Next Apple Watch Could Feature More Power Efficient OLED Display

[MacRumors]

Apple plans to use new low-energy OLED panel technology in the next Apple Watch to further reduce the power consumption of its always-on display, claims a new report out of Korea.

According to The Elec, Apple will adopt new low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) thin-film transistor (TFT) technology for its upcoming Apple Watch, which is scheduled to be released in the second half of this year.

LPTO TFT is a method of applying oxide on the driving TFT and the switching transistors behind each pixel. Switching transistors control the voltage applied to the liquid crystal cells, allowing precise control of the amount of light that passes through each pixel.

Existing Apple Watch OLED displays use LPTO TFT in only a few switching transistors, and rely on low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS) technology for the majority of transistors as well as the driving TFT.

Using oxide instead of LTPS for the driving TFT and more of the switching transistors means that oxide alone is responsible for the current running through the majority of transistors that connect directly to the OLED pixel. In the new LTPO OLED application, increased use of oxide means lower leakage current and more stable operation at low refresh rates, resulting in overall power savings.

The downside is that the technique means more complication in the manufacturing of the TFT substrates. According to the report, LG Display is expected to take the lead in the development of the new LPTO OLED technology. Meanwhile, Samsung is participating in a development project that should see it join Apple's LPTO OLED supply chain in time for next year's Apple Watch.

This has led to industry speculation that Apple is planning to expand the use of LPTO OLED technology to 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 the more advanced LTPO panels, which support variable refresh rates.

• Seven Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 17

Apple is expected to retain the use of the less advanced LTPS panels in this year's iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus to maintain differentiation between its standard and Pro models. However, next year's iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Plus are expected to adopt the same technology, which would mean Apple's 2025 iPhone series will be the first of its kind to feature ProMotion and always-on displays across the lineup.

Article Link: Next Apple Watch Could Feature More Power Efficient OLED Display

 

[jonnysods]

I hope they do something fun for the series 10 - I plan to update this year so I'm pumped.

 

[Fuzzball84]

Nice to have a more efficient display in such a device... but Im one of the people who prefers to have the watch blank when not looking at it.

 

[betasp]

Still 18 hours of battery life. Bookmark this for the future.

Apple has decided that's the battery life of a watch. It won't change. They will just increase processor power consumption accordingly.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

Wow, a spec bump!

The iPod Nano Apple Watch sure has come a long way.

 

[jonnysods]

Still 18 hours of battery life. Bookmark this for the future.

Apple has decided that's the battery life of a watch. It won't change. They will just increase processor power consumption accordingly.

That's why I will probably lean towards an Ultra at some point as 18 theoretical hours just doesn't cut it for me. I get up at 5am each day and work out and am pretty active throughout the day, I only use the watch for fitness, texts and email notifications, nothing really else, and it barely gets me to 11pm. On those super active days where I have sports in the evening I have to charge it during the afternoon.

 

[phenste]

Nice to have a more efficient display in such a device... but Im one of the people who prefers to have the watch blank when not looking at it.

thankfully AOD can be turned off! (no disrespect, everyone’s got their preferences)

as someone said earlier, hope they do something fun with this release, something iPhone X style. don’t know if they have it up their sleeve to redesign the device in such an effectively (sorry to use Apple marketing terms) revolutionary way as they did going from 7 -> X, but it’s obvious Apple likes to celebrate tenth anniversaries of groundbreaking products—hopefully they’ve got a few aces that we’ve yet to see (then again, future plans leak pretty effectively these days…).

 

[The Cockney Rebel]

I hope they do something fun for the series 10 - I plan to update this year so I'm pumped.

What watch are you coming from?

 

[phenste]

Still 18 hours of battery life. Bookmark this for the future.

Apple has decided that's the battery life of a watch. It won't change. They will just increase processor power consumption accordingly.

That's why I will probably lean towards an Ultra at some point as 18 theoretical hours just doesn't cut it for me. I get up at 5am each day and work out and am pretty active throughout the day, I only use the watch for fitness, texts and email notifications, nothing really else, and it barely gets me to 11pm. On those super active days where I have sports in the evening I have to charge it during the afternoon.

this is definitely something Apple needs to work on and it’s frustrating to think that they could cap non-Ultra models at 18 hours—I’m hoping a focus of the supposed redesign involving a new strap mechanism is (at least in part) a larger battery, because that’s the only way true “all-day battery life” will be achieved. it realistically works all-day for the average user that isn’t super active, when they need to be aiming for a battery that can handle someone waking up, doing a workout, going about their day, then tracking their sleep with the Watch before needing a recharge (perhaps a quick one between waking up and working out, they can only defy physics so much).

but I mean, take note of how often I use the word “hope” in my comments these days…we’ll see in September!

 

[oofio2461]

This would be the year Apple switches from LCD to OLED, hopefully we get OLED Macbooks soon.

 

[usbwire]

oh, nice. I am looking forward to the updates since the Series 4. I use mine daily, and while still great, I would like to jump to a series 10. Hope they adopt a larger 49mm size, but I won't get my hopes up.

 

[Razorpit]

We hear news about improvements like this and I can’t help but think, having this technology even work in the first place is amazing. “We” give Apple a ton of crap about slow improvements to products, but you have to recognize the R&D required just for something “as simple” as this.

 

[kinchee87]

Apple plans to use new low-energy OLED panel technology in the next Apple Watch to further reduce the power consumption of its always-on display, claims a new report out of Korea.

According to The Elec, Apple will adopt new low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) thin-film transistor (TFT) technology for its upcoming Apple Watch, which is scheduled to be released in the second half of this year.

LPTO TFT is a method of applying oxide on the driving TFT and the switching transistors behind each pixel. Switching transistors control the voltage applied to the liquid crystal cells, allowing precise control of the amount of light that passes through each pixel.

Existing Apple Watch OLED displays use LPTO TFT in only a few switching transistors, and rely on low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS) technology for the majority of transistors as well as the driving TFT.

Using oxide instead of LTPS for the driving TFT and more of the switching transistors means that oxide alone is responsible for the current running through the majority of transistors that connect directly to the OLED pixel. In the new LTPO OLED application, increased use of oxide means lower leakage current and more stable operation at low refresh rates, resulting in overall power savings.

The downside is that the technique means more complication in the manufacturing of the TFT substrates. According to the report, LG Display is expected to take the lead in the development of the new LPTO OLED technology. Meanwhile, Samsung is participating in a development project that should see it join Apple's LPTO OLED supply chain in time for next year's Apple Watch.

This has led to industry speculation that Apple is planning to expand the use of LPTO OLED technology to 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 the more advanced LTPO panels, which support variable refresh rates.

• Seven Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 17

Apple is expected to retain the use of the less advanced LTPS panels in this year's iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus to maintain differentiation between its standard and Pro models. However, next year's iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Plus are expected to adopt the same technology, which would mean Apple's 2025 iPhone series will be the first of its kind to feature ProMotion and always-on displays across the lineup.

Article Link: Next Apple Watch Could Feature More Power Efficient OLED Display

The switching between the acronyms LTPO and LPTO is giving me a low-power headache.

 

[kemal]

Right in the middle of the article it reads like they are describing how an LCD works.

 

[Godspeed8230]

That's why I will probably lean towards an Ultra at some point as 18 theoretical hours just doesn't cut it for me. I get up at 5am each day and work out and am pretty active throughout the day, I only use the watch for fitness, texts and email notifications, nothing really else, and it barely gets me to 11pm. On those super active days where I have sports in the evening I have to charge it during the afternoon.

With AOD off I can use my Apple Watch for 2 days straight and could use it for another 0,5 day. AOD doesn't add much value for me.

 

[contacos]

The more I think about it the less I see much use (personally) for longer battery life on my watch like I want to make sure it "survives" a full day anyway so what would a battery life of 1,5 or 2,5 days bring me, I'd charge it anyway to make sure it survives the whole day / rest of a day.

 

[BorisDG]

Good news. Will be great year to upgrade to 16 Pro (Max) and AW10. 😍

 

[scrapesleon]

I got rid of my series 4 so September better be good

 

[jclardy]

If the Ultra is pushed to 3+ days with this upgrade, then it might actually be worth upgrading. It's nice to go on a weekend vacation with just a single charger for phone/laptop and not have to consider the watch. Current Ultra can barely do it so long as you turn it off overnight.

 

[Fuzzball84]

Still 18 hours of battery life. Bookmark this for the future.

Apple has decided that's the battery life of a watch. It won't change. They will just increase processor power consumption accordingly.

They did this with iPad too... despite MacBooks having their battery life extend significantly. I suspect size/weight restrictions are the issue... and they would rather add more features... than extend and market longer battery life.

 

[jonnysods]

With AOD off I can use my Apple Watch for 2 days straight and could use it for another 0,5 day. AOD doesn't add much value for me.

I have mine turned off too it is of no use to me if its on when I'm not looking at it. I have the AW6, health is about 82% now - which one do you have?

 

[StoneJack]

That's why I will probably lean towards an Ultra at some point as 18 theoretical hours just doesn't cut it for me. I get up at 5am each day and work out and am pretty active throughout the day, I only use the watch for fitness, texts and email notifications, nothing really else, and it barely gets me to 11pm. On those super active days where I have sports in the evening I have to charge it during the afternoon.

Dont tell me you are Tim

 

[StoneJack]

I have mine turned off too it is of no use to me if its on when I'm not looking at it. I have the AW6, health is about 82% now - which one do you have?

Mine is S7 I guess

 

[jonnysods]

this is definitely something Apple needs to work on and it’s frustrating to think that they could cap non-Ultra models at 18 hours—I’m hoping a focus of the supposed redesign involving a new strap mechanism is (at least in part) a larger battery, because that’s the only way true “all-day battery life” will be achieved. it realistically works all-day for the average user that isn’t super active, when they need to be aiming for a battery that can handle someone waking up, doing a workout, going about their day, then tracking their sleep with the Watch before needing a recharge (perhaps a quick one between waking up and working out, they can only defy physics so much).

but I mean, take note of how often I use the word “hope” in my comments these days…we’ll see in September!

Yeah 18 hours is definitely not all day - I'm pretty active and this watch is pretty stripped down as far as apps, background tasks etc, and it can't keep up. I love the AW as it's made me a healthier person, but they need to squeeze a bit more out of the battery. I guess they want these things to be throwaways at the end of the day, but I haven't had this thing more than 2.5 years yet and its dropped 20% battery health.

 

[Howard2k]

Yeah 18 hours is definitely not all day - I'm pretty active and this watch is pretty stripped down as far as apps, background tasks etc, and it can't keep up. I love the AW as it's made me a healthier person, but they need to squeeze a bit more out of the battery. I guess they want these things to be throwaways at the end of the day, but I haven't had this thing more than 2.5 years yet and its dropped 20% battery health.

No, they don't want them to be throwaway. You can send it back to Apple for a battery refresh (they will replace with a refurbished unit) or you can give it to Apple for recycling. Don't throw it in the trash, that's not the intent.