Apple is reportedly switching to a less expensive OLED technology to try and get the manufacturing costs down on a future Apple Vision Pro headset.
The new display is built by Japan Display Inc (JDI), which Apple has previously supported with a $100 million investment. According to The Elec, JDI has recently delivered a glass-based OLED panel, intended for an Apple Vision Pro-style mixed reality headset.
Instead of the glass board used by JDI, Apple Vision Pro is based on a silicon one. The difference is that a silicon substrate allows for smaller pixels, which makes for a much higher resolution.
Unspecified sources told the publication that the panel has a pixel density of around 1,500 pixels per inch. While Apple has not released figures for the Apple Vision Pro, The Elec says the headset’s displays used for the eyes have a pixel density of 3,391ppi.
JDI is said to have incorporated technologies used by Sony, which is currently the supplier of the Apple Vision Pro’s OLED displays.
In 2023, it was reported that Sony had refused to increase Apple Vision Pro product capacity, meaning Apple had to look for other suppliers. Alongside working with JDI, Apple is said to have asked Samsung Display to develop an OLED panel with 1,700ppi resolution.
Separately, it’s been rumored that an Apple Vision Pro 2 would be half the price of the original. A display with an inflexible glass substrate, and a lower resolution, would be far cheaper to produce than the pair of displays that are inside the Apple Vision Pro now.
