Tim Hardwick
Apple plans to use new low-power OLED panel technology in the next Apple Watch to further reduce the power consumption of the always-on display, says a new report out of Korea.
According to The Elec, Apple will adopt a new low-temperature thin-film transistor (TFT) polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) technology for the future Apple Watch, which will be released scheduled for the second half of this year.
LPTO TFT is a method of depositing an oxide on the control TFT and switching transistors behind each pixel. Switching transistors control the voltage applied to the liquid crystal cells, allowing precise control of the amount of light passing through each pixel.
Current Apple Watch OLED displays use LPTO TFT in only a few switch transistors, and most transistors, as well as the control TFT, use low temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS) technology.
Usage oxide instead of LTPS to drive the TFT and more switching transistors means that only the oxide is responsible for the current passing through most of the transistors that connect directly to the OLED pixel. In the new LTPO OLED application, greater use of oxide means less leakage current and more stable operation at low refresh rates, resulting in overall power savings.
The downside to this method is that this method means more complexity in production of TFT substrate. According to the report, LG Display is expected to lead the development of new LPTO OLED technology. Meanwhile, Samsung is involved in a development project that should see it join Apple's LPTO OLED supply chain for the Apple Watch next year.
This has led to industry rumors that Apple plans to expand use of LPTO. OLED technology for other products such as the iPhone. The current iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Plus use LTPS panels, while Apple's iPhone 15 Pro models use more advanced LTPO panels that support variable refresh rates.
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Apple is expected to retain the use of less advanced LTPS panels in this year's iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus to maintain a distinction between its standard and Pro models. However, next year's iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Plus are expected to use the same technology, meaning Apple's 2025 iPhone series will be the first of its kind to support ProMotion and always-on displays across the lineup.
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