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LED display lifespan. (Unibody MBP)

sn0warmy

sn0warmy

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 26, 2009
630
75
Denver, CO
I did a search on here with no results. I'm going to look more into it in other sources as well. But I figured I would ask the question here as this is more of a targeted audience.

I have a 2 month od 15" Unibody MBP. I am extremely happy with it and want it to last. I work in marketing where I am forced to use my laptop at work M-F 8-5 with illustrator, Photoshop, Indesign etc.

This means that I have my built in monitor displaying everything for very long periods of time. I know that with the old displays they would start to dim over time as the light source began to fade. I've heard that these new LED displays don't fade at all. They are either completely on and working or they completely die (based on the technology behind LED).

My questions:
Am I really hurting my display by using it 40 hours a week on the brightest light settings? Should I really consider going out and picking up a nice external monitor and use that instead?



EDIT: After doing a little research I found this information on LED lifespan based on today's technology...

"Solid state devices such as LEDs are subject to very limited wear and tear if operated at low currents and at low temperatures. Many of the LEDs produced in the 1970s and 1980s are still in service today. Typical lifetimes quoted are 25000 to 100000 hours but heat and current settings can extend or shorten this time significantly."

Found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light-emitting_diode#Lifetime_and_failure
 
I'm not sure..
But.. I think you should just use it the way you want to. I mean.. you bought your laptop to use it right? Why waste more money on an external..
 
I found this information interesting:

Found here: http://www.lunaraccents.com/educational-white-LED-life.html

LED Lifespan
In some cases, design engineers may intentionally limit LED lifespan in lighting applications where longevity is non-critical. One case includes an application designed to operate only for a specified period. Perhaps more common is the application where light output is more important than the life of LED light bulb. Overdriving an LED light will increase the luminous output, but dramatically decrease lifespan if thermal management is not considered.


LED Environmental Factors
Although die temperature plays the most critical role in LED lifespan, numerous other variables also play a part. Yet another consideration includes the environment in which the lighting application will operate. Ambient temperature is always a factor, primarily in applications exposed to fluctuating environmental factors. High ambient temperatures and humidity can potentially lead to a reduction in lifespan. For example, consider an LED lighting application designed to produce a 200-lumen output. Twenty surface mount LEDs will meet this criterion, but only while operating at or below the specified ambient temperature of 25 degrees Celsius. When employed within an environment as hot as 40 degree ambient, thermal stresses may dramatically reduce LED life and reliability. Increased ambient temperatures will also adversely affect luminous output. The solution is to reduce the drive current and increase the total number of LEDs within the array.

According to this information, the key is to keep the luminous output of an individual bulb lower. The best way to do this is to include a large amount of LED's into an application. This will increase the overall lifespan of each bulb which will increase the lifespan of the current light output of our displays for a MUCH longer period.

So I guess the question is, how many LED bulbs did Apple put into our monitors?


Important note from this document - Apparently humid conditions lower the lifespan of an LED bulb.. So I wonder if those living in places like Michigan, where humidity can be 100% for weeks at a time in the summer, have a higher risk of lower display lifespans...:confused:
 
I completely agree with bb714. It's not worth worrying about such details. At the end, it doesn't add anything but to your stress level.

The only piece of hardware to actually fail on me in all my years dealing with computers as a computer science major as an undergraduate + graduate student and professional life as a programmer, I've never had hardware die on me except hard drives and graphic cards. There was a time when I used to micromanage and research every aspect of the hardware to ensure longevity, but at the end, it always turned out to be more trouble than its worth.

The only reason I would get an external monitor is because it'll increase your productivity. And I would use my laptop screen as an extension of the external monitor, and not shut it off because I'm afraid of burning out the LEDs.

If you're really worried, you can turn down the brightness a bit.
 
Other components of your MBP are likely to fail before the monitor dims. By the time you notice any dimming, it will be time to replace it anyway. Do you think you'll still be using that same MBP in 10 years?
 
LED displays are targetted to an average of 50,000-100,000 hours. Let's say you use your computer in such horrid conditions (heat, humidity, full-brightness all the time) that it only lasts 10,000 hours.

That's still almost 4 years of 8 hours a day use.

And your LED will last much longer than 10,000 hours.

In short, enjoy your new computer. By the time your LED burns out it will be 2020...
 
Yeah you guys are right. I just remember how much it frustrated me when the display on my older Macbook Pro seemed to fade after a short period of use while I was in college.

I guess this thread was spurred by my lack of knowledge about LED technology. But just from everything I've read, I shouldn't worry at all about the screen fading anywhere near as fast as my old display.
 
yoavcs said:
LED displays are targetted to an average of 50,000-100,000 hours. Let's say you use your computer in such horrid conditions (heat, humidity, full-brightness all the time) that it only lasts 10,000 hours.

That's still almost 4 years of 8 hours a day use.

And your LED will last much longer than 10,000 hours.

In short, enjoy your new computer. By the time your LED burns out it will be 2020...
Click to expand...

thanks for doing the math :)
 
They last long enough not to worry about them. The LEDs themselves will outlast the computer no matter what brightness you run them on. It's probably the thing that made me buy a Mac over another brand of computer at the time because my 2 year old Dell screen was getting dimmer and it ran really hot.
 
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