Apple Watch Series 10
which is expected to launch this year may reportedly arrive with a new display technology. A new supply chain report claims that the new tech will lower power consumption and improve efficiency. This means that the upcoming smartwatch may also offer a significant improvement in the overall battery life.
According to a report by The Elec, the Apple Watch Series 10 is likely to get an upgraded
OLED
display that will come with low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (
LTPO
) thin-film transistor (TFT) technology.
The OLED screen used in current Apple Watch models also uses LTPO TFT for only two switching transistors. Meanwhile, the rest of the transistors use the less efficient low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS) technology.
However, for the Apple Watch Series 10, the company is expected to use a LTPO panel that will expand to more transistors, the report adds.
How LTPO is better than LTPS
The report explains: “The LTPO TFT, which Apple is planning to apply to the Apple Watch 10 series OLED, is a method of applying oxide to the driving TFT and some switching TFTs, among the 7 to 8 TFTs. The LTPO TFT, which has been applied to the Apple Watch, used oxide for only two switching TFTs, and LTPS for the rest of the switching TFT and the driving TFT.
Using oxide instead of LTPS for a drive TFT means that oxide is responsible for the TFT that connects directly to the OLED pixel. In LTPO OLED, oxide has been used to reduce leakage current, but in the new LTPO OLED, the role of oxide increases. Panel vendors with strengths in oxide technology may be advantageous.
If the oxide is applied to some of the driving TFTs and switching TFTs in Apple Watch 10 series OLEDs as planned by Apple, LTPS will only be used for the remaining switching TFTs and circuits outside the pixel area. The LTPS role is reduced.”
This means that the Apple Watch Series 10’s OLED display is expected to be significantly more power efficient and may drain less battery life.
