Rumors of a microLED display in the Apple Watch Ultra have been circulating for some time. However, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, that will not happen as the company has shelved its plans for the time being. According to

the cost of cutting-edge display technology was too great, forcing Apple to move forward with other plans for its beloved smartwatch.

Garman states that Apple backed out "at the same time it decided to stop developing self-driving cars."

Unfortunately, the shelving of the micro-LED division also means the elimination of dozens of engineering jobs in the US and Asia, as people working in that division will no longer be needed. The remaining employees in the division will be transferred to other areas within Apple.

Noted Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also reported that the Apple Watch microLED display will not happen by the end of February. According to Kuo, "manufacturing costs are too high to make it economically viable," further validating Bloomberg's report.

Shortly after these reports were published, we heard another report claiming that Apple was still committed to microLED display technology, but these rumors appear to have been wrong.

Rumors about an Apple Watch with a microLED display are not new. Apple has reportedly been working on the technology for the Apple Watch Ultra since 2023, making the company's decision to abandon it all the more surprising.

The new watch was reportedly scheduled to appear in 2024 or 2025. The watch would not only use the latest technology, but would also move Apple that much further away from its dependence on Samsung and LG for displays.

If the technology turns out to be truly prohibitively expensive, it would make more sense for the company to cut its losses and move on. But this may not be the end of the story. As Garman said, Apple is "looking at microLEDs in other projects down the road," so we will likely see this futuristic screen technology in our favorite Apple devices.

The new screen technology, which uses microscopic LEDs for individual pixels, sounds like a huge leap forward for smartwatch displays. The next Ultra is rumored to have a 2.12-inch display that is brighter and thinner than the OLED display. It is possible that it will have a larger screen, but without the microLED screen, it will not be as thin and the image it displays will not be as bright and vivid.

Another advantage of microLEDs is efficiency: since the Apple Watch is a relatively small device with a small battery, a more power-efficient display would extend battery life, allowing for all-day fitness tracking, all-night sleep tracking, etc.

Finally, microLED has no risk of burn-in, a common problem with OLED displays. microLED Apple Watch could offer many of the benefits of an OLED smartwatch without the drawbacks, but it seems unlikely that we will see that anytime soon .