According to the most recent Korea-based report, Apple is utilizing new low-energy OLED panel technology to equip the always-on display of its upcoming Apple Watch, mainly to contribute to an even lesser power consumption.
More About the Upcoming Apple Watch
It is reported that Apple intends to use this type of TFT with the subsequent Apple Watch, expected to be launched in the second half of this year. The new technology implies the use of oxide for both driving TFT and transistors lurking beneath each pixel and switching them on. These shifting transistors escort the voltage delivered to the liquid crystal cells, permitting the quantity of illumination to be adjusted accurately.
Thus, even though the LTPO displays of the Apple Watch employ LTPO TFT in only a few of the switching transistors, with the vast majority in the LTPS technology for the rest of the switching transistors and all of the driving TFT, LTPO is used more directly connected to the OLED pixel. As a result, in this LTPO OLED application, where oxide is used even more directly connected to the OLED pixel, the more use of oxide results in a low refresh rate but more stable operation of LTPO with reduced leakage current, and it is more energy-efficient overall.
However, this approach makes it much harder to manufacture the TFT substrates. LG Display is anticipated to lead the development of the new LTPO OLED technology, while Samsung is involved in a development project aimed at joining Apple’s LTPO OLED supply chain for next year’s Apple Watch. With the previous speculation and development at hand, there have been industry voices that Apple may go on to use LTPO OLED technology in other products.
The current standard iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus use LTPS panels, but the iPhone 15 Pro supports the LTPO panel with a variable refresh rate. Since Apple’s differentiation model, it is highly anticipated that this year’s iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus will use LTPS. However, it is likely that next year iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Plus will also use LTPO. Therefore, it is expected that all iPhone models in Apple’s 2025 series will use ProMotion displays, and it may be longer.
