Apple is widely expected to equip the Apple Watch Ultra with a microLED display, but a new report from South Korea suggests that Apple may not be able to configure the supply chain early enough to launch the device before 2026. Throughout last year, Taiwanese research firm TrendForce predicted the device would be available in 2026, which is later than the 2025 timeframe cited by several other sources.
However, issues related to high manufacturing costs and yields remain the biggest obstacles to mass production of microLED Apple Watch Ultra, and may even delay the release beyond 2026, TheElec reported.
Apple has reportedly been researching custom microLED display technology for nearly a decade. This advanced display has improvements in brightness, color reproduction, dynamic range, viewing angles and efficiency, making images appear more like they are "painted" on the display glass.
The current Apple Watch Ultra display size is 1.93 inches, while the upcoming microLED model is expected to have a 2.12-inch screen. The problem for Apple is that the cost of making a screen with such a high pixel density is still considered too high for a device that currently costs $799. According to the report, simulation results show that the cost of a 2.12-inch screen is as high as $150, which is four times the production cost of existing OLED displays ($38). As a baseline, consumer sales for a product with a $150 panel price are typically around $1,500.
The cost of US$150 is higher than the manufacturing cost of the OLED display of the 6.1-inch and 6.7-inch iPhone 15 (US$80 and US$120 respectively). Given the current cost of the panel, the price of the microLED Apple Watch Ultra will be higher than Apple's latest high-end iPhone, which is a very tricky question, and even releasing this device in 2027 may be too optimistic.
Apple is said to plan to replace all of its existing LCD, OLED and mini-LED panels with microLED in the long term, with the technology's design scale expanding from Apple Watch to iPhone, iPad, Mac and Vision Pro. The project is part of Apple's plan to reduce its reliance on Samsung suppliers while benefiting from in-house designed display products. But unless the company can make its component supply chain foolproof, microLED adoption may still be some way off.