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The Apple Watch could achieve a longer battery life thanks to a new display technology.
Ever since the first Apple Watch was shipped in 2015, Apple’s smartwatch has had to make do with a battery life of just one day, while the competition sometimes measures battery life in weeks or even months. A new display technology could finally bring some improvement.
According to Apple, the Apple Watch Series 11 ($329 on Amazon) achieves a battery life of 24 hours instead of the 18 hours that older models were supposed to achieve. However, this “upgrade” was only achieved by Apple bought by a trick. In practice, the battery life is hardly any longer. So if you want a longer runtime, you currently have to either go for the much larger and more expensive Apple Watch Ultra or a smartwatch from another manufacturer.
This year, the Apple Watch Ultra 4 in particular is set to receive a new design, while the Apple Watch Series 12 is said to mainly benefit from software improvements. According to a new report from The Elec the Apple Watch could finally get a longer battery life in 2027. This is because LG Display is currently developing a High-Mobility Oxide (HMO) TFT. This HMO OLED panel is intended to replace the LTPO OLED display of future Apple Watches.
As LG Display will initially produce these panels in very small formats, the Apple Watch is the most likely product from the iPhone manufacturer to benefit from this technology first. HMO is said to have one major advantage over LTPO: lower power consumption. It is still unclear when exactly the first HMO OLED panels will be delivered. As LG Display has not yet validated the panels for mass production, the displays will not be available for the Apple Watch Series 12. At the earliest, the panel might be ready to ship as part of the Apple Watch Series 13, which is expected to be launched in September 2027.
Since 2009 I have written for different publications with a focus on consumer electronics. I joined the Notebookcheck news team in 2018 and have combined my many years of experience with laptops and smartphones with my lifelong passion for technology to create informative content for our readers about new developments in this sphere. In addition, my design background as an art director at an ad agency has allowed me to have deeper insights into the peculiarities of this industry.