Apple Works with TSMC on Micro Displays for AR

New Micro OLED Displays for AR Devices

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Published: March 8, 2021

Rebekah Carter

Rebekah Carter

Leading technology innovator Apple has recently announced that its joining forces with TSMC to develop new OLED displays for AR technology. Rumours about Apple’s entry into the XR market have been circling for some time now, and it seems the company is making progress. Following the release of some details about a mixed reality headset with an 8K display, Apple announced their collaboration with TSMC.

TSMC has been a long-term supplier of chips for Apple for some time now. According to press releases about the partnership, Apple has requested TSMC to assist with some specialist manufacturing for the OLED displays. These displays won’t be designed on glass substrates, like with smartphones, but instead use “wafers” – the substrates of semi-conductors.

Creating a New AR Experience

As Apple continues its journey towards a mixed reality experience for customers, TSMC will be a crucial partner in the production of the required hardware. The ability to build displays onto wafers ensures that Apple can create AR screens that are extremely small and thin. What’s more, the wafer technology allows the display to use less power than an OLED built onto glass. This range of benefits makes the wafer OLEDs ideal for AR technology.

According to reports on the partnership, the development of Apple’s micro-OLED panels is still in the early stages. Still, it’s speculated that mass production may take several years to begin. Apple has reportedly involved a range of people, including professionals from AU Optoelectronics, a display maker based in Taiwan, to work on the micro-OLED display project.

Apple may also be planning to switch to micro-OLED panels for iPad products in the future too, according to some reports.

Investing in Hardware

In addition to the micro-OLED panels, Apple will also be working with TSMC on manufacturing mini-LED panels too. These are lined up for a trial production period. If the production is successful, the micro-LED panels are likely to appear in not just iPads, but Apple Watch and MacBook devices too. Micro-LED panels mimic many of the features from the OLED panels, with deeper colour reproduction and contrast than LCD.

The new display tech being developed by Apple is still in the early enough stages that there’s no guarantee it will make it all the way to the commercial portfolio. The company could decide to apply patents to its portfolio just to gain more control over next-gen tech opportunities.

We are beginning to see some evidence of mini-LED technology coming to the consumer market, however. We’re now awaiting the arrival of mini-LED technology coming in future iPad and MacBook technology set to release in 2021.

 

 

 

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