Durability Will Be Apple's Biggest Challenge to Making a Curved iWatch

The curved display that wraps around your wrist is the coolest thing about the revolutionary smartwatch we all know Apple is building, but it’s one of the easiest parts of the project.
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Imagine that display wrapping completely around your wrist.Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired

The curved display that wraps around your wrist is the coolest thing about the revolutionary smartwatch we all know Apple is building, but it’s one of the easiest parts of the project.

The far bigger challenge to building the gadget outlined in a patent that surfaced last week is making it durable enough to withstand the rigors of daily wear.

“Wrist watches are subject to different types of abuse and wear, and there is a tendency for customers to refrain from wearing overly worn-looking watches,” Ariel Adams, a watch expert and found of aBlogtoWatch, said. “Apple will need to use materials and durability standards well out of their comfort zone in order to make an iWatch more than a wrist novelty for a few weeks.”

A figure from Apple's patent application for a wrist-worn mobile device.

Apple has long been rumored to be working on a smartwatch, and the best evidence yet surfaced last week. A patent application titled Bi-Stable Spring with Flexible Display describes a wrist-worn device akin to a slap bracelet, with a display that fills its entire circumference. It’s a unique take on a gadget currently dominated by devices that look a lot like an iPod nano watch or a more conventional timepiece.

The so-called “wearables” space that Apple is stepping into is the next frontier in mobile computing. Most of what we’re seeing are fitness trackers like the FitBit, but smartwatches that act as a portal for information from a phone or tablet are increasingly common. Big players like Sony and Motorola are competing with upstarts like Kickstarter favorite Pebble in a market that could reach 485 million units within five years.

“People don't typically wear gadgets. They have their phone, of course, but that remains in their pocket or purse for the most part,” Romeo Mendoza, CEO behind fitness tracking smartwatchSmartFitty. “A wrist is valuable space, so the ability to create something that becomes part of their person is truly incredible.”

The display on Apple’s watch-like gadget would, according to the patent, function in either its flat or curled state. Sensors would determine whether the device was wrapped around your wrist and, if so, in what configuration and adjust the display accordingly. Think of how the iPad changes from vertical to landscape mode and you have some idea how it would work. An iWatch would communicate with other mobile devices, and information generated by one would be viewable on the other.

There is no end to the possibilities such technology would present, but some that come to mind include pairing with the Find My iPhone feature, acting as a portal to Passbook and controlling third party accessories and home appliances.

There is no doubt Apple could manufacture a device to do these things. The challenge is making a device that can stand up to the rigors of being worn on your wrist, where things like shock, the weather and general wear and tear are a much bigger concern. Building a smartwatch will pose new challenges to device design and construction in areas completely new to Apple.

“Durability and fit are critically important design constraints which the watch industry has dealt with for many decades, so dealing with these issues isn't terribly challenging if you have experience building watches,” MetaWatch CEO Bill Geiser told Wired via e-mail. MetaWatch has been in the smartwatch space for the past seven years. “It's new turf for electronic and technology companies.”

Water and sweat resistance are particularly tricky problems. Jawbone discovered this with the first-generation Up fitness tracker, which was prone to bricking after moisture hit the circuitry. (The flexible circuitry posed its own set of problems as well.)

Still, Apple is famous for closely studying competing products, learning from their mistakes, and then addressing them. But even if it works out the technical issues, there are design considerations.

“While technology plays an important role, this is just as much about creating something simple, beautiful, and relevant,” Geiser said. “This is just as much about art as it is science.”

Adams, the expert from aBlogtoWatch, says an iWatch will need a certain degree of personalization if it is to find broad appeal. No one wants to wear exactly the same thing, and fashion accessories scream out for personalization. An iBand also would have to be a premium product to avoid becoming a “trendy youth-item,” Adams said.

“Apple needs the iWatch to be just as aspirational as the iPhone,” Adams said. “That means a solid conservative style for adults, and a level of quality that doesn't make it feel like a toy with a colorful strap.”

For these reasons, the flexible display is not as a big a challenge as you might think. Samsung and Microsoft have invested heavily in flexible display technology they call “Youm.” The two companies showed appeared at CES with flexible-screen Windows Phone prototype. The Korean company has been playing with the technology for awhile, and it is poised to hit the mainstream.

“There have been many rumors about Samsung getting a flexible OLED product in the marketplace within the next year,” Janice Mahon, Universal Display Corporation’s vice president of technology commercialization, told Wired. “It’s unclear exactly when they will launch a first product with it, but I would say it does appear to be quite close.”

A figure showing Apple's slap-bracelet-style wearable device in a flat configuration.

Two things have hindered the progress of flexible OLED displays: producing a TFT backplane array that will function effectively while being bent and flexed, and the general construct of the OLED itself. OLED displays must be completely sealed to protect against oxygen and moisture degradation. With glass, the OLED material is sandwiched between pieces of glass, with a perimeter seal along the edges to keep things airtight. But plastic is more porous than glass, prompting the development of a coating that provides the same degree of impermeability as glass.

Although Apple has favored LCD displays, their construction makes them especially difficult to use in a flexible configuration. Tim Cook has made it clear he’s not a fan of OLED displays, Apple has been investing in the technology – including the reported acquisition of a former LG OLED TV expert. LG, a primary display supplier for Apple, also just announced a $656 million investment in a new OLED production line.

The cost of producing a flexible display is about the same as a traditional glass display, given that they’re produced on the same scale manufacturing equipment, and the substrate, in this case a flexible material instead of glass, doesn’t cost substantially more. Production yields and display quality should also be comparable to normal glass-based OLED displays, also.

“It’s really quite remarkable to see,” Mahon said.

So, besides having a flexible display and the ability to do some pretty nifty things by communicating with an accompanying iOS device, and Siri, what else would such an Apple wearable feature?

Apple recently received a patent for a super-accurate haptic feedback system. While this could certainly be useful in iPhones and iPads, giving you pinpoint-precision physical feedback while you’re typing, it also could be extremely useful on a wrist-worn device with a far smaller display. Tactile feedback confirming you’ve tapped exactly what you meant to tap would be a plus, particularly if you’re using this watch-like gadget while walking or running.

The device could charge wirelessly (a boon to developing a gadget that is water and sweatproof). A patent application published in November described one way Apple could wirelessly charge accessories and peripherals using a method called near-field magnetic resonance – if you’re wearing your iWatch, or whatever it’s called, as you’re working on your MacBook or iMac, a built-in NFMR power station could quietly charge it as long as you’re within its yard-wide range. One of the pitfalls of current wearables is that you need to take them off and charge them. For those used to wearing a watch that can last years on a single battery charge, having to take it off and on is a serious negative.

Now that we know a bit more about Apple’s product-naming conventions, what would such a wearable accessory be called? Things like iWatch and iTime seem far too limited to the scope of a traditional watch. Something like iBand or iWear seem like possibilities based on the generality of Apple’s tablet naming “iPad.” Highlighting the fun, active aspect of such a device, Apple could also go in the direction of something more obscure like iPlay.

Whatever it’s called, Apple almost certainly seems to be devoting time and resources to developing a wearable gadget. It’s a new direction for product development, with a number of new challenges involved, but Apple has a leg up over current members of the smartwatch space thanks to its robust developer ecosystem, vertically integrated production cycle, and lauded design chops.

“Apple is uniquely equipped to develop, research, and fund the production of a truly disruptive piece of wrist-worn tech,” Adams said. “The challenge for them will be to make it feel ready for mainstream appeal in terms of its user interface, battery life, and utility.”