Apple’s plans to release an updated version of the Apple Watch Ultra with a next-generation microLED display have been delayed again due to manufacturing challenges, according to market research firm Trendforce.
Information shared in April by display analyst Ross Young suggested that an Apple Watch Ultra with microLED display would launch in the second half of 2025 at the earliest, rather than late 2024 as was originally rumored.
Now, Trendforce believes it has been postponed for a second time and is unlikely to emerge before the first quarter of 2026, because of problems relating to high manufacturing costs which need to be solved before Apple can proceed to mass production.
Apple has reportedly invested more than $1 billion on in-house microLED development over the past decade to reduce its dependence on Samsung Display and tighten control over the supply of key components in the display panel sector.
The Apple Watch Ultra is expected to be the first Apple device to adopt a microLED display. The current Apple Watch Ultra uses standard OLED technology, whereas MicroLED offers many of the benefits of OLED along with some improvements.
MacDailyNews Take: microLEDs offer excellent color gamut, high luminance, a wide viewing angle, notably low power consumption, high dynamic range, high contrast, and transparency vs. LCD and OLED. The ability to control each pixel for local dimming and brightening offers significant advantages. microLEDs offer long lifetime and work well even in extreme weather – in other words: perfect for Apple Watch Ultra, but it looks like we’ll have to wait even longer for its arrival.
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The post Apple Watch Ultra with revolutionary microLED display reportedly delayed to 2026 appeared first on MacDailyNews.
