Right now, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 comes with the best screen on an Apple Watch – or any smartwatch for that matter. But Apple’s screen dominance may not last forever, as there’s some disappointing news for anyone looking forward to the upcoming Apple Watch Ultra 3.
That’s because it appears Apple has shelved its plans to upgrade the Apple Watch Ultra 3’s display to use microLED technology. This could have brought more brightness and contrast, better battery life, and more to the wearable, but now the entire project seems questionable.
The news came from a press release written by Ams-OSRAM, which produces portable displays and is believed to be a supplier for Apple products. In the statement, Ams-OSRAM said it wanted to “reassess its microLED strategy” after “a cornerstone project supporting the microLED strategy was unexpectedly canceled” by a customer.
According to Counterpoint Research’s Display Supply Chain Consultants (via MacRumors), this mysterious customer is Apple and the project it is related to is the Apple Watch Ultra 3.
It’s not the first time in recent weeks that a delay has been predicted for the Watch’s microLED screens – in February 2024, a report from The Elec suggested that the Apple Watch Ultra might not get microLED screens until 2027. With Ams-OSRAM’s latest announcement, things aren’t looking promising.
Canceled or simply postponed?
That said, there are reasons for hope as Ams-OSRAM revealed that “discussions with the related customer are ongoing.” That suggests there’s a chance we’ll see a microLED Apple Watch Ultra at some point in the future, and the project could simply be postponed rather than canceled altogether.
But even before the reports from The Elec and Ams-OSRAM, an Apple Watch Ultra with microLED technology wasn’t expected to hit the market until 2025 or 2026. With the current situation, we may have to wait even longer before a microLED Apple Watch sees the light of day.
The only upside is that Apple Watch users probably won’t be desperate for a screen upgrade, as the current Ultra’s screen is already incredibly impressive. As we said in the Apple Watch Ultra 2 review, it’s a “world-beating display” that represents “Apple at its peak.”
But it’s still disappointing to see what could be a major visual upgrade in the long grass. Hopefully Apple can get its microLED project back on track and upgrade its Apple Watch Ultra displays to something even better in the not-too-distant future.