In the last year or two we've reported on a wide variety of display types that Apple has shown interest in including, OLED, Hybrid-OLED, microLED (01, 02 and 03), OLEDoS and LEDoS. In July we posted a report titled Future Tech: For Smartglasses, Liquid Crystal on Silicon (LCoS) is reportedly superior to LEDoS.

Our July report noted that "A next-gen display technology For microdisplays used in augmented reality / AR glasses, liquid crystal on silicon (LCoS) has an advantage over LED on silicon (LEDoS) in brightness, according to Raontech CEO Brian Kim. It's a technology that companies like Apple may explore for their future AR Glasses."

This week the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that relates to LCoS for future devices including , a project that Apple has been working on for close to a decade.

Apple's patent covers electronic devices with LCoS such as MacBooks, iMacs, iPads, iPhones, Apple Watch and 'wearables.' The display may be formed by an array of light-emitting diodes mounted to the surface of a substrate. The light-emitting didoes may be discrete crystalline semiconductor light-emitting diodes. The substrate may be a semiconductor substrate such as a silicon substrate or may be a transparent substrate such as a layer of clear glass or plastic.

Circuitry may be located in spaces between the light-emitting diodes. Circuitry may also be located on the rear surface of the substrate and may be coupled to the array of light-emitting diodes using vias. The circuitry may include integrated circuits and other components that are attached to the substrate and may include transistors and other circuitry formed within a silicon substrate. Touch sensor electrodes, light sensors, and other components may be located in the spaces between the light-emitting diodes.

In configurations in which the substrate is formed from a transparent material, an image sensor and lens may be placed below the substrate. This allows the image sensor to capture images using image light that passes through the transparent substrate and the lens.

As shown in the illustrative diagram of FIG. 3 below, display #14 may include layers such as substrate layer #24 that may be formed from layers of material such as glass layers, polymer layers, composite films that include polymer and inorganic materials, metallic foils, semiconductors such as silicon or other semiconductor materials, layers of material such as sapphire (e.g., crystalline transparent layers, ceramics, etc.), or other material.

(Click on image to Enlarge)

Obviously this is a highly technical patent and to review its finder details, review Apple's patent application number 20230259226. Apple uses premium displays on their devices to support their focus on delivering premium devices. Apple continuously seeks to provide the best displays for different devices.

While LCoS is claimed to be better than OLEDoS LEDoS for future XR headsets, this week's patent lists far too many possible future devices for us and their competition to know which device Apple is thinking would benefit from such a display.