Apple cancels in-house Apple Watch display project, shifts focus to MicroLED technology

Apple has decided to halt its plans of designing and producing its own displays for the Apple Watch, according to reports from Mark Gurman at Bloomberg.

The company had been exploring the transition from OLED to custom microLED screens since as early as 2016. Mark Gurman at Bloomberg claims:

For all their benefits, microLED screens were difficult to produce in sufficient quantities. Manufacturing them required cutting-edge technology and a complicated process called LED transfers — the placing of pixels in the display. Though Apple owned the design and manufacturing process for the microLED screens, it enlisted a number of partners to handle mass production and tasks like LED transfers.

The cancellation of the research and development project has led to a reduction in jobs within Apple's display division, with dozens of employees affected. However, Apple remains committed to investing in microLED technology for future products.

This marks the second significant R&D project canceled by Apple this year, following the abandonment of its ambitious autonomous electric vehicle project.