The Apple Glasses screens are expected to be micro-OLED screens, reads a new report today. Not to be confused with microLED, micro OLED is an advanced form of display technology built directly into chip waffles, and ideal for the very small screens that are likely to be used in Apple’s augmented reality glasses.
The Cupertino company reportedly worked with the A-series chipmaker TSMC on the project under secret circumstances, even according to Apple standards …
Although the Cupertino company allegedly first plans to launch a high-end VR / AR headphone, it was believed to be only a step towards a mass-market consumer product called Apple Glasses. It is expected to be a device that looks a lot like conventional glasses, but with small built-in screens to cover information such as map directions, messages, app notifications, and so on.
Nikkei name his own sources for the report.
Apple has partnered with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. worked to develop ultra-advanced display technology in a secret facility in Taiwan, Nikkei Asia has learned. […]
Apple’s complex in Longtan Science Park consists of several unmarked white buildings – there is no company logo or address on the outside, and only a very faint apple symbol can be seen in the foyer, Nikkei reporters said during a recent visit saw. Apple registered a business with the park in 2014 and expanded it in 2020. The complex is within walking distance of TSMC’s advanced disk packaging and testing facility, located in the same science park. […]
The California technology giant plans to develop micro-OLED screens – a radically different kind of screen built directly on chipboards – with the ultimate goal of using the new technology in its upcoming augmented reality devices, sources said on the matter. .
Apple is working with its longtime chip provider TSMC because micro-OLED screens are not built on glass substrates like the regular LCD screens in smartphones and TVs, or OLED screens used in high-end smartphones. Instead, these new screens are built directly on waffles – the substrate on which semiconductors are made – leaving screens that are much thinner and smaller and use less power, making them more suitable for use in portable AR devices, according to sources familiar with the projects.
Although micro OLED is a different technology than microLED, it is said that Apple is working on both screen types at the same facility.
Apple’s other performance project on the Longtan campus focuses on micro-LED technology, which the company hopes to eventually use in the Apple Watch, iPads and MacBooks. Apple has partnered with Taiwanese LED company Epistar to develop the technology together.
Like micro-OLEDs, the micro-LED project also involves a bit of chip manufacturing technology. The components are 100 times smaller than those used in LED lighting products and they do not require backlight modules such as traditional LEDs and LCDs, which means that the screen can be much thinner. Micro LEDs also offer a high color contrast and can be used to make curved or foldable screens, similar to OLED screens.
The report says that the Apple Glasses exhibition project is ‘now in the trial production stage’, designed to ensure that ultimate mass production plans are realistic. It is important to note that although this is an important milestone, it nevertheless represents an early stage of the project as a whole. Trial production here refers to the Apple Glasses screens, rather than to the AR devices themselves.
Today’s report states that the built – in screens will be less than one centimeter in size and that Apple will take confidentiality even more seriously than usual.
Anyone signing up to work on the program must sign a strict non-disclosure agreement that prohibits them from even meeting with friends or acquaintances working in the technology industry.
Draft image: Antonio De Rosa
FTC: We use revenue to earn automatically affiliate links. More.
Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news: