TAOYUAN, Taiwan – Apple has partnered with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to develop ultra-advanced display technology in a secret facility in Taiwan, Nikkei Asia learned.
The California tech giant plans to develop micro OLED displays, a radically different type of display built directly on chipped wafers, with the ultimate goal of using the new technology in its next augmented reality devices, sources told the respect.
Apple is partnering with long-time chip supplier TSMC to ensure that micro OLED screens are not built on glass substrates such as conventional LCD screens for smartphones and TVs or OLED screens used in phones. high-end smartphones. Instead, these new screens are built directly onto the wafers, the substrates on which the semiconductors are made, allowing screens that are much thinner and smaller and consume less energy, making them more suitable for their use in portable AR devices, according to known sources. with projects.
The project represents a further deepening of Apple’s relationship with TSMC, the only supplier of iPhone processors, even as the U.S. tech giant works to reduce its reliance on other major vendors. Taiwanese chipmaking giant is also helping Apple build CPUs designed for Mac computers.
The micro OLED project is now in the testing production phase, sources said, and it will take several years to reach mass production. Developing screens are less than 1 inch in size.
“Dashboard players are good at making screens bigger and bigger, but when it comes to thin, light devices like AR glasses, you need a very small screen,” said a source who has direct information about the project. of micro OLED R&D. “Apple is partnering with TSMC to develop the technology because the chip maker’s experience is making things very small and good, while Apple is also leveraging the knowledge of panel experts in display technologies.”
Parts of the planned microdisplay manufacturing will use TSMC’s existing chip production processes and equipment, sources said.
The project is one of two that are being carried out at Apple’s secret labs in Longtan District, Taoyuan City, northern Taiwan. In addition to micro OLED displays, the company also works on micro LED technology and has test production lines for both types, Nikkei has learned.
The Apple complex at Longtan Science Park consists of several unmarked white buildings: there is no logo or address on the outside and only a very faint apple symbol could be seen in the lobby, Nikkei reporters saw in a recent visit. Apple registered a company in the park in 2014 and expanded it in 2020. The complex is within walking distance of TSMC’s advanced chip packing and testing plant, which is located in the same science park.
Apple has hired dozens of veterans of Taiwanese display manufacturer AU Optoelectronics to work on the micro OLED project, said one source familiar with the situation, as well as display experts from Japan and elsewhere. Anyone who registers to work on the program must sign a strict non-disclosure agreement that prohibits them from meeting even with friends or acquaintances working in the technology industry, the source added.
The American technology giant posted on Monday on a Taiwanese work platform that it was looking for candidates to work in Longtan who had experience operating OLED vacuum evaporation equipment, packaging and testing equipment and measuring equipment. This is the first time Apple has hired manufacturing-related employees in Taiwan through public platforms.
Apple isn’t the only company pursuing this new line of display technology. Sony Semiconductor Solutions, a longtime supplier to Apple, says it has developed a micro OLED display technology that can be used in virtual reality and VR glasses, as well as for other industrial and consumer products.
China’s national display champion, BOE Technology Group, has teamed up with Yunnan North’s OLiGHTEK optoelectronic technology and US company Kopin, an ultra-small display technology provider, in a joint venture to develop micro displays OLED for portable and AR devices.
Apple’s other display project on the Longtan campus focuses on micro LED technology, which the company hopes to eventually use on Apple Watch, iPads and MacBooks. Apple has partnered with Taiwanese LED company Epistar to jointly develop the technology.
Like micro OLEDs, the micro LED project also involves some chip-making technology. The components are 100 times smaller than those used in LED lighting products and do not need backlight modules like traditional LEDs and LCDs, which means the screen can be much thinner. Micro LEDs also provide high color contrast and can be used to create curved or folding screens, similar to OLED screens.
Samsung, Apple, BOE Technology and China’s largest LED manufacturer, San’an Optoelectronics, are working to make the technology commercially viable, but find a way to massively transfer millions of small components to a substrate accurately. and affordable remains a major hurdle.
Apple’s drive to develop these new display technologies is part of its efforts to reduce its reliance on Samsung Electronics, the world leader in OLED, and the US company’s main rival in the field of smartphones. · Ligents. The South Korean company is Apple’s leading supplier of cutting-edge displays, which are now seen as a must-have feature for high-end smartphones. OLED screens are the second most expensive component in the iPhone 12 range, after the Qualcomm 5G modem.
“Not all of the technologies Apple develops will actually be introduced or used in its products, but the company could strategically apply patents to its own portfolio of patents and technological advances to gain more control over next-generation technologies. said one of the people.
TSMC declined to comment on this story. Apple did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Eric Chiou, a veteran screen analyst at research agency TrendForce, told Nikkei that Micro OLED could be the most ideal display technology for next-generation AR displays, as it can make the screen very small. , reducing the total weight of the device, but also comes with high resolution. “Technology is a mix of knowledge about semiconductor and screen manufacturing,” Chiou said.
“However, it is currently in its early stages of development. It is likely that Apple will not be able to immediately introduce its self-developed technology into its first RA products in a year or two,” the analyst added.