Apple leaks images of new LED displays

Apple has inadvertently showcased images of its upcoming LED displays via its website, after the pics slipped online a little earlier than intended.

The LED displays were only on show for a short time but avid watchers at MacRumours managed to snag the images and spread them around for all to see.

The LED displays produced by Apple for their Cinema range have always been at the top end of the market, providing deep, complex images that both Mac and PC users have benefitted from over the years.

The latest LED displays will have a new Thunderbolt port, which is the data connection being touted by Apple as the next big thing in computing.

Thunderbolt is basically a very high speed form of wired connectivity, allowing transfers of up to 10Gbps to occur between the LED displays and the computers to which they are attached.

Interestingly the application of this technology in an LED display appears to be intended as a further method of outputting video from the connected computer. This means you could have your MacBook hooked up to a Cinema display, which in turn is hooked up to a larger TV or projector with a DisplayPort input.

At the moment these LED displays from Apple cost around �900 to buy and so the updated versions will likely occupy a similar price point when they are launched later in the year.

The leaked images also gave away a few details about the upcoming update to Mac OSX, nicknamed Lion. The desktop background showing a swirling galaxy suggests that Apple is once more reaching for the stars with both its hardware and software.

LED displays are becoming more common in the home computer market, with standalone monitors relying on LED backlighting for added slimness and performance, while laptops can benefit from the energy efficient operation.