According to a report, the Apple Watch Series 10 will be launched later this year with an upgraded display that offers better battery life. The iPhone maker is reportedly changing the way it manufactures the OLED screens on the Apple Watch Series 10, which could improve the wearable’s efficiency, according to South Korean publication The Elec. The successor to the company’s Apple Watch Series 9, along with the upcoming iPhone 16 series, is expected to arrive in the second half of 2024.
Elec reports (in Korean) that the Apple Watch Series 10 will feature low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) OLED screens as well as thin-film transistor (TFT) technology. With the current generation Watch Series 9, the company is reportedly equipping all but two of its switching transistors with low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS) technology, which is said to offer lower battery efficiency.
This year, the company will reportedly reduce the number of transistors using LTPS technology. As a result, Apple will only use less efficient technology for circuits outside the pixel area and the few remaining switching TFTs, according to the report. This means that the Apple Watch Series 10 may offer better battery life than its predecessor.
Last month, Bloomberg reported that Apple was abandoning its plans to develop screens in-house with MicroLED technology. Some teams that were working on display engineering are said to have been reorganized, while other employees have been fired by the company. The move comes shortly after Apple reportedly shut down its project to build a self-driving car, which had been in development for nearly a decade.
Although Apple’s future smartwatches may not be equipped with MicroLED screens, the upcoming Apple Watch Series 10 is expected to arrive with better display technology in the second half of 2024. The smartwatches may arrive alongside the iPhone 16 series of smartphones, which is expected to include four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max.
