as my colleague Chris Welch points out, it's not exactly clear what benefits a MicroLED display would bring besides increased efficiency. However, it doesn't look like Apple is giving up on MicroLED entirely. Bloomberg He says Apple is still trying to find new suppliers and processes to incorporate the technology.