It’s bad news because it means we won’t get micro-LED anytime soon (like this decade).
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Drops Plans to Develop MicroLED Displays for Apple Watch
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
As much as I hate to say it, I think you're right. Also, agree with MDN's take on this;
"There are a lot of people inside and outside of Apple who think the company should have waited on the Vision Pro, but it’s fairly easy today to see why Tim Cook released this beta (alpha?) devkit: He likely knew last year, or had a strong inkling, that Project Titan was a goner and there wasn’t much excitement in Apple’s pipeline. He’d need something to point to as “innovation” while he continued on his seemingly unending quest to iterate and monetize products invented by Steve Jobs’ Apple (a very different place) while continuing Apple’s retail store buildout. He also needed something to energize developers and, who knows, they might come up with a killer visionOS app while Apple toils on the long road to real lightweight spatial computing glasses and beyond.
More importantly, Apple last year had already come to the sad realization that they’d missed the generative artificial intelligence revolution and would need a distraction while they feverishly scrambled to catch up (the fruits of which — alongside what sound like disappointing partnerships which hopefully, somehow, preserve user privacy — we’ll hopefully begin to see at WWDC this June).
You have to feel for Cook. After a decade plus of being able to iterate and monetize Jobs’ inspired products and services and continue adding retail stores around the world to spectacular effect, and being lauded for it, he now finds himself in a place that requires actual vision to be able to see which path to take. And he’s not the guy. Even the guy who put him in the position knew it.
Tim’s not a product person, per se. – Steve Jobs
Beyond the fact that Cook can’t even execute a compelling live keynote address, his big send off, the “Apple Car,” fizzled in ignominious failure. So, despite myriad misgivings and protestations inside Apple, Cook pulled the trigger early on the Vision Pro. He had to have something to point to that would buy him some time. Even Apple’s rubber-stamping board of lackeys would be asking questions otherwise."
The Apple Vision Pro is 'expensive, impractical, and clearly nowhere near ready for the mass market' - Benedict Evans
Apple Vision Pro is amazing, and clearly part of the future, but also expensive, impractical and clearly nowhere near ready…
macdailynews.com
Fire Tim Crook! He clearly isn't fit to lead any more
A 110” MicroLED tv, the smallest currently, costs $150,000 at a 4K resolution. Why is it any surprise that a 1.9” screen is out of reach currently? They’re in too soon if they need immediate results. And the best they can hope for right now are some patents that might make licensing fees when these are economical a push so they only have the cost of the unit when deploying them.
Feels like they’re scrambling and out of ideas. Vision appears to be a failure so they’re cutting losses.
This is what happens when you make a bean counter operations guy as CEO. Jobs' products pipeline is almost used up at this point..after 10 years of iterations. Whatever "cutting edge" new tech that was created under Tim Cook are basically all billions of dollars disasters. The only product release under him that moved the needle for apple was the apple silicon m series chips, and that's largely due to the chip design team.
There is no vision, no care in the world for the products, nor improving usability. It's all about price tiers and maximum $ extraction. The simple fact they keep 5 different iPhones (not just config variations) around to try hit every pricing tier speaks to who is in charge. Steve would killed at minimum 2 lower tiers that are only ~$100 cheaper to force the users getting a better phone/experience.
AI is another disaster, apple has no vision and no clue how to execute AI into a refined product under Cook. All they are doing is panic buying small companies and leveraging openai/google to jam in some AI features. Siri remains a total disaster after 10 years with minimum improvements.
That's the one mistake Jobs made, he chose an operation suit to run the company over a product guy ceo.
Problem is not lack of ideas. It's lack of a coherent vision.
But Apple does not manufacture their SoCs and SiPs. They design them in partnership with TSMC, which does the actual manufacturing. Nor do they manufacture the FaceID nor TouchID modules, which are manufactured by suppliers using designs by Apple.
And so it will (now) be with MicroLED displays. Apple will not manufacture them, but they will have direct input on the specifications and quality requirements (just as they do now with OLED and LCD panels they purchase from suppliers who manufacture them).
Basically aspects of the same issue. Innovation requires vision of the future. The current Apple is all about the past.
Considering the "product guys" almost ran Apple into the ground between the time Steve was ousted and the time they bought him back, can you really blame him? At least the "operations guy" made the company effectively "too big to fail".
I’m all for nice screens in my Apple products, but honestly the OLED on the Apple Watch is already good enough for that product category. I’m not watching movies on my watch.
I've been a holdout for the Watch X/10, whatever it may be. Hopefully they do something compelling.
6 through 9 have been much of the same, and now they can't even include their oxygen sensor.
New screen tech was supposed to be a flagship feature upgrade, no?
6 through 9 have been much of the same, and now they can't even include their oxygen sensor.
New screen tech was supposed to be a flagship feature upgrade, no?
OLED has burn-in issues that drives the need to move away from it for the Watch, but it is the so-called major upgrade for the next round of iPad Pros - make of it what you will.
Most people don't know what type of screen their current devices have or what refresh rates it has.
Heck, most don't even know what oleophobic coating is or what is does....
Quiz your friends and family and see..
Heck, most don't even know what oleophobic coating is or what is does....
Quiz your friends and family and see..
I’m thinking Tim Cook’s days might be numbered…
Massively missed the AI boat
Cancelled car project
Alpha Vision Pro DoA
Cancelled microLED
Lackluster M2 chip
EU and US legal issues
China sales troubles with iPhone
Watch 9 patent loss and ban
Flattening growth
Constant software bugs and feature delays
I’m sure there is more. But it’s really starting to pile up.
Massively missed the AI boat
Cancelled car project
Alpha Vision Pro DoA
Cancelled microLED
Lackluster M2 chip
EU and US legal issues
China sales troubles with iPhone
Watch 9 patent loss and ban
Flattening growth
Constant software bugs and feature delays
I’m sure there is more. But it’s really starting to pile up.
Who said "can't"? More likely "don't want to".
OLED is good enough. No reason to replace it especially for a tiny display. Micro LED is more for iPads, Macs, and displays (tvs/monitors). MAYBE iPhones but I'd be happy if they stayed on OLED.
I said it before and I will say it again. Tim Cook has to go, he is destroying the company. Zero innovation, zero emotion, zero everything. Only greed is left.
Sign me up
We need a culture change at Apple
The bean counter schtick has run its course
When Steve came back, one of the first things he did from an organizational perspective, was give Jony Ive and the Industrial Design team the most operational power after him. He essentially made Apple into a design-driven company. Under Cook's leadership, that has been undone. The majority of the original design that were there under Steve Jobs and Jony Ive have now left and the current design team now reports to Jeff Williams, an operations expert.
I agree with you but that last part? OLED is the best way to watch movies lol. I could never go back to a normal LED or MiniLED tv lol.
MicroLED won't be any better looking than OLED. MicroLED is just for the people who still think burn in is a major issue.