Apple Switching All MacBooks To LED Backlight Claims Chinese Report

Apple is set to replace all the CCFL backlights in its MacBook range with LED systems, according to the latest news from China.  Reported in the Chinese-language paper the Economic Daily News (EDN), Apple have selected Taiwan-based BLU maker Kenmos Technology to provide the LED backlight units (BLUs).  The company already supplied Apple with the majority of its BLUs in 2007, according to the EDN.

As a result, market observers are predicting that Kenmos Technology's shipments could climb to 1.5m units this year alone, a five-fold increase over 2007.  That would amount to a 9-percent global market share.  LED BLUs make up $66m of Kenmos' revenues this year.

Apple has already switched to LED backlights in the MacBook Pro range, and part of the MacBook Air's super-skinny display was down to the newer, thinner technology.  They've been credited with increasing battery life, since they are less power-hungry than CCFL backlights, as well as providing a brighter, more even illumination.  No timescale for the Apple changeover was suggested.