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Apple’s New Taiwanese Lab May Focus on OLED and Micro-LED Display Technology

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Taiwanese website DigiTimes has published a new report corroborating rumors that Apple is developing flexible OLED technology for future devices, including iPhones and iPads, at its newly discovered factory in northern Taiwan.

The report, citing sources within the Taiwanese supply chain, claims Apple has recruited a team of R&D engineers from local companies including AU Optronics and Qualcomm subsidiary SolLink, echoing a Bloomberg report from earlier this week.

Last month, Japanese website Nikkei reported that Apple plans to switch to OLED displays for iPhones starting in 2018. The report said LG Display and Samsung Electronics will likely share a large portion of the OLED panel production, with LG already planning capacity upgrades for high-volume organic light-emitting diode production.

Apple's current LCD supplier Japan Display is also reportedly in negotiations with Apple about securing OLED orders for future iPhones, in an effort to compete with LG and Samsung. The joint venture between Hitachi, Sony and Toshiba reportedly plans to begin mass production of OLED panels in early 2018.

KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes Apple will continue using TFT-LCD display technology for iPhones for at least the next three years, lining up with the 2018 timeframe claimed by other reports. Kuo also said Apple manufacturer Foxconn is preparing to invest in advanced TFT-LCD production lines for mass production in 2018.

While multiple reports suggest Apple is moving towards OLED displays for iPhones, including DigiTimes, the Taiwanese website shared a second report claiming Apple may focus on micro-LED technology at its secretive Taiwanese factory. The report does not specify if the technology would be used for iPhones or other future devices.
Micro-LED displays eliminate the need for backlighting unlike traditional LCDs, and allow for improved color gamut in addition to higher resolution. However, the technology suffers from low yields when used in a TFT manufacturing process and therefore is difficult to mass produce. [...]

However, it is still too early to know whether Apple plans to use micro-LED displays for existing or new applications. Apple is showing signs of moving toward OLED for most of its small- to medium-size products as early as 2017-2018 based on emerging developments in the display industry.
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Apple acquired micro-LED display maker LuxVue Technology in 2014. Back in December of 2013, LuxVue raised $25.2 million in funding to pursue the display technology, and the company also filed several patents on micro-LEDs. At the time, one of LuxVue's investors said the company had "a technical breakthrough in displays."

OLED displays generally have brighter colors and deeper blacks, and no backlight increases power efficiency, but the panels can also have shorter lifespans and higher manufacturing costs compared to LCD technology. Apple has reportedly been "consulting with display makers" about OLED technology to eliminate potential drawbacks.

Samsung's flagship lineup of Galaxy smartphones have long used AMOLED displays, but iPhones have stuck to various LCD technologies since the original model launched in 2007. The first and only Apple product to feature OLED display technology is the Apple Watch, but the 1.5-inch to 1.7-inch screen is only a fraction of the size of the 4.7-inch iPhone 6s and 5.5-inch iPhone 6s Plus.

Article Link: Apple's New Taiwanese Lab May Focus on OLED and Micro-LED Display Technology
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2015/12/16/apple-taiwan-factory-oled-micro-led-tech/
2018 seems so far away for OLED phones. Maybe its not, I don't know. I do know the price needs to drop on OLED so I can get one of the big OLED screens for my living room. $5k is too much right now when the (not as nice looking) LCD's available currently are a fraction of the price. I wish plasma had stuck around but it used too much power.

Anyhow, on topic, I am looking forward to this change. My watch display looks nice and if its any indication of the future the phones will look nice too.
 
meaning-matters said:
Apple is still striving to control both the hardware and software. A sure way to amazing products.
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Google is making an effort to do this also. They are going to require certain processors etc for their OS. Which would put them closer in line with Apple in regards to battery life and performance.

Both platforms are nice, but right now, NOTHING comes close to the performance of the iPhone.
 
I predict MicroLED will first show up in the Apple Watch2, and then again in the iPhone 8.
 
Technology is cool if it provides a benefit, works, offers value, otherwise it is just for geeks. Apple has done a good job applying this concept to their products. Others not so much.
 
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bobob said:
That's why it's perfect for Android phones - - your screen becomes unreadable at the same time as your system updates run out in 18 months.
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That cracked me up.

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I think they will stick with OLED for the watch as a test platform. I am really curious to see if they chose multiple technologies, one for mobile, one for desktops/laptops.
 
lunarworks said:
AMOLED is kinda cool, I love how you can have always-on info screens, but I'm glad Apple hasn't gone with it yet. The colours look so unnatural on all the OLED phones I've seen. I love digital photography, so it's kind of a big deal for me and many others.
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If photography is your thing then AMOLED will be right up your alley. Specifically Samsung's implementation. The phones have 4 display modes. Dynamic - probably the one you're describing as unnatural. Intentionally over saturated to "pop" in stores. Cinema - calibrated for movies. Basic - Most color accurate phone display tested by Displaymate. The one that may interest photographers is Photo mode - uses Adobe RGB broader color gamut instead of standard sRGB.

If Apple goes with OLED I'd wish for something similar, giving users a choice. I seriously doubt it though. Apple typically prefers simplicity for the masses over catering to specific niches.
 
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bobob said:
What is this? An LED for ants?
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It's basically what Sony called Crystal LED display in 2012: Every sub pixel (Red, Green and Blue) will have its own backlight unit (that's why micro LED instead normal LED). So when you are showing black on display, it will not consume any power (just like OLED). Search YouTube "Crystal LED" and you will find Sony's nice CES demo.
 
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Micro LED (also known as Inorganic LED, or ILED) technology is definitely the future, with something like 3X power savings over traditional OLED/LCDs. The problem is in the manufacturing - ILEDs need to be built on small expensive wafers at high density, such as Sapphire or GaAs wafers, and each R/G/B color can have an entirely different recipe/process. Each LED needs to be mechanically picked from the source wafers and placed onto the display backplane - this is a huge manufacturing challenge to get 100% yield with millions of pixels with good throughput. Definitely expect to see this on watch displays first, but not for another 5 years, I'd expect.
 
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