Publication date:

12 Apr 2022
Author:
David Hsieh, Senior Research Director, Components & Devices: Displays

Display Dynamics – April 2022:

Apple to launch head-mounted
display MR devices with both
OLED and Micro OLED displays
Key findings
• Apple is planning to launch a merged reality (MR) device for metaverse applications in late 2022.
The device is a head-mounted display (HMD) with one main external OLED display and two
internal OLED on Silicon (OLEDoS) displays.
• The assumption is that the unique coexistence of the external and internal displays performs
two functions—showing the metaverse to the viewers for mixed reality content and showing
the viewers’ face to observers.

Apple has been working on a near-eye augmented reality (AR) virtual reality (VR) device for a long time and
continues to create innovative functions. From a display perspective, the device will not be an AR or VR
device, but an MR device, whereby both VR and AR are combined.
The MR characteristic and Apple’s intention to build a special ecosystem will introduce a special HMD
device with three displays—one big external OLED panel and two internal Micro OLED (OLEDoS) displays.
The big external OLED panel is equipped with an external sensor and is flexible. It is for detecting the real
world and showing the face and appearance of the user. It is also for social interaction between the viewer
and observers in the real world.
The two internal Micro OLED (OLEDoS) displays are equipped with an internal sensor and camera for
detecting the user’s face as well as showing the magnified contents of the metaverse to the user. It is used
in multiple applications and Apple’s ecosystem, such as Apple’s “Arcade,” a video game subscription service

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 Display Dynamics – April 2022: Apple to launch 1
head-mounted display MR devices with both
OLED and Micro OLED displays 

offered by Apple, FaceTime, etc. This is VR for the viewer. The ecosystem also covers Apple’s “Emoji” and
“Animoji.”
MR is defined as a combination of the real world and virtual world. Apple’s MR HMD will not only let the
viewer combine the real world and virtual world but also enable the viewer to interact with the real world,
rather than just interacting with the virtual world.
1. Figure 1: VR, AR, and MR

Source: Omdia
The general definitions of AR, VR, MR, and XR are as follows:
• VR: VR is a virtual world to simulate the real world. VR completely replaces a user’s view,
immersing them within a computer-generated virtual environment. VR has existed for some
time now and is typically applied in gaming, entertainment, sports, social media, healthcare,
rehabilitation, training, education, and military training. VR devices are mainly HMDs. Examples
are HTC Vive, Facebook Oculus, and Sony PlayStation VR, among others.
• AR: AR is achieved by adding digital and virtual elements to a live view. AR enhances the user’s
view of the real world by overlaying what the user sees with computer-generated information or
objects. AR technology is prevalent in smartphone AR applications that require the user to hold
their phone in front of them and view the virtual image augmented from the real world. This can
be seen in the famous “Pokémon” game. Other than smartphones, smart glasses—also known
as near-eye smart glasses—are becoming key AR devices. AR devices are not only found in the
consumer market but also in industrial and commercial fields. Microsoft HoloLens 2 and Google
Glass are some examples.
• MR: MR combines elements of both AR and VR, meaning both real-world and digital virtual
objects. Therefore, MR sits somewhere between AR and VR because it merges the real and
virtual worlds.
• The combination of VR, AR, and MR forms extended reality (XR).

Apple needs to combine both VR and AR functions, so the display requirements will drive Apple to equip
both flexible OLED and OLEDoS in the HMD under development.

© 2022 Omdia. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

 Display Dynamics – April 2022: Apple to launch 2
head-mounted display MR devices with both
OLED and Micro OLED displays 

The display for AR smart glasses has the following features:

• Super-small size: Ranging from 0.1 to 1.4 inches
• Super-high pixel density: Ranging from 4,000 to 10,000 pixels per inch (PPI)
• Super-high brightness: Over 1,000 nits to illuminate the projection
• Very small pixel pitch: Ranging from 2 to 5µm
• Matches the waveguide: Because of the slim form factor of the AR smart glasses, the display
function is engaged with a special waveguide to project the image onto the glasses; the display
source must match the waveguide function
• Low power consumption: Because consumers do not like to charge their glasses all the time
• Short response time: To prevent motion blur and image tailing
• Display performance must be great under a transmissive medium

VR HMDs have the following features:

• Small size: Ranging from 1.2 inches (two displays for two eyes) to 6 inches (one display for two
eyes)
• High resolution (high PPI): The high resolution provides immersive experiences; for displays
with the projection functionality, it is necessary to have a high pixel density to project VR objects
• High pixels per degree (PPD): Since the VR device shows 3D images virtually, the resolution for
each viewing angle is critical; the PPD refers to how many pixels per degree are presented to the
eye and is calculated by dividing the number of pixels in a horizontal display line by the
horizontal field of view (FOV) provided by the lens
• High brightness
• High driving frequency: To prevent consumers from feeling dizzy and uncomfortable when the
objects’ movements are faster than the display’s response, the display’s driving frequency must
match the eye-tracking frequency
• Wide FOV: An increased FOV is required to magnify the display image; by matching the viewer’s
FOV, end users can comfortably enjoy an immersive experience
• Low power consumption: In the case of LCD, LTPS TFT LCD technology is usually applied to
achieve a fast response time, fast driving frequency, and low power consumption; in the case of
OLED and micro OLED or the newly emerging Micro LED display, low power consumption is a key
consideration; low power consumption is a critical feature because consumers do not like HMDs
or smart glasses that they must charge frequently

Omdia believes Apple’s MR device and its innovation can be discovered in the patent Apple filed to the
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) called “Display system having sensors.” The patent was
filed in March 2019 under US patent number 11,217,021 with the application number 16/361,110. The
patent office granted it on January 2022 for a display system that has world and user sensors.
According to the USPTO, the patent’s abstract is as follows:

© 2022 Omdia. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

 Display Dynamics – April 2022: Apple to launch 3
head-mounted display MR devices with both
OLED and Micro OLED displays 

A mixed reality system that includes a head-mounted display (HMD) that provides 3D virtual views of a
user's environment augmented with virtual content. The HMD may include sensors that collect information
about the user's environment (e.g., video, depth information, lighting information, etc.), and sensors that
collect information about the user (e.g., the user's expressions, eye movement, hand gestures, etc.). The
sensors provide the information as inputs to a controller that renders frames including virtual content based
at least in part on the inputs from the sensors. The HMD may display the frames generated by the controller
to provide a 3D virtual view including the virtual content and a view of the user's environment for viewing by
the user.
The patent’s figures are as follows:
2. Figure 2: Apple’s “Display system having world and user sensors” patent, first illustration

Source: USPTO

© 2022 Omdia. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

 Display Dynamics – April 2022: Apple to launch 4
head-mounted display MR devices with both
OLED and Micro OLED displays 

3. Figure 3: Apple’s “Display system having world and user sensors” patent, second illustration

Source: USPTO

With this information, Omdia predicts that Apple’s MR HMD will be equipped with two kinds of displays:
External display (on the surface of the HMD)
• Flexible OLED panel display x 1
• 6.0 inches, 1440x640 with 263 PPI or 800x360 with 147 PPI
• LG Display or BOE as the display suppliers
• The external display will work with the “world sensors” (as Apple calls them) to detect the real-
world situation as well as the real-time facial reconstruction of the user in the HMD

Internal display (embedded in the HMD)

• Micro OLED (OLEDoS) x 2
• 1.4 inches, 3840x2160 with 3,000 PPI or a higher PPI like 4,000–5,000
• Sony Semiconductor or Seey as the display suppliers

© 2022 Omdia. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

 Display Dynamics – April 2022: Apple to launch 5
head-mounted display MR devices with both
OLED and Micro OLED displays 

• The external display will work with the “user sensors” (as Apple calls them) to detect the user’s
facial features and appearance as well as show 3D VR content to the user

The real-time face reconstruction function might be equipped specifically in the HMD, enabling the external
display to show the user’s face to the observers in a situation where two persons are interacting with their
MR devices.
Dr. Xavier Burgos-Artizzu in Technicolor Research and Innovation was the first developer to propose the
facial reconstruction of a person wearing a HMD via online tracking, facial expression detection, and user-
specific 3D head models. Dr. Xavier Burgos-Artizzu presented a special real-time facial reconstruction
technology at the Technical Brief in SIGGRAPH Asia, Kobe, Japan, in November 2015. This was a good
reference on real-time facial reconstruction technology and is shown in the following figures.
4. Figure 4: Simulation of real-time face reconstruction

Source: Xavier et al., Real-time expression-sensitive HMD face reconstruction

© 2022 Omdia. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

 Display Dynamics – April 2022: Apple to launch 6
head-mounted display MR devices with both
OLED and Micro OLED displays 

5. Figure 5: Real time face reconstruction – Methodology

Source: Xavier et al., Real-time expression-sensitive HMD face reconstruction

Omdia predicts that Apple’s HMD device will launch in late 2022 or 2023. At an estimated price of $2,000–
2,500, it will be a high-end MR near-eye device.
Apple’s innovative two-display system HMD can be viewed as an extension of its past success.
In the past, especially in 2007, the iPhone was considered a device that combined three important
elements: the iPod (a music device), a phone (a telecommunication device), and the internet (content that
needs hardware to communicate). The display technologies that enabled the iPhone were the flat-panel
display (LCD and OLED), the touch panel, and the fingerprint touch sensor.
From 2023 onward, the new MR device will be considered a device that not only combines video streaming,
VR content, and Apple Arcade but also interacts with others through FaceTime and real-time sensitive
expressions. The display technologies that will enable the HMD will be the OLED, the Micro OLED, and the
world and user sensors.
Table 1: Apple’s iPhone vs. the new HMD device

© 2022 Omdia. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

 Display Dynamics – April 2022: Apple to launch 7
head-mounted display MR devices with both
OLED and Micro OLED displays 

Device iPhone New MR device

Combination of hardware iPod (music) HMD

Phone (communication) Near-eye smart glasses (wearable)

Content Internet Virtual reality

APPs Gaming (Apple Arcade)

Apple TV

Interaction With internet and social With internet and other AR VR devices
media

Display units One Two series: One for interaction and one
for content

Display and sensor LCD Flexible OLED

technologies
OLED OLEDoS

Touch panel Motion tracker sensor

Fingerprint touch sensor Camera sensor

Source: Omdia

Appendix
Further reading
Burgos-Artizzu, Xavier P., Julien Fleureau, Olivier Dumas, Thierry Tapie, François Le Clerc and Nicolas Mollet.
“Real-time expression-sensitive HMD face reconstruction.” SIGGRAPH Asia 2015 Technical Briefs (2015)
Display Dynamics – January 2022: LEDoS gradually gains more attention with the development of AR
technology (January 2022)
Display Dynamics – March 2021: Chinese manufacturers invested in micro OLED for the near-eye display, AR,
and VR markets (March 2021)
Display Dynamics – November 2021: AR/VR/MR/near-eye displays will hit 22 million in 2025 thanks to
gaming growth and the metaverse (November 2021)

Author
David Hsieh, Senior Analyst, Display

© 2022 Omdia. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

 Display Dynamics – April 2022: Apple to launch 8
head-mounted display MR devices with both
OLED and Micro OLED displays 

askananalyst@omdia.com

© 2022 Omdia. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.

 Display Dynamics – April 2022: Apple to launch 8
head-mounted display MR devices with both
OLED and Micro OLED displays 

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