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Tag: Micro-LED

  • Apple confirms layoffs of more than 700 employees following the cancelation of its Apple Car, other projects

    Apple confirms layoffs of more than 700 employees following the cancelation of its Apple Car, other projects

    Sometimes projects just don’t work out.

    Apple has confirmed that the company is laying off more than 700 employees following the cancelation of its Apple Car project and is also reconsidering the project to develop in-house Micro-LED displays. The layoffs became known after the company filed WARN notices in the state of California.

    Per 9to5Mac, and as seen in the WARN report provided by the California Employment Development Department, the layoffs affect projects that have been in the news recently. Apple is currently laying off 58 employees from one of its offices in Santa Clara. This particular office belonged to LuxVue Technology, a company specializing in Micro-LED displays that Apple acquired in 2014.

    There are also more layoff notices filed by Apple which are thought to be part of an effort for Apple to produce its own Micro-LED displays for the Apple Watch. Bloomberg noted that Apple gave up on the project because the screens “were difficult to produce in sufficient quantities.” Additional layoffs include Apple staff from a San Diego office, where a Siri data operations office had been located. The office was responsible for evaluating Siri’s responses to users and for helping the company improve the platform’s accuracy.

    At the time, Apple offered to relocate all affected employees to offices in Austin, Texas, if they agreed.

    The Worker Adjustment and Retaining Notification (WARN) effort aims to protect employees by requiring employers to give a 60-day notice to affected employees and both state and local representatives before a plant closing or mass layoff. This gives laid-off employees time to adjust and transition to new jobs. Apple is noted as generally trying to reallocate employees from canceled projects to other departments, and some of the engineers working on the Apple Car have been offered positions to work on AI-related features at Apple. However, not everyone had the chance to be reassigned since more than 2,000 people were working on this specific project.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via 9to5Mac and Bloomberg

  • Rumor: Apple to work with LG to help bring micro-LED displays to next-gen Apple Watch devices

    Rumor: Apple to work with LG to help bring micro-LED displays to next-gen Apple Watch devices

    The latest evidence seems to be pointing towards Apple opting for LG for micro-LED displays for next-gen versions of its Apple Watch.

    According to analyst Ross Young, LG has started building a small production line for micro-LED displays ahead of Apple’s transition away from OLED. This also plays into Apple’s plans to start making its own displays for Apple Watch and iPhone in-house.

    The report from Young largely corroborates previous reports. Young explained that Apple “won’t do the full process” when it transitions display technologies. Young also stated that while the micro-LED display is expected to be used first in the Apple Watch Ultra model, Apple will work closely with LG to bring this about.

    LG has been said to be in the process of “building a small line” for micro-LED display backplanes for the Apple Watch. “It is this small line that will likely assemble micro-LEDs from Apple,” Young explains. He says that production isn’t expected to start until the second half of 2024 and that the first Apple Watch with micro-LED will launch in 2025.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via 9to5Mac and @dsccross

  • Rumor: Foxconn reportedly testing iPhone with folding screen for September 2022 release

    Come 2022, your iPhone may in fact feature a nifty folding screen.

    According to supply chain reports from sources close to the story, long-term Apple partner Foxconn has begun testing a folding iPhone for Apple that could ship in September 2022.

    Such a move would back up a recent claim that Apple has ordered screens for a foldable iPhone from Samsung. The testing is reported to focus on the use of OLED or micro LED, with one technology potentially winning out over the other.

    Per reports from China’s United Daily News, Apple has asked Foxconn to test both the screen as well as the bearings of the folding iPhone. The bearings, which function as the actual folding element, could be sourced from multiple suppliers, with the final assembly being handled by Foxconn.

    The article has also stated that for a folding iPhone, Foxconn will conduct over 100,000 opening and closing tests.

    While the report offers no further details, and sources say the development is constantly changing, it does lend credence to claims by noted leaker Jon Prosser that Apple is developing a foldable iPhone as a two-screen device similar to Microsoft’s Surface Duo tablet.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via AppleInsider, United Daily News, and @jon_prosser

  • Rumor: Apple recently considered purchasing Plessey Semiconductors as part of augmented reality development efforts

    Apple is said to have recently considered purchasing British company Plessey Semiconductors, a maker of Micro-LED display for augmented reality devices.

    The report claims that Plessey has instead reached a licensing deal with Facebook, which in a statement said it wants to build “a glasses form factor that lets devices melt away so we can be more present with our friends, families, and surroundings”:

    Facebook has struck a deal to buy all of the augmented reality displays made by British firm Plessey, as the social network looks to build AR glasses capable of overlaying virtual objects onto the real world. The deal could give Facebook an edge over Apple, which recently looked at buying Plessey, one of the few makers of AR displays, according to two people familiar with the matter.

    Apple has expressed an interest in augmented reality development in recent years. The company has created frameworks like ARKit and RealityKit as well as creative tools like Reality Composer and Reality Converter, and hardware like the LiDAR Scanner on the new iPad Pro and likely some iPhone 12 models.

    Stay tuned for additional details as they become available.

    Via MacRumors and The Information