DailyTech - Apple Bringing LED-backlit LCDs to MacBooks

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Hardware Apple Bringing LED-backlit LCDs to MacBooks
Tuan Nguyen (Blog) - May 7, 2007 5:14 PM

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21 comment(s) - last by PlasmaBomb.. on May 9 at 6:39 AM

Steve Jobs making good on his company's promise to be greener

Apple Inc. last made an announcement about transitioning its entire line of LCD displays over to new LED-backlight LCD panels. In a commitment to making Apple a more earth-friendly company, Steve Jobs confirmed that by the end of 2007, Apple will rid itself of all mercury-based fluorescent LCD panels.

This week Apple seems to be making progress on its transition to LED-backlit LCD panels. Reports confirmed that AU Optronics and Chi Mei Optoelectronics all have LED-backlight LCD panels that are under review by Apple. Au Optronics and Chi Mei Optoelectronics are further down the line with Apple, having 13.3-inch and 15.4-inch panels already certified by Apple.

Apple's 15.4-inch MacBook Pro line of laptops are already using the new panels, and the new 13.3-inch certifications indicate that Apple will be transitioning its MacBook line soon. Coretronic and Kenmos Technology, suppliers of LED-backlights, have been sourced by Apple, with Kenmos being preferred for its integration with Stanley Electric's LED V-cut light-guide panel technology. Because of this, Chi Mei Optoelectronics has decided to use back panels from Kenmos.

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If I remember correctly, Mac is not too green!

By nerdye on 5/8/2007 12:57:46 AM , Rating: 4

If I remember correctly, Macintosh has been very, very low on the greenest computer manufacturer list just recently. But hey, now that they are adopting led lcd screens just like every other company will do due to its evolutionary step in technology, now they are considered "greener". Cmon, have they really done anything other than what is expected of a hardware manufacturer? Hail Steve Jobs, the environmentalist!! BS!! I don't hate mac at all, but lets be real here.

RE: If I remember correctly, Mac is not too green!

By Russell on 5/8/2007 2:51:31 AM , Rating: 3

The company is named Apple, not "Macintosh" or "Mac". How are people posting on a nerd-news site not aware of this? It's like claiming that the world's #1 CPU manufacturer is named "Pentium" or being an automobile enthusiast and thinking that a popular manufacturer is named "Civic".

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RE: If I remember correctly, Mac is not too green!

By Mudvillager on 5/8/2007 3:17:46 AM , Rating: 1

quote:
The company is named Apple, not "Macintosh" or "Mac". How are people posting on a nerd-news site not aware of this? It's like claiming that the world's #1 CPU manufacturer is named "Pentium" or being an automobile enthusiast and thinking that a popular manufacturer is named "Civic".

QFT

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RE: If I remember correctly, Mac is not too green!

By bubbacub616 on 5/9/2007 6:03:29 AM , Rating: 2

Generally people on this forum don't particularly care about apple unless its being bashed. I'm not bothered if my brand of washing powder gets called by the company name or product name - see i just don't care. I guess for some people its the same with apple

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RE: If I remember correctly, Mac is not too green!

By josmala on 5/8/07, Rating: 0

By josmala on 5/8/2007 5:41:21 AM , Rating: 0

Apple was the greenest large computer manufacturer but who answered greenpeace questions about future plans. NO COMMENT.
For instance HP got extra poinst for promise of removing PVC from packaging. Apple got big minus for NOT speaking about the thing they did 12 years ago.
Other manufacturers told greenpeace that they where planning to do things, some where in the future. But what about apple. Apple already has done those, but just didn't talk about it.

In EPA done enviromental assesment Lenovo,dell,HP the BEST laptop they got was below 14 points, while ALL apple laptops got 17 points

Greenpeace made a list based on THAT. And after greenpeace had run an anti-macintosh advertisement campain. Apple gave them answers.

And BEFORE the advertisement campain, In EPA done enviromental assesment Lenovo,dell,HP the BEST laptop they got was below 14 points, while ALL apple laptops got 17 points.

While greenpeace mentioned each of those greener than apple.

http://apple.slashdot.org/apple/07/05/02/1848250.s...
http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2007/1/6...

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RE: If I remember correctly, Mac is not too green!

By BladeVenom on 5/8/2007 7:18:21 AM , Rating: 5

Greenpeace is full of organic fertilizer.

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RE: If I remember correctly, Mac is not too green!

By Oregonian2 on 5/8/2007 1:01:16 PM , Rating: 1

Pretty much. The once were an organization with a green goal. They've become an organization with self aggrandizement as their goal.

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RE: If I remember correctly, Mac is not too green!

By Oregonian2 on 5/8/2007 1:08:00 PM , Rating: 1

If they do good things with a gun to their heads or they do the same things in the same time frame singing a 'green song', does it matter? They still are doing it. One doesn't get credit for good actions unless it was voluntary and one's own idea?

Shoot, Apple widely gets credit for the graphical user interface even though everybody also knows that the idea came out of Xerox (even Tektronix had GUI workstation prototypes in-house long before the first Mac came out).

Poo!

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Where can I get info on..

By lennylim on 5/7/2007 9:28:35 PM , Rating: 2

1. How much mercury are we talking about in fluorescent tubes (CCFL and regular)?

2. What hazardous materials, if any, is present in LED backlit LCD panels?

3. Do these panels provide wider color gamut - one of the advantages of using LED backlit panels - in addition to lower power draw and less mercury?

It is easy to get carried away by just focusing on one thing (mercury) and fail to see the whole picture. The press seems to encourage the public to focus on one issue to the exclusion of all else. Few things are as black and white as "four legs good, two legs bad".

RE: Where can I get info on..

By ToeCutter on 5/7/2007 9:52:16 PM , Rating: 5

To answer number 3:

NEC claims it can increase the color gamut of its displays dramatically, with the ability to reproduce 109-percent of the Adobe RGB color space.

Considering the millions of notebooks that are discarded each year, even a marginal reduction in mercry-laden refuse is a good thing.

From what I've read, the LED panels look stunning, considerably better color saturation than CCFLs.

Don't let the "green" hype dimish the importance of the reduced power requirements of LED displays.

Battery life for portables is dramatically improved. The new Sony T Series with LED currently holds the record for battery life, coming in at over 9 hours on a single charge.

I think it's all good when it comes to LED displays...

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RE: Where can I get info on..

By PlasmaBomb on 5/9/2007 6:37:33 AM , Rating: 2

Think of the reduction in CO2 from the reduced power consumption.

<sarcasm> Al Gore would be proud </sarcasm>

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RE: Where can I get info on..

By TomZ on 5/8/2007 8:03:27 AM , Rating: 3

The mercury pollution thing is kind of interesting, especially when we are currently in a transition from incandescent to CFL bulbs that contain mercury, with no effective recycling program in place. I'm still kind of scratching my head on that one.

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RE: Where can I get info on..

By daftrok on 5/8/2007 12:43:22 PM , Rating: 2

Its up to the consumer to choose whether or not they want to take time off their day to go to a local store and have the bulbs recycled there. Now I am not 100% certain if they actually suck out the mercury from these bulbs or just toss them in the burner, but that seems to be the most effective option at this time.

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Already shipping LED panels??

By Chadder007 on 5/7/2007 10:07:59 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
Apple's 15.4-inch MacBook Pro line of laptops are already using the new panels,

Does that mean they are already shipping the panels with the LED backlight with the MBP??

RE: Already shipping LED panels??

By Doormat on 5/7/2007 10:27:19 PM , Rating: 3

That is incorrect. Apple ships no monitor or notebook that uses LED LCDs.

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RE: Already shipping LED panels??

By ksherman on 5/8/2007 12:19:34 AM , Rating: 2

Thats what I thought... but this article seems to clearly state that LED LCDs are already shipping...

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RE: Already shipping LED panels??

By TomZ on 5/8/2007 8:04:55 AM , Rating: 1

LCD panels with LED backlighting are already available to OEMs/ODMs, it's just that not very many OEMs have released products that use them yet.

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RE: Already shipping LED panels??

By ksherman on 5/8/2007 9:17:40 AM , Rating: 2

quote:
Apple's 15.4-inch MacBook Pro line of laptops are already using the new panels, and the new 13.3-inch certifications indicate that Apple will be transitioning its MacBook line soon.

says right there that the MBP is using them right now...

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Nice to see advancement

By EarthsDM on 5/7/2007 7:56:35 PM , Rating: 2

It's nice to see the display market continue to move forward. I'm a fan of Apple's displays, I hope they make some more good ones. Also, it would be nice to see other manufacturers follow suit.

ps

I know that Apple is not a manufacturer per se, but you know what I mean.

RE: Nice to see advancement

By ubcz on 5/7/2007 8:44:01 PM , Rating: 2

In addition to the new LED-backlight LCD's, I'm sure Apple will roll out it's new notebooks with Centrino Pro (Santa Rosa) chipsets. Interested to see what the plans are for solid state HDD and discrete graphics options.

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