The Apple Watch Ultra Could Get Even Bigger (and Pricier)

Several reports this year have suggested that the Apple Watch Ultra will be the first of Apple’s wearables to gain new microLED technology. Now, it appears that this change could make it even larger than it is now.

At 49 millimeters, the Apple Watch Ultra already dwarfs the Apple Watch Series 9. Even when you take the largest 45mm model and put it in a rugged case, it still barely reaches the size of the Apple Watch Ultra.

However, while this year’s Apple Watch Ultra 2 retained the same design as its predecessor — to the point where you’ll have a hard time telling them apart — by 2026, Apple’s extreme sports wearable could get even larger.

That’s if a new report by TrendForce is to be believed. The Taiwanese research firm has predicted that when Apple makes the switch from OLED to microLED, the display will grow by as much as 10 percent.

To put that in perspective, the current Apple Watch Ultra has a diagonal display size of 1.93 inches. The microLED panel Apple is sourcing reportedly comes in at 2.12 inches. If Apple continues down this road, the Apple Watch Ultra 5 could end up being a 54mm model.

Reports of Apple’s work on microLED displays for the Apple Watch go back to at least 2018. However, while Apple has clearly been hard at work on the technology — including opening a new display factory in Taiwan in 2020 — it seems the displays haven’t been ready for prime time until more recently.

Rumors of a microLED Apple Watch gained more traction earlier this year when DigiTimes suggested it could come to the Apple Watch Ultra as early as 2025. However, South Korea’s The Elec threw some cold water on that over the summer when it revealed that the production of the new displays wasn’t slated to begin until at least the final quarter of that year — far too late to make it into the 2025 run of Apple Watch models, which typically start production much sooner.

Although several sources suggest that Apple eventually plans to bring microLED to every Apple Watch model across the board, it plans to start with the Apple Watch Ultra, as that higher-end model gives it the most room to cover the costs of the new screen technology. It probably also doesn’t hurt that a higher-end screen will make the Apple Watch Ultra even more premium.

After all, the switch to MicroLED would allow for displays that are even brighter than the Apple Watch Ultra 2’s eyeball-searing 3,000 nits, along with more vibrant colors, sharper viewing angles, and a screen that looks like it sits on top of the Apple Watch, rather than being buried under a piece of glass.

While display manufacturers are still ramping up microLED production, they’ve been suffering from “low yield rates” — a term that means many of the displays that come off the production line are flawed and have to be tossed out. Apple’s suppliers, such as LG Display, have been working on new techniques to either repair these failed screens or improve yields by getting them right the first time.

Unfortunately, low yields translate to higher costs, and TrendForce predicts that Apple will have to pay 2.5–3 times more for the microLED displays than it does for the OLED technology used in the current Apple Watch Ultra. Even with Apple’s “strong bargaining power in the supply chain,” that could push the cost of the screens as high as $120 each, which will undoubtedly be reflected in the price of the first Apple Watch Ultra to feature the new display tech.

[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]