This year’s Apple Watch Series 10 could offer a notable improvement in battery life. A new supply chain report this week says that the Apple Watch Series 10 will use a new display technology that lowers power consumption and improves efficiency. In turn, this could improve battery life across the board.
The rumor comes from The Elec, which reports that the Apple Watch Series 10 will use an upgraded OLED display with low-temperature polycrystalline oxide (LTPO) thin-film transistor (TFT) technology.
Currently, the Apple Watch’s OLED screen uses LTPO TFT for only two switching transistors, while the remainder use the less efficient low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (LTPS) technology. For the Apple Watch Series 10, The Elec reports that the use of LTPO will expand to more transistors:
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 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.
That’s a lot of long-winded names and abbreviations. What does it actually mean? The Apple Watch Series 10’s OLED display should be significantly more power efficient and drain less of your battery life. That’s the part of this story that matters to most of you.
9to5Mac’s Take
I’m pretty happy with my Apple Watch Ultra’s battery life, but Apple Watch battery life in general is always an area that could be improved.
The battery life is also the main reason I wear the Apple Watch Ultra. If other Apple Watch models offered longer battery life, I’d at least consider switching back to something a bit smaller and lighter.
Whether the Apple Watch Series 10 actually offers improved battery life remains to be seen. It’s possible that any efficiency improvements offered by the new display technology are simply offset by other performance changes.
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