Apple validates 13-inch LED backlight units ahead of ultra-portable
Apple, which in January is expected to take the wraps off its slimmest and sleekest notebook in years, is reported to have placed orders for a new breed of 13.3-inch LED backlight units with production-ready quantities scheduled for delivery this month.
Specifically, Nano-Op is said to have already started shipping 12.1-inch notebook LED BLUs to Dell via AU Optronics, while its 13.3-inch LED notebook BLUs have since been validated by Apple.
"The sources disclosed that Nano-Op's LED notebook BLU shipments in November were only about 10,000 units, but Apple orders are expected drive up shipments to over 90,000 units in December," the report claims.
Of interest, DigiTimes notes that the component shipments to both Dell and Apple are "for high-end models," reinforcing assumptions that the Mac maker's upcoming streamlined notebook will fall somewhere between its existing 13-inch consumer MacBooks and its 15- and 17-inch professional MacBook Pro models.
Though often referred to as an 'ultra-portable,' the upcoming Apple notebook design was revealed by AppleInsider earlier this year to have been built around a 13.3-inch LED backlit display, rather than 12.1-inch display or one smaller. The 13.3-inch LED BLU orders mentioned by DigiTimes are expected serve an initial manufacturing ramp of the notebook early next year.
DigiTimes in its report added that Kenmos' shipments of LED notebook BLUs to PC manufacturers will reach an estimated 300,000 units in the first quarter of 2008. No expectations were listed for Nano-Op's shipments.
Apple is expected to use a keynote presentation by chief executive Steve Jobs on January 15th to introduce its new 13.3-inch notebook.
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Question... What's the difference between a MacBook and an ultra portable?
If you read AI... nothing!
Apple, which in January is expected to take the wraps off its slimmest and sleekest notebook in years, is reported to have placed orders for a new breed of 13.3-inch LED backlight units with production-ready quantities scheduled for delivery this month.
13.3" seems way too big for the sub-notebook market
- they need to go to 12", 10", 8" to get a foothold in the Japanese market, I think
- I don't see what's so hard about this
- everyone else has managed to do it for years.
Also, I would have thought that the sub-notebook market was an ideal market for Apple, as the sort of apps needed for this market are readily available on MacOS (i.e. Office, Internet etc)
- for more serious apps, you probably need a larger screen anyway.
At 13.3" this will be a useful addition to the Macbook Pro range (and while they're at it they should do a 15.4" MacBook), but it doesn't really open up a new category for Apple.
a macbook is useful for doing actual work, an ultraportable is useful for watching movies, surfing the net and writing nothing larger than you would in a text message. they have a blackberry keyboard on steroids.
i'll be happy if Apple doesn't come out with a UMPC but instead continues to create the best looking notebook computers anywhere. 2/3" thick, ssd, EXTERNAL optical drive. yummy.
13.3" seems way too big for the sub-notebook market
- they need to go to 12", 10", 8" to get a foothold in the Japanese market, I think
- I don't see what's so hard about this
- everyone else has managed to do it for years.
Also, I would have thought that the sub-notebook market was an ideal market for Apple, as the sort of apps needed for this market are readily available on MacOS (i.e. Office, Internet etc)
- for more serious apps, you probably need a larger screen anyway.
At 13.3" this will be a useful addition to the Macbook Pro range (and while they're at it they should do a 15.4" MacBook), but it doesn't really open up a new category for Apple.
For the last time, that's not the reason sales in Japan are down. People in Japan simply aren't buying computers like they used to. It's not high on their priority lilst.
At 13.3" this will be a useful addition to the Macbook Pro range (and while they're at it they should do a 15.4" MacBook), but it doesn't really open up a new category for Apple.
I think a 15.4 sub $1,000 dollar MacBook would be a new category for Apple. Everyone else is selling theirs like hotcakes.