Apple to Mass Produce Its Own MicroLED Displays for iPhones

Apple will mass produce its own microLED displays in order to lessen its reliance on Samsung and increase its own control over supply, laying the groundwork to realize its ultimate goal of bringing the technology to iPhones, reports Nikkei Asia.

iPhone 14 Pro Display Two Times Brighter Feature
According to the outlet's sources, Apple has spent at least $1 billion on microLED research and development over past decade, and once production starts, Apple will itself perform the critical "mass transfer" step of the manufacturing process, which involves placing at least tens of thousands of tiny microLED chips onto substrates.

Apple plans to fabricate the tiny microLED chips directly on wafers, and will partner with ams-Osram for the microLED components, LG Display for the substrates, and TSMC for 12-inch wafers. This process will reportedly be carried out at Apple's secretive R&D facilities in the Longtan District in the northern Taiwanese city of Taoyuan.

Apple has R&D teams working on the displays in the U.S., Taiwan and Japan, and is said to have designed not only the driver integrated circuits for the microLED screens, but also some of the production equipment itself to better control the mass transfer process, allowing it to eventually adopt the display technology in products that traditionally use OLED panels supplied by Samsung and other suppliers.

Despite Apple's groundwork, microLED display production remains challenging and manufacturing costs are higher, which is why Apple will start rolling out the technology with the Apple Watch Ultra before ultimately mass producing microLED displays for iPhones.

"Apple's ultimate plan is to introduce the technologies on its iPhone, which is its key revenue source and has much bigger volume, to justify the investments over the years," said one of the sources who has seen samples of the company's microLED screen.

The display technology would allow for higher brightness, decreased power consumption, improved contrast ratio, and other benefits compared to current iPhones with OLED displays.

With the Apple Watch Ultra not expected to use microLED until 2025, the first iPhone to adopt the technology is likely still several years away from launching. All four iPhone 15 models coming later this year are expected to feature OLED displays.

Popular Stories

Home Hub Command Center with Dome Base Feature

Apple Working on All-New Operating System

Thursday September 25, 2025 1:11 pm PDT by
Apple is developing an all-new operating system codenamed "Charismatic," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple smart home hub concept based on rumors This is likely Apple's long-rumored "homeOS" operating system. In a report last month, Gurman said both Apple's rumored smart home hub in 2026 and tabletop robot in 2027 will run the new operating system. He said the software platform ...
iOS 26 Battery Glass Feature

iPhone 16 Pro Max 80% Charge Limit: One Year Later, Was It Worth It?

Wednesday September 24, 2025 3:58 pm PDT by
With the iPhone 15 series, I did an experiment and kept my iPhone's Charge Limit set at 80 percent for an entire year. It provided an interesting look at the impact of charge limits on battery longevity, so I decided to repeat it for the iPhone 16 line. Since September 2024, my iPhone 16 Pro Max has been limited to an 80 percent charge, with no cheating. As of today, my battery's maximum...
AirPods Pro 3 Newsroom

Apple's 'Back to School' Offer Ends Soon, Now Applies to AirPods Pro 3

Wednesday September 24, 2025 7:20 am PDT by
Apple's annual "Back to School" promotion for students ends soon, so act fast if you want to score free AirPods with the purchase of an eligible new Mac or iPad. Until Tuesday, September 30, college students and qualifying educational staff in the U.S. can receive free AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation when they purchase an eligible new Mac or iPad from Apple. This is a $179 value. ...
iOS 26

Apple Continues to Prepare iOS 26.0.1 With Multiple Bug Fixes Expected

Sunday September 28, 2025 1:30 pm PDT by
Apple is preparing to release iOS 26.0.1, according to a private account on X with a proven track record of sharing information about future iOS versions. The account initially said iOS 26.0.1 would have a build number of 23A350, but they now expect the update to have a build number of 23A355. This suggests that the software update will include more bug fixes or changes than initially...
Apple MacBook Pro M4 hero

New MacBook Pro Nears Mass Production, But Four Bigger Upgrades Expected Next Year

Sunday September 28, 2025 2:08 pm PDT by
Apple's next MacBook Pro models will enter mass production soon, according to the latest information shared by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In his Power On newsletter today, Gurman said he continues to believe the new MacBook Pro models will be released at some point between late 2025 and the first quarter of 2026, meaning they should be available to order by March at the latest. Apple often...
iPhone 17 Pro Colors

Skipped the iPhone 17 Pro? Here's What is Rumored for iPhone 18 Pro

Tuesday September 23, 2025 8:55 am PDT by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are still a year away, there are already a few rumors about the devices that offer an early look ahead. Below, we have recapped some of the early iPhone 18 Pro rumors so far. This story was published previously, and it has been updated to reflect the latest rumors. Many early rumors prove to be true, but nothing is confirmed yet, and Apple's...
iphone 17 ceramic shield

Regular iPhone 17's USB-C Charging Speeds Tested With Apple Chargers

Friday September 26, 2025 9:01 am PDT by
The website ChargerLAB has tested the standard iPhone 17 model's USB-C charging speeds with a variety of Apple's chargers, from 18W to 140W. The device reached a peak charging speed of around 27W to 28W with these Apple chargers:29W USB-C Power Adapter 30W USB-C Power Adapter 35W Dual USB-C Port Power Adapter 35W Dual USB-C Port Compact Power Adapter 40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max...
Apple More Personal Siri Ad

Apple Responds to U.S. Class Action Lawsuit Over Delayed Siri Features

Friday September 26, 2025 6:57 am PDT by
In March, Apple delayed the launch of its personalized Siri features, and soon after the company was hit with multiple class action lawsuits over the situation. The plaintiffs said they never would have purchased an iPhone 16, or would have paid less, had they known Apple's marketing about the Siri features was false. In the U.S., all of the complaints were consolidated into one class...
maxresdefault

Review: A Week With the iPhone 17 Pro

Friday September 26, 2025 12:51 pm PDT by
Apple's iPhone 17 models have been out for a week now, so we thought we'd do a longer-term review of the flagship iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max now that we've been able to spend more time with them. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera has a Silver iPhone 17 Pro and a Cosmic Orange iPhone 17 Pro Max, and despite a lot of concern over...

Top Rated Comments

mystery hill Avatar
31 months ago

OLED is a stop-gap until a MiniLED.
Until microLED
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
gpat Avatar
31 months ago

I thought OLED was the best? now back to mini LED??
MicroLED is not miniLED, it's the next evolutionary step and still not on any of Apple's products
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DeLaSoul Avatar
31 months ago
It should be rollable so you can transform from a pen shaped phone to a tablet so you can read the latest tweets out loud like a medieval herald ?
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ErneX Avatar
31 months ago

Please no, only OLED give us true blacks and saves battery life. Blooming is also a big problem
You probably confused this with miniLED. microLED is supposed to have all the benefits of OLED minus its degradation.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MayaUser Avatar
31 months ago

Please no, only OLED give us true blacks and saves battery life. Blooming is also a big problem
here is about microLED....read carefully...some users already said this...come on
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
klasma Avatar
31 months ago

It should be rollable so you can transform from a pen shaped phone to a tablet so you can read the latest tweets out loud like a medieval herald ?
I think that’s called heraLED.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)