The Apple Watch Ultra 2 microLED display would cost twice but won’t be twice as good

Apple Watch Ultra 2 display price and specs

The reason is that, while in theory microLED chips would offer higher brightness with less power draw, in their practical application these characteristics won’t be twice as good as those of the current OLED displays that Apple uses. The microLED screens would nevertheless cost at least twice as much, and that’s in the best case scenario of the relatively small and with comparatively low resolution screens of the type used for smartwatches.

Not only would a larger microLED screen with higher resolution be prohibitively expensive to make, but its profit margins would feel a $20-to-$40 component cost jump much less on a $999 device. As per the the MicroLED Industry Association’s white paper:

This is why Apple may have taken the fateful decision to debut the microLED screen technology it has long prepared for prime time as an OLED dependency alternative, into the 2024 Watch Ultra 2 first. Apple did the same thing with OLED displays which it first bought from LG for use in its watches and then, when the technology matured and fell in price, rolled out to the iPhone with the iPad still to follow. 

Apple is nothing if not cautious with the cost control over its device components, and rarely introduces an expensive new technology first. Thus, its eventual switch to microLED screens could take another decade after the Watch Ultra 2 introduction, especially if it doesn’t offer drastically better experience than the current OLED panels it uses.