Apple Watch: Micro LED display apparently cancelled

It can be assumed that Apple will also launch a new smartwatch this year. According to rumors, the 10th edition of the wearable, known in specialist circles as the Apple Watch X, was to be launched with a complete redesign and a brand new micro LED display. Suppliers are now saying that the new display technology is now off the table. Is there a crisis at Apple?

Apple Watch X: No micro LED display after all?

In the upcoming Apple Watch X, a new micro-LED display was supposed to replace the previous OLED screen, at least according to rumors in autumn 2023.

The new technology should primarily ensure a better color display and greater clarity of the screen. Micro-LED screens are also expected to increase the durability of the Apple Watch and are considered more energy-efficient than OLED displays.

However, the display of the upcoming Apple Watch was apparently to be manufactured in-house, as Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman speculated back in January 2023. Apple wanted to free itself from its dependence on Samsung, which has supplied the displays for its smartwatches to date.

Now, however, the topic seems to be off the table for the time being, according to supplier circles. At least that’s what analyst Ming-Chi Kuo claims on Twitter/X and goes on to explain that Apple has discontinued the micro-LED version of the wearable – among other things because no advantage was seen in the technology and the production costs were too high.

Job cuts at Apple?

Kuo also states that Apple recently laid off a large part of the workforce from the Micro LED development team. Further projects with the technology are currently not in sight. The collaboration with Osram, which acted as Apple’s exclusive LED chip supplier, has also been terminated, Kuo continued.

This would be the second setback in just a few days for the Cupertino-based company. It was only on February 28 that it was announced that the electric car project, known internally as “Project Titan”, had also been scrapped.

The approximately 2,000 employees who worked on the Apple Car now face an unclear future. Together with the job cuts in the Micro-LED department, a whole series of Apple employees will probably soon have to start looking for a job.