According to a new report from Digitimes, the second-gen version of the Apple Watch will incorporate a display technology that should help make the device thinner than the original and perhaps free up some internal space for a slightly larger battery. Per touch panel maker and Apple component supplier TPK Holding, the Apple Watch 2 will utilize a One Glass Solution (OGS) for the display as opposed to the Glass on Glass solution currently used on the original.
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Whereas the display on the current Apple Watch is made up of two pieces of glass, TPK Holding’s One Glass Solution would instead utilize just one. As SlashGear points out, this “would not only offer a little more internal space” but would also serve to make the Apple Watch 2 slightly less heavy than the current Apple Watch.
But as tends to be the case anytime a company tries to change its manufacturing process, TKP Holding has run into some production issues.
The large loss for the second quarter was mainly because touch panel orders for iPhones continued to decrease, and Apple will change touch panel technology from G/G to OGS (one glass solution) in the new Apple Watch to be launched in the second half of 2016, TPK said. The change in touch panel technology involved unexpected technological difficulties and therefore yield rates for OGS touch panels were much lower than expected, TPK explained.
Interestingly, an Apple Watch rumor from last month relayed that Apple ultimately has plans to replace the OLED display on the current model with Micro LED technology. Doing so would purportedly help improve battery life while also providing a richer color gamut with higher resolutions. Additionally, a Micro LED would help make the somewhat bulky casing of the current Apple Watch just a tad more svelte. Apple’s transition from OLED to Micro LED, however, isn’t expected until sometime in 2017.
In the meantime, it’s largely looking as if the Apple Watch 2 will be introduced at an Apple special event in September, perhaps alongside the iPhone 7 introduction which will likely take place sometime in early September. As for what we can expect out of Apple’s next-gen wearable, rumor has it that the device may include an LTE chip for cellular connectivity, a FaceTime camera, and a custom S2 processor. Additionally, other reports claim that the Apple Watch 2 will add in a GPS chip, an obvious move given that fitness tracking is reportedly the most commonly used feature on the device.
