Apple reportedly invests $330 million in a Taiwanese MicroLED and Mini LED displays

Apple has reportedly invested $330 million into display manufacturing, teaming up with Epistar and AU Optronics to create both Mini LED and MicroLED screens for their future devices. 

Mini LED screens have huge advantages over standard LCD displays, offering higher peak brightness levels, heightened contrast and greater levels of image accuracy. Mini LED screens use a large number of dimmable LEDs to provide screens with a large number of lighting zones, allowing screens to offer more brightness when needed and deeper blacks when necessary. This makes Mini LED screens ideal for HDR content playback, though they do not offer the per-pixel illumination capabilities of OLED panels. 

 

    Apple is teaming up on the new factory with Epistar, Taiwan’s top LED producer, and Taiwanese LCD panel maker, AU Optronics. The plant will be located in the Longtan branch of the Hsinchu Science Park and Apple’s total investment is estimated at NT$10 billion (US$334 million).

The new plant would be an expansion of Apple’s operations in the area, and the company has reportedly sent a development team to Taiwan to work on the project. Apple has long been expected to use of Mini-LED and Micro LED across a range of products, including at times the 2020 Apple Watch, and now a future refresh of the 16-inch MacBook Pro.

Mini LED screens are a bridging point between traditional LCD screens and future MicroLED screens. MicroLED screens are due to offer the same per-pixel illumination capabilities as OLED screens but do so with lower power consumption levels, higher peak brightnesses, extended dynamic range and faster update rates. MicroLED screens are the future, and Apple wants to be ready for that transition. 

Apple is preparing to embrace HDR content over the coming years, and control over display manufacturing will allow Apple to maintain a steady supply of screens while also enabling the company to develop screens which meet their specific needs. Apple has always marketed their devices as having superior screens to competing brands, and the company’s investment in MicroLED and Mini-LED manufacturing will see the company’s screen tech pushed to the next level. 

Mac Rumours has reported that Apple has six Mini LED products planned for 2020/2021, including a high-end 12.9-inch iPad Pro, a 27-inch iMac Pro, a 14.1-inch MacBook Pro, a 16-inch MacBook Pro and a 7.9-inch iPad Mini.