Analyst: Apple headset gets amoled panel with two micro-oled screens

Apple’s unannounced mixed reality headset will get three display modules, a screen analyst claims. The device would come with an AMOLED panel, with two micro-OLED screens on top.

The amoled panel may be used for foveated rendering to provide low-resolution peripheral vision, reports Ross Young of analyst firm DSCC. That would be because amoled technology is usually not used for the ‘direct’ view with VR screens due to the low pixel density, according to the analyst. Such a technique has already been used by Varjo, Young notes. That manufacturer implemented foveation in its headsets by combining high-resolution optical micro-OLED screens with lower-resolution mini-LED panels.

According to Young, LiDAR sensors are already commercially available for Apple’s device and developers have already received a software API for the headset. The analyst expects the micro-OLED screens to be supplied by Sony Semiconductor Solutions. Since Sony recently showed a 4k display for use with VR headsets, the analyst expects it to be used by Apple’s device. If so, the headset will have an array of 4000×4000 pixels and the display diagonal will measure 1.4″, approximately 3.6cm. That probably means a high price tag; Young expects the device to cost “thousands of dollars” and target professionals and developers.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo also released a new research report on Apple’s headset, which has been reviewed by MacRumors. He writes that the headset will get two 3P pancake lenses with a folded design. As a result, light could be reflected back and forth between the display and the lenses, making the headset more compact and lighter. He expects that the headset will be released in a relatively small edition at the end of 2022, but that production will be further increased in 2023.

Drawing of what the Apple headset might look like based on descriptions from anonymous sources. Source: The Information