Apple is prepared to take action to lessen its reliance on outside manufacturers for the acquisition of components while maintaining total control over the supply chain by manufacturing the required components internally.
The company is already slowly moving away from using Intel CPUs and AMD GPUs for many of its products in favour of its own, internally developed Apple silicon chips. Now Apple wants to take it one step further by developing its own displays.
Bloomberg reports that Apple is planning to use its own custom displays in its mobile devices, starting as early as 2024, to reduce reliance on partners such as Samsung and LG and bring more components in-house. This news comes as a blow to Samsung Display Co. and LG Display Co., the two main suppliers for Apple devices’ screens.
This effort is part of a bigger initiative to replace Apple’s supplies with homegrown parts, which will give the company more control over the design and capabilities of its products.
The company has started testing the microLED displays on a new version of its premium sports watch, the Apple Watch Ultra. Apple intends to eventually introduce the displays to other products, including the iPhone, upgrading the current OLED to a technology known as microLED.
The next-generation displays are designed to provide brighter, more brilliant colours and the ability to be better seen at an angle as compared to current Apple Watches.
The microLED panels will be Apple’s first screens that were fully internal designed and built. In addition to Samsung and LG, the company currently sources screens from a variety of manufacturers, such as Japan Display Inc., Sharp Corp., and BOE Technology Group Co.
