TAOYUAN, Taiwan – Apple has partnered with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. to develop ultra-advanced display technology at a secret facility in Taiwan, Nikkei Asia has learned.
The California tech giant plans to develop micro OLED screens – a radically different type of screen built directly on chip wafers – with the ultimate goal of using the new technology in its next augmented reality devices, informed sources said.
Apple is collaborating with its long-time chip supplier, TSMC, because micro OLED screens are not built on glass substrates like conventional LCD screens on smartphones and TVs, or OLED screens used on high-end smartphones. Instead, these new monitors are built directly on wafers – the substrates on which semiconductors are made – allowing screens that are much thinner and smaller and use less energy, making them more suitable for use on wearable AR devices, according with sources familiar with the projects.
The project represents a further deepening of Apple’s relationship with TSMC, the sole supplier of iPhone processors, even as the U.S. tech giant works to reduce its dependence on other major suppliers. The Taiwanese chip giant is also helping Apple build its in-house CPUs designed for Mac computers.
The micro OLED project is now in the experimental production phase, the sources said, and it will take several years to achieve mass production. Developing monitors are less than 1 inch in size.
“Panel players are good at making screens bigger and bigger, but when it comes to thin and light devices like AR glasses, you need a very small screen,” said a source who has direct information about the micro R&D project. OLED. “Apple is partnering with TSMC to develop the technology because the chipmaker’s experience is making things ultra-small and good, while Apple is also leveraging the know-how of panelists in display technologies.”
Some parts of the planned microvisor manufacturing will use TSMC’s existing chip production equipment and processes, the sources said.
The project is one of two being conducted at Apple’s secret labs in Longtan district, in the city of Taoyuan, in northern Taiwan. In addition to micro OLED screens, the company is also working on micro LED technology and has test production lines for both types, Nikkei learned.
The Apple complex at Longtan Science Park consists of several unmarked white buildings – there is no company logo or address on the outside, and only a very faint apple symbol can be seen in the lobby, Nikkei reporters saw on 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 testing and packaging plant, located in the same science park.
Apple hired dozens of veterans from Taiwanese monitor manufacturer AU Optoelectronics to work on the micro OLED project, said one of the sources familiar with the situation, as well as screen experts from Japan and elsewhere. Anyone who signs up to work on the program must sign a strict non-disclosure agreement that prohibits them from even meeting with friends or acquaintances working in the technology industry, the source added.
The U.S. technology giant posted on a Taiwan jobs platform on Monday looking for candidates to work in Longtan who have experience operating OLED vacuum evaporation equipment, packaging and test equipment and measuring equipment. It is the first time that Apple has hired manufacturing personnel in Taiwan through public platforms.
Apple is not the only company looking for this new line of monitor technology. Sony Semiconductor Solutions, a longtime supplier to Apple, claims to have developed micro OLED display technology that can be used in AR and VR glasses, as well as other consumer and industrial products.
BOE Technology Group, China’s national display champion, has partnered with Yunnan North OLiGHTEK Opto-Electronic Technology and Kopin, a supplier of ultra-small display technology, in a joint venture to develop micro OLED displays for wearable and AR devices.
Apple’s other display project on the Longtan campus focuses on micro LED technology, which the company hopes to use on Apple Watch, iPads and MacBooks. Apple partnered with Taiwanese LED company Epistar to co-develop the technology.
Like micro OLEDs, the micro LED design also involves some chip-making technology. The components are 100 times smaller than those used in LED lighting products and do not require backlight modules like traditional LEDs and LCDs, which means that the screen can be much thinner. Micro LEDs also provide high color contrast and can be used to make curved or foldable 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 finding a way to massively transfer millions of tiny components to a substrate accurately and affordably continues being a major obstacle.
Apple’s effort to develop these new display technologies is part of its efforts to reduce its reliance on Samsung Electronics, the global leader in OLEDs – and the company’s biggest smartphone rival in the United States. The South Korean company is Apple’s main supplier of next-generation monitors, which are now seen as a must-have feature for next-generation smartphones. OLED screens are the second most expensive component in the iPhone 12 line, after the Qualcomm 5G modem.
“Not all technology that Apple develops will be introduced or actually used in its products, but the company could strategically apply patents to its own patent portfolio 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 firm TrendForce, told Nikkei that Micro OLED can be the ideal screen technology for next generation AR screens, as it can make a screen ultra-small, reducing the overall weight of the device, but also comes with high resolution. “The technology is a mix of semiconductor and screen manufacturing know-how,” said Chiou.
“However, it is currently in its early stages of development. It is not likely that Apple will be able to immediately introduce its own development technology into its first AR products in a year or two,” added the analyst.