Making custom displays in-house will get Apple one step closer to making ‘the whole widget’

Steve Jobs once said that what made Apple products so special was that the company made “the whole widget” (software and hardware). That wasn’t quite accurate, but the company is getting one step closer with apparent plans to make its own custom displays in-house.

According to Bloomberg, starting in 2024, Apple plans to deign in-house displays for mobile devices such as the Apple Watch and iPhone. And that’s likely only the beginning. I’d expect to eventually see Apple makes its own iPad and Mac displays.

This move would eliminate Apple’s reliance on partners like Samsung and LG for displays. Bloomberg says that Apple will begin by swapping out the display in the high-end Apple Watches in late 2024. The article does warn that such plans could slip into 2025.

The Sellers Research Group (that’s me) thinks this makes perfect sense. Apple makes much of its own hardware and all of its software. It’s starting making its own processors. We’ll almost certainly see an Apple-built modem within two years. Heck, there are even rumors that Apple plans to make its own search engine that would compete with Google.

Designing and making its own displays would indeed get the tech giant closer to Jobs’ “whole vision” widget.