Maybe we’ll get a super-sized iMac, after all

Well, I wanted a 31.5-inch iMac, and one may be arriving later this year, if you can believe a new report from DigiTimes, following up on yesterday’s note from analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

The article says Apple will adopt mini LED backlighting for a super-sized all-in-one to be launched in the second or third quarter of 2019, a 10- to 12-inch iPad to be unveiled in fourth-quarter 2020 or first-quarter 2021.

DigiTimes says Apple is motivated by mini LED backlighting’s support for wide color gamut, high contrast ratio, high dynamic range and local dimming for product differentiation. The backlight unit (BLU) to be used in the 31.6-inch iMac will be made of about 500 LED chips of 600 microns in size, with Japan-based Nichia to supply the LED chips, the article adds.

What’s the advantage of micro-LED? According to Tom’s Guide, MicroLED is designed to take everything that’s great about OLEDs — the self-emissive technology, the perfect blacks and the outstanding colors — while ditching the organic compounds that, over time, start to die off, potentially making them a problem over the long haul. 

Plus, micro-LED panels can be exceedingly thin and deliver outstanding viewing angles. And because they don’t rely on organic compounds, MicroLED panels should be cheaper to produce than OLEDs.