Apple has unveiled the MacBook Air, a 13.3-inch portable PC described as the world's thinnest notebook, enabled in part by the LED backlighting used in the LCD display screen.
The notebook is only 0.76-inch (1.94 cm) wide at the hinge, tapering to the just 0.16-inch (4 mm – yes, millimeters) at the opposite edge.
Discussing the screen, Apple says that "the backlit LED display allows for an even thinner build…The mercury- and arsenic-free display is also more power efficient, which translates to longer battery life."
Apple also worked with Intel, which reduced the size of its processor package by 60% to the width of a dime and the thickness of a nickel. The actual thickness of the backlighting panel used in the new Apple notebook has yet to be revealed, but the Digitimes website says that thickness of LED-backlit panels currently produced by most Taiwan-based makers measure between 0.6-0.8cm.
