Apple may ditch OLED and introduce microLED-powered Apple Watches, but they’re at a least a few generations out

According to a DigiTimes report, the CEO of Epistar, a Taiwanese manufacturer of microLED technology, has claimed that microLED displays will be commonplace in smartwatches in the next 3-4 years. With earlier reports tying Apple’s microLED initiatives to Epistar, this is a strong indication that the Apple Watch might switch over from conventional OLED technology to microLEDs in the years to come. 

However, keeping in mind the adoption timeframes provided by the Epistar CEO, it’s not likely that we’ll see Apple Watches with microLED displays for at least a couple years. MicroLED technology is currently substantially more expensive than OLED. However, it has a number of key advantages over both LCDs and OLED panels. 

MicroLED allows for extremely high contrast levels like OLED, but are capable of either outputting more light or delivering the same display brightness with substantially lower power draw. Due to their architecture, microLED technology allows for much thinner devices, which means we could see zero-bezel or roll-up devices become mainstream. 

The timeframes mentioned, unfortunately, mean that we might have to wait a bit longer than expected to see microLED tech deployed in iPads and iPhones.