The best Apple Watches have some of the finest screens in the smartwatch world, with the Apple Watch Ultra 2 taking the title of best in the world. With a massive 3,000 nit-brightness Retina Display, it’s wonderful to look at and a key part of what makes the Ultra 2 one of the best smartwatches around. However, there have been reports Apple had an even better screen in the works… until recently.
Apple was working on microLED technology – which would have been used to increase the brightness and contrast while being more energy-efficient than the current screen tech – for its next watch, presumably the Apple Watch Ultra 3. However, noted Apple analyst and leaker Ming-Chi Kuo states that Apple has shelved plans for the technology, claiming “it can’t add significant value to the product”. Kuo said Apple has laid off many of the microLED development team, and “there’s currently no visibility on any microLED-related projects”.
Kuo calls this a “major setback” for Apple, but after seeing the next generation of wearables at MWC 2024, I’m almost convinced there may be other forces at play here.
The next generation of wearables
I had the privilege of examining the incoming generation of wearables at the MWC 2024 conference in Barcelona. I tried on the Samsung Galaxy Ring and checked out the Humane AI Pin in action. Plenty of other wearables were unveiled, too. Oppo revealed it was working on a pair of AI-powered AR smart glasses, and Honor is also working on its version of one of the best smart rings.
It follows the trend of the CES conference in Vegas in previous years, with a rise in the prominence of screenless wearables. Artificial intelligence is improving virtual assistants so much we’ll soon no longer need a screen to interact with wearables in meaningful ways. This has been demonstrated by the AI Pin, which got a lot of attention on this year’s MWC conference floor.
When it comes to health, smaller screenless form factors like rings and even smart earbuds are becoming more prominent. They monitor your vitals more intelligently and with less interaction from us. While screens will have a place on our wrists for a long time to come, Apple may feel, as many do, that we’re reaching peak smartwatch. Appetites for flashy, expensive screens may be on the decline.
Screens are useful for checking email and messages, sure, but artificial intelligence and virtual assistants may soon be able to pick up the slack here. As the technology evolves, our way of interacting with the technology will change.
The kind of smartwatches AI assistants may not eclipse are the best running watches, as they display your heart rate, speed, and so on at a glance. However, screen quality is less important here: as long as the information is clear, quality can be eclipsed by other factors, like better GPS and battery life.
Time will tell whether we'll see a microLED Apple Watch or not, but it may be that Apple is diverting wearables resources elsewhere: perhaps to the rumored Apple Ring.
