“Rumors are buzzing that Apple has been working on a revolutionary manufacturing process involving lasers and waterjets and solid blocks of aluminum for the upcoming MacBooks. The contention is that the rumored “Brick” product actually refers not to a product itself, but the manufacturing method for the MacBooks,” Adam Richardson writes for CNET.
MacDailyNews Note: Richardson notes that although Apple and frog design, where he works, worked together in the 1980’s and pioneered injection molding techniques with plastic that are now commonplace on computer products, Richardson states that he doesn’t have any insider knowledge whatsoever on this rumor.
Richardson continues, “In reality, Apple has been using laser and waterjet methods for quite sometime… For example, if you look at the iPod Shuffle you can tell it is hogged out aluminum. On such a small product this is do-able. On a large product like a laptop this would typically result in a massive amount of waste (so kiss your green credentials goodbye). And the notion that this is somehow cheaper than stamping thin sheets or molding plastic is completely wrong – it’s much more expensive.”
“Given the complexity of the components that need to get tightly mounted inside a laptop casing, and the number of ports and so on that need to be exposed to the outside, it’s unlikely that it will literally be a hollowed out block of aluminum,” Richardson writes. “And even if it was, it would not particularly help much with weight (it’s still aluminum) compared to the stamped case of the current Aluminum MacBook Pros.”
Richardson writes, “Having said that, and not discounting Apple’s ability to go beyond the bounds of what others pull off, going by the 9to5mac article there isn’t necessarily anything very revolutionary being described.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Dale E.” for the heads up.]
