Apple would seek to do without its partner Samsung Display from 2024 to control the production of its next devices a little more.
The OLED screen of the iPhone could very quickly be replaced by a new panel made directly by Apple.
A first Apple product with a micro-LED screen from 2024
Mark Gurman, of Bloomberg, tells us today that the Californian manufacturer is currently finalizing the development of its first micro-LED screen. This technology, very close to OLED and also composed of self-emitting diodes, has additional advantages such as much greater luminosity and responsiveness that goes below the microsecond bar.
The brand has been working on its very first screen, designed entirely in its laboratories since 2018. Scheduled for launch in 2020, this first micro-LED screen has encountered production difficulties and rising costs which have delayed the project.
Apple would now like to introduce its first slabs from the year 2024 or 2025 with the Apple Watch. An update to the Apple Watch Ultra would already be produced and being tested at Apple’s premises. The connected watch would thus serve as a life-size test, on small screens. If the transition is successful, the brand could expand the deployment of its micro-LED technology, and in particular on the very strategic iPhones.
We can imagine that the Pro models will benefit from this first, before the entire range abandons OLED in favor of micro LED. Macs could also eventually switch to the micro LED as well as iPads.
Apple frees itself from all its partners to fully control the design of its future products
If this new project materializes, Apple would cut ties with some of its biggest partners, namely Samsung Display and LG Display, which today provide it with all the screens that the brand uses on its product line. Such a reversal would be harmful in particular for LG, whose Apple represents 36% of the turnover of its branch dedicated to screens.
Tim Cook and his teams want to fully control the production of devices with an Apple, and are investing heavily in this direction. Apple now designs all the processors integrated into smartphones, tablets or even MacBooks available.
The company also wants to regain control of the modem integrated into iPhones, after the acquisition of Intel’s modem division in 2019, and only a few days ago, we told you that the manufacturer would be developing its own Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chips, in order to dispense with the services of Broadcomm, which today supplies it with these components.
By adopting this strategy, Apple can evolve at its own pace, without depending on the schedules of its partners.
Source : Bloomberg
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