Apple would have adopted the LED mini-backlight

Apple will adopt a mini LED backlight for the launch of a 31.6-inch iMac in the second or third quarter of 2019, a 10-12 inch iPad unveiled in the fourth quarter of 2020 or the first quarter of 2021, and a 15 on 17-inch MacBook to be introduced in the first half of 2021, according to Kuo Ming-chi analyst of TF International Securities.

Apple is motivated by the support by the mini LED backlight of a wide range of colors, a high contrast ratio, a high dynamic range and a local attenuation . Kuo has been widely cited as revealing.

The backlight unit (BLU) to be used in the 31.6-inch iMac will be made up of about 500 600-micron LED chips, along with the Japanese company Nichia to supply the LEDs, Kuo said. .

Strictly speaking, this is a quasi-mini-LED BLU, because the size of the chip is much larger than that of standard mini-LEDs, according to industry sources. However, the use of such a BLU will give the supply chain opportunities to improve the output of mini-LEDs in terms of cost and yield, the sources said.

But more than 10,000 mini-LEDs will be needed for the iPad BLU, whose LEDs will be produced by Epistar, LG Display's LCD displays and Radiant Opto-Electronics's BLUs, the sources said, adding that the three companies will also appear in the list. supply chain of the mini MacBook with LED backlighting.

Epistar has entered the Apple supply chain through TE Opto, a joint venture created with the Japanese company Toyoda Gosei, to obtain a licensed use of Toyoda's patents regarding mini technology. LEDs, sources said.

Epistar refuses to comment on the report.