Apple’s next-gen MacBook Pro with new LED technology

According to AppleInsider, Apple plans on releasing a new MacBook pro line. The new notebooks’ display screen will feature new backlight technology.

Previously, Apple’s MacBooks featured cathode fluorescent backlights, also known as CCFLs. The use of LED backlights in the MacBook should mark the gradual end of the use of CCFLs. At present time, Apple only plans on implementing the newer technology in the 15-inch MacBook Pro. However, it is expected that Apple will eventually use the LED backlights on the 17-inch and 13-inch models of the MacBook.

The LED technology is more expensive than traditional CCFLs, but according to AppleInsider Kasper Jade, makes up for it in terms of better lighting and less consumption of power. In fact, the LED-based screens have more battery life, run cooler and last significantly longer than do the CCFLs.

Not only are LED screens more efficient, but they also allow for eventual software user interface enhancements, as well as animation techniques—when used in conjunction with Apple’s Mac Operating System Leopard.

Apple is revising the 15-inch MacBook to include the LED backlight screen. The newly revised MacBook is set to debut sometime in the second quarter of 2007. The retail price of the new MacBook has yet to be announced.