Apple ’s plan to set in motion a raw Apple Watch Ultra model with a microLED display has take another belt . It ’s been reported this week that the gimmick has hit manufacturing problems and is now improbable to launch until 2026 .
This is n’t the first setback to afflict the microLED Ultra . When it was first bruit ( as recently asJanuary ) , initiate auspicate that the gadget would appear at the end of 2024 . But by April ( base on a reader - only tweet from dependable display expertRoss Young ) this had been pushed back to 2025 .
Now research company TrendForce ( via Korean - linguistic communication siteThe Elec ) say it wo n’t be here until the first one-quarter of 2026 at the other . In other words , within the space of six month , the expected launch has moved back by around 15 .
TrendForce cite manufacturing problem for the more cautious estimate . Apple has yet to determine a style to bring down manufacturing costs for mass production , despite having already invest more than $ 1 billion in this playing area . The Apple Watch Ultra would be the first Apple twist to employ a microLED display . The 14 - inch and 16 - column inch MacBook Pros and 12.9 - inch iPad use mini - lead tech and the upcoming Vision Pro has high-pitched - end micro - OLED displays .
This does n’t think we will be waiting until 2026 for the second - genesis Apple Watch Ultra . At one phase it was believed that microLED would be part of the package when Apple set up the 2d - gen version of the Ultra , back when that gadget was expected to succeed the same biennial rise cadence as the Apple Watch SE . But just as microLED has been push back , the second Ultra hassomehow come closer . It now seems certain that the second Ultra will go far long before microLED does – perhaps as soon as this fall – and that this major screen upgrade will appear in the third- or even quaternary - gen theoretical account .
All current Apple Watch model are base on OLED screen . switch tomicroLEDbrings legion advantages : the panels are thin , brighter , and more king - efficient , and have debauched response time . But they present technical difficulties , as we are seeing .
