Apple is secretly developing MicroLED screens for future iPhones

Apple plans big for future iPhones.

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Apple is developing its own displays for the first time, using a manufacturing facility near its California headquarters to make few screens for testing purposes, reports Bloomberg. According to the report, the company is making a huge investment in the development of next-gen MicroLED screens. These next-generation screens make do with different light-emitting compounds that the recent OLED displays and allows trimming down the thickness of the device while increasing the brightness without using much power.

 
Apple is secretly developing MicroLED screens for future iPhones

MicroLED display

MicroLED display

These screens are said to be far more complex to produce compared to the LED displays, and Apple almost shut down the project a year ago. Engineers have since then worked hard on the new technology. It is now at an advanced phase, though the consumers will have to wait for few years before they witness the new tech.

This isn't the first time Apple has produced the hardware in-house. The company earlier designed chips to power its smartphones. The move into displays will surely hurt a range of suppliers such as Samsung, Japan Display, LG Display and Sharp that produce chip-screen interfaces.

Golden opportunity
 

Golden opportunity

The MicroLED technology will enable Apple to stand out in a growing smartphone market and outclass rivals such as Samsung that have been touting their superior displays for quite some time.

Ray Soneira, who runs screen tester DisplayMate Technologies, says bringing the design in-house is a "golden opportunity" for Apple. "Everyone can buy an OLED or LCD screen," he says. "But Apple could own MicroLED."

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Mass production

Mass production

But this might not be as simple as it sounds. Mass producing the new screens will require new manufacturing equipment. By the time the new tech is ready for mass production, something else might replace it. Apple could run into a lot of hurdles and might have to abandon or push back the project. Despite all this, the project will be a super expensive endeavor for the company.

The company will most likely outsource production of the new screen in order to minimize the risk of hurting its bottom line with all the manufacturing issues. Also, the California facility is too small for mass production, but Apple wants to keep the proprietary technology away from its partners as long as possible, believes people close to the matter. "We put a lot of money into the facility," this person says. "It's big enough to get through the engineering builds [and] lets us keep everything in-house during the development stages."

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