Report: LED-backlit MacBooks on the way

I used to love her...

(Credit: CNET Networks Inc.)

It was bound to happen--I just didn't expect it so soon. I plunked down for a MacBook on Black Friday and now, not a week after receiving it, rumors are circulating that new and improved models are on the way. DigiTimes reports today that two Taiwanese manufactures, Kenmos Technology and Taiwan Nano Electro-Optical Technology (Nano-Op), have signed on to supply Apple and Dell with LED-backlit displays. LCDs that use LED backlights instead of traditional fluorescent lamps are thinner and more energy efficient.

Here I am, still in the honeymoon phase with my MacBook--we stayed up late last night for a torrid iMovie session--and now I'm wishing she was thinner and ran longer. Yikes, this post is starting to sound a bit off color. Let us return to the story. Apple has reportedly validated Nano-Op's 13.3 LED backlit unit (BLUs), and Nano-Op has already begun shipping 12.1-inch BLUs to Dell (for an updated XPS M1210?). While this report wouldn't appear to bring about the return of a 12-inch Apple laptop that many have been pining for, a 13-inch MacBook that shed a pound or so from its 5-pound weight and come in under an inch thick would certainly be a highly (if not ultra-) portable laptop. MacBook Pros got LED backlights earlier this year; the 15-inch model delivered awesome battery life and weighs only 5.3 pounds.

Both Nano-Op and Kenmos expect an increase in their BLU shipments by the end of the year and in Q1 of next year. Sounds like the timing is just right for Steve to take the stage on January 15 with a new MacBook under this arm. Until then, I'll enjoy these next six weeks with my state-of-the-art MacBook.

[Via AppleInsider]

[Kev50027]

This is old technology.

Apple is just now getting LED displays? I got a Sony Vaio laptop a year and 4 months ago with an LED display on it.<br /><br />That seems about right, Apple is 16 months behind every other company out there.

[JSThomasFreelancing]

Copycat -- Apple trying to clone DELL laptops

So it looks like Apple is trying to copy its superior competitor, DELL. What, Apple is admitting that their technologies are outdated, and stating the obvious: DELL, and PCs in general, have much better updated technologies.

[U. Tripps]

Jealousy is ugly, unlike Mac hardware

Isn't it amazing how rabid Mac-haters are? Jeez! These are just computers we're talking about!

[DarkHawke]

It's called "returning fire."

If there were fewer iZealots, with their effete, elitist 'tude and contemptuous cat-calls of "get a Mac" and "it just works," there'd be less folks who'd feel they have to respond in kind.<br /><br />And there'd be fewer iZealots if Apple itself didn't actively cultivate that mind-set (see: Steve Jobs and/or any Mac TV ad).

[Perry L]

Returning fire?

Who do you work for? Why take it personally? <br /><br />Macs are not elitist at all. They are the volkswagon of the PC industry, and always have been. If you can not see that then you have your eyes shut.<br /><br />Sure they make high end gear for people that need it, now as in the past. I have an iMac because I don't need two Xeons. Just like 15 years ago I got a classic because I did not need a $10k Mac II.<br /><br />Perception says as much about the viewer as it does about the subject.

[DarkHawke]

Volkswagen? Try BMW!

Your metaphor is faulty. Volkswagens (think old-skool Beetles here) are simple, durable, and cheap to buy, run and maintain on your own with easily available parts, not to mention near-infinitely customizable if you're of a mind to do so. A BMW [or substitute your "favorite" nose-in-the-air Eurotrash sedan; it's the metaphor, not necessarily the brand], however, is an expensive, hard to maintain, always in the shop, elitist status symbol for those who care about what OTHERS see them driving in. You can argue the relative value propositions of PCs and Macs of similar calibers, but as far as flexibility, home maintenance and hack-ability goes, there's no question which kind of system wins. A hint: it ain't the one from Cupertino.<br /><br />That said, you ENTIRELY missed my point. I wasn't referring to the computer itself, or even the vast majority (I hope!) of folks who buy it. I'm referring to the seeming legion of trollers who seize upon every instance of PC hardship or deficiency to harp upon the alleged superiority of the Mac. Or to express it as I did in my previous post, the iZealots. The Mac is what it is, and if that's your choice, then peace be with you and go with God. Just save the snark for someone who gives a damn.<br /><br />BTW, what does it matter who I work for? Does my occupation in some way invalidate my opinions? If I was Michael Dell, would that make the iZealots any less irritating and insensitive to the plights of those with PC problems?